Christian churches to the sceptic." Elsewhere he says:[131] "It must be clearly understood that Babism (or Bahaism) is in no sense latitudinarian or eclectic, and stands therefore in the sharpest antagonism to Sufism. However vague Babi doctrine may be on certain points, it is essentially _dogmatic_, and every utterance or command uttered by the Manifestation of the Period, _i. e._, Bab or Baha Ullah or Abbas Effendi must be accepted without reserve."[132] Similarly Dr. G. W. Holmes[133] writes: "Baha's appeal is only to his own word and to his own arbitrary and forced interpretation of the Word of God, which interpretations, as he states, find their sanction solely in his own authority." There are other claims of Bahaism of a specific nature which might be considered. They would be found equally assertive and equally groundless. Bahaism reminds me of a horse which was offered for sale in Persia. It appeared like a fat and well fed animal. But the would-be purchaser was warned that its skin had been puffed up with air which would soon leak out, and he would have on his hands a lean, lank, bony _yabi_ scrub. Bahaism does not even stop short of claiming that the civilization of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries is due to it. Its braggart attitude may be fittingly symbolized by Rostand's "Chanticler," standing in the barnyard, flapping its wings in vain exultation, imagining that it, by its crowing, has caused the sun to rise. FOOTNOTES: [91] "The Bahai Movement," p. 73. [92] _Contemporary Review_, March, 1912. [93] In "Unity Through Love." [94] "The Bahai Movement," p. 39. [95] _Ibid._, p. 27. [96] _S. W._, Oct. 1912, p. 190. [97] "Story of the Bahai Movement," p. 4. [98] June 29, 1912. [99] _S. W._, Sept. 27, 1912. [100] _S. W._, Sept. 8, 1912. [101] Professor Browne, in the Ency. of Ethics and Religion, article "Bab," writes: "The Bahais are strongly antagonistic alike to the Sufis and the Mohammedans, but for quite different reasons. In the case of the Sufis they object to their latitudinarianism, their Pantheism, their individualism and their doctrine of the inner light. With the Mohammedan they resent the persecutions they have suffered. The Bahais detest the Azalis, the followers of Abbas Effendi dislike and despise the followers of his brother Mehemet Ali." [102] _S. W._, Aug. 20, 1914. [103] "Brilliant Proof," pp. 26-28. [104] _S. W._, Nov. 23, 1913, p. 238. [105] _S. W._, April 9, 1914. [106] _S. W._, July 13, 1913, p. 122. [107] "The Universal Religion." [108] "Bahai Movement," p. 75. [109] Page 54. In Dealy's "Dawn of Knowledge," the chapter on Baha Ullah is entitled "Prince of Peace." [110] _S. W._, Vol. IV, pp. 6, 8 and 254. [111] "Answered Questions," p. 74; "Tablet of the World," p. 28. [112] "Trav.'s Narr.," p. 287. [113] "New Hist.," pp. 378, 379. [114] _Ibid._, p. 380. [115] "Trav.'s Narr.," pp. 65-67. [116] See Chapter VI. [117] "A Message from Acca," p. 9.