In disclosing the panoramic Vision of the unfoldment of the
Dispensation of Baha'u'llah, Shoghi Effendi refers to three major evolutionary
stages through which the Faith must pass - the Apostolic or Heroic Age
(1844-1921) associated with the Central Figures of the Faith; the Formative or
Transitional Age (1921 - ?), the "hall-mark" of which is the rise and
establishment of the Administrative Order, based on the execution of the
provisions of ‘Adu'l-Baha's Will and Testament; and, the Golden Age which will
represent the "consummation of this glorious Dispensation". Close
examination of the details of Baha'i history reveals that the individual Ages
are comprised of a number of periods - inseparable parts of one integrated
whole.
(From a document titled “The Epochs of the Formative Age”, prepared by
the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice, 1987)
