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Born of the need to address the plight of men of African descent in the United States, and the unique afflictions imposed upon them, the Black Men's Gathering was founded in 1987 as an individual initiative. From its humble origins in a Greensboro hotel room where the original twelve participants met, the Gathering would grow and evolve over the course of a quarter-century to embrace hundreds in an atmosphere of love, fellowship, and devotion to the Cause of God. Anchor of Faith gives us a glimpse of the vibrant spirit of the Gathering; details its history, evolution, and influence; and brings to light the countless avenues of service pursued by its participants both at home and across the globe.

This book highlights one element in the trilogy of unity, justice and peace that arguably sits at the core of Bahá’í beliefs, through an analysis of the relevant texts of Bahá’u’lláh, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and Shoghi Effendi. By bringing the texts into sharper focus, rather than privileging the sociological or even the historical, it is hoped that the various ideological components of the concept of peace in the Bahá’í religion will be brought to sharper relief under a different light. The study explores the logical, anthropological and ethical extensions of the key theme of peace as it moved from one stage to another in the development of a young religion heavily invested in the world.

Framed as a contribution to intellectual history, the question ultimately addressed is: what kind of peace, human nature and general morality did the key authors envisage when they made some of their weightiest proclamations on peace?

This book describes a journey of search that enabled author Viv Bartlett to navigate around the obstacles that he calls ‘materialistic minefields’. Written in a conversational style and often drawing on his personal experience, it nonetheless explores profound questions.

Among these are the views, opinions and attitudes of a society that has disconnected its thinking from higher realities, so that individuals everywhere are tending to sink into a materialistic way of life that is in the last resort deeply unsatisfying. The increase in materialistic assumptions about reality has also led to general skepticism about humanity’s capacity to rise to a higher level of civilization.

But the choice between a materialistic or a spiritual perspective is a daily personal one. Looking at history as an evolutionary process and drawing on the teachings of the Bahá’í Faith, Bartlett sees the ‘knowledge of the oneness of mankind and the fundamental oneness of religion’ as necessary and inevitable to the gradual emergence of the maturity of humankind.

This book tells the story of a unique life, of one who was part of a turning point in history and left his indelible imprint on it. It encompasses the sweeping story of the development of the North American Bahá’í community between 1914 and 1959.

Horace Holley spent his energies and talents on building a better world, one he knew he would never live long enough to see. Yet this is not simply the story of someone who was exceptionally farsighted, it is the tale of a man who developed an unusual ability to read the times, to perceive and understand what was happening around him in the world and, through putting his thinking into words and action, set in motion revolutionary changes. He stood at the centre of many transitions: in the arts, in war and peace, but most of all, in the development of a new religion – the Bahá’í Faith.

In the West, epistemological studies from a Bahá’í perspective started in 1978 with the publication of Jack McLean’s essay “The Knowledge of God: An Essay on Bahá’í Epistemology.” Since then, Bahá’í thinkers have addressed different aspects of epistemological research. They discussed the independent search for truth, the standards of knowledge, the problems of certainty and relativity, infallibility, and interpretation, as well as mystical experience. All those topics are explored in-depth in corresponding chapters of the book.

This volume includes contributions by Michael Karlberg, Jean-Marc Lepain, Jack McLean, Julio Savi, Mikhail Sergeev, Todd Smith, Peter Terry, and the late William Hatcher.