adan and
others--been existing side by side, but instead of blending together into a
harmonious whole they had been at constant enmity and strife, each against
the others. Not only so, but each had become split up, by division after
division, into an increasing number of sects which were often bitterly
opposed to each other. Yet Christ had said: "By this shall all men know
that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another, " and Muhammad
had said: "This your religion is the one religion.... To you hath God
prescribed the faith which He commanded unto Noah, and which We have
revealed unto thee, and which We commanded unto Abraham and Moses and
Jesus saying: 'Observe this faith, and be not divided into sects
therein!'" The Founder of every one of the great religions had called His
followers to love and unity, but in every case the aim of the Founder was
to a large extent lost sight of in a welter of intolerance and bigotry,
formalism and hypocrisy, corruption and misrepresentation, schism and
contention. The aggregate number of more or less hostile sects in the
world was probably greater at the commencement of the Baha'i era than at
any previous period in human history. It seemed as if humanity at that
time were experimenting with every possible kind of religious belief, with
every possible sort of ritual and ceremonial observance, with every
possible variety of moral code.

At the same time an increasing number of men were devoting their energies
to fearless investigation and critical examination of the laws of nature
and the foundations of belief. New scientific knowledge was being rapidly
acquired and new solutions were being found for many of the problems of
life. The development of inventions such as steamship and railway, postal
system and press, greatly aided the diffusion of ideas and the fertilizing
contact of widely different types of thought and life.

The so-called "conflict between religion and science" became a fierce
battle. In the Christian world Biblical criticism combined with physical
science to dispute, and to some extent to refute, the authority of the
Bible, an authority that for centuries had been the generally accepted
basis of belief. A rapidly increasing proportion of the population became
skeptical about the teachings of the churches. A large number even of
religious priests secretly or openly entertained doubts or reservations
regarding the creeds adhered to by their respective denominat