certain that the Divine Order
conceived by Baha'u'llah for the unification of the human race and the
institution of justice in humanity's collective life would be provided
with the means required to realize its Founder's purpose. For unity to
exist among human beings--at even the simplest level--two fundamental
conditions must pertain. Those involved must first of all be in some
agreement about the nature of reality as it affects their relationships
with one another and with the phenomenal world. They must, secondly, give
assent to some recognized and authoritative means by which decisions will
be taken that affect their association with one another and that determine
their collective goals.

Unity is not, that is, merely a condition resulting from a sense of mutual
goodwill and common purpose, however profound and sincerely held such
sentiments may be, any more than an organism is a product of some
fortuitous and amorphous association of various elements. Unity is a
phenomenon of creative power, whose existence becomes apparent through the
effects that collective action produces and whose absence is betrayed by
the impotence of such efforts. However handicapped it often has been by
ignorance and perversity, this force has been the primary influence
driving the advancement of civilization, generating legal codes, social
and political institutions, artistic works, technological achievements
without end, moral breakthroughs, material prosperity, and long periods of
public peace whose afterglow lived in the memories of subsequent
generations as imagined "golden ages".

Through the Revelation of God to humanity's coming of age, the full
potentialities of this creative force have at last been released and the
means necessary to the realization of the Divine purpose have been
instituted. In His Will and Testament, which Shoghi Effendi has described
as the "Charter" of the Administrative Order, 'Abdu'l-Baha set out in
detail the nature and role of the twin institutions that are His appointed
Successors and whose complementary functions ensure the unity of the
Baha'i Cause and the achievement of its mission throughout the
Dispensation, the Guardianship and the Universal House of Justice. He laid
particularly strong emphasis on the authority thus conveyed:

Whatsoever they decide is of God. Whoso obeyeth him not, neither obeyeth
them, hath not obeyed God; whoso rebelleth against him and against them
hath rebelled against God;