It should be remembered,
however, that apart from the miracle associated with the Báb’s execution, He,
unlike the Founder of the Christian religion, is not only to be regarded as the
independent Author of a divinely revealed Dispensation, but must also be recognized
as the Herald of a new Era and the Inaugurator of a great universal prophetic
cycle. Nor should the important fact be overlooked that, whereas the chief
adversaries of Jesus Christ, in His lifetime, were the Jewish rabbis and their
associates, the forces arrayed against the Báb represented the combined civil
and ecclesiastical powers of Persia, which, from the moment of His declaration
to the hour of His death, persisted, unitedly and by every means at their
disposal, in conspiring against the upholders and in vilifying the tenets of
His Revelation.
- Shoghi Effendi (‘God Passes By’)
