e palliative, but it is
not a radical cure. It does not remove the cause of the trouble.

The Problem of Authority

The different religious communities have failed to unite in the past,
because the adherents of each have regarded the Founder of their own
community as the one supreme authority, and His law as the divine law. Any
Prophet Who proclaimed a different message was, therefore, regarded as an
enemy of the truth. The different sects of each community have separated
for similar reasons. The adherents of each have accepted some subordinate
authority and regarded some particular version or interpretation of the
Founder's Message as the One True Faith, and all others as wrong. It is
obvious that while this state of matters exists no true unity is possible.
Baha'u'llah, on the other hand, teaches that all the Prophets were bearers
of authentic messages from God; that each in His day gave the highest
teachings of all are essentially in harmony, and are parts of a great plan
for the education and the unification of humanity. He calls on the people
of all denominations to show their reverence for their Prophets by
devoting their lives to the accomplishment of that unity for which all the
Prophets labored and suffered. In His letter to Queen Victoria He likens
the world to a sick man whose malady is aggravated because he has fallen
into the hands of unskilled physicians; and He tells how the remedy may be
effected:--

That which the Lord hath ordained as the sovereign remedy and
mightiest instrument for the healing of all the world is the union
of all its peoples in one universal Cause, one common Faith. This
can in no wise be achieved except through the power of a skilled,
an all-powerful and inspired Physician. This, verily, is the
truth, and all else naught but error.--Gleanings from the Writings
of Baha'u'llah, p. 255.

Progressive Revelation

A great stumbling block to many, in the way of religious unity, is the
difference between the Revelations given by the different Prophets. What
is commanded by one is forbidden by another; how then can both be right,
how can both be proclaiming the Will of God? Surely the truth is One, and
cannot change. Yes, the Absolute Truth is One and cannot change, but the
Absolute Truth is infinitely beyond the present range of human
understanding, and our conceptions of it must constantly change. Our
earlier, imperfect ideas will be by th