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It is not, however, with either of these two Faiths that we are primarily concerned. It is to Islam and, to a lesser extent, to Christianity that my theme is directly related. Islam, from which the Faith of Baha'u'llah has sprung, even as did Christianity from Judaism, is the religion within whose pale that Faith first rose and developed, from whose ranks the great mass of Baha'i adherents have been recruited, and by whose leaders they have been, and indeed are still being, persecuted. Christianity, on the other hand, is the religion to which the vast majority of Baha'is of non-Islamic extraction belong, within whose spiritual domain the Administrative Order of the Faith of God is rapidly advancing, and by whose ecclesiastical exponents that Order is being increasingly assailed. Unlike Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism and even Zoroastrianism which, in the main, are still unaware of the potentialities of the Cause of God, and whose response to its Message is as yet negligible, the Muhammadan and Christian Faiths may be regarded as the two religious systems which are sustaining, at this formative stage in its evolution, the full impact of so tremendous a Revelation. (80:1) Let us, then, consider what the Founders of the Baha'i Faith have addressed to, or written about, the recognized leaders of Islam and Christianity. We have already considered the passages with reference to the kings of Islam, whether as Caliphs reigning in Constantinople, or as Shahs of Persia who ruled the kingdom as temporary trustees for the expected Imam. We have also noted the Tablet which Baha'u'llah specifically revealed for the Roman Pontiff, and the more general message in the Suriy-i-Muluk directed to the kings of Christendom. No less challenging and ominous is the Voice that has warned and called to account the Muhammadan divines and the Christian clergy.
(80:2)
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