The
Advent of Divine Justice' is a letter written December 25, 1938, to the
Baháʼís of the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
and
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
, by
Shoghi Effendi
Shoghí Effendi (; ;1896 or 1897 – 4 November 1957) was Guardian of the Baháʼí Faith from 1922 until his death in 1957. As the grandson and successor of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, he was charged with guiding the development of the Baháʼí Faith, in ...
,
describing the role of
America
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
in establishing the
Most Great Peace.
While technically a long-form letter or
epistle
An epistle (; ) is a writing directed or sent to a person or group of people, usually an elegant and formal didactic letter. The epistle genre of letter-writing was common in ancient Egypt as part of the scribal-school writing curriculum. The ...
, ''The Advent of Divine Justice'' is commonly published and studied as an independent book.
The book lays out a Baháʼí understanding of the unique spiritual destiny of America and the role that American Baháʼís have in ensuring the country is able to fulfill that destiny. Shoghi Effendi describes the North American Baháʼís as "the spiritual descendants of
the Dawn-breakers
''The Dawn-Breakers: Nabíl's Narrative of the Early Days of the Baháʼí Revelation'' (''Maṭāleʿ al-anwār'') or ''Nabíl's Narrative'' (''Táríkh-i-Nabíl'') is an account of the early Bábí and Baháʼí Faiths written in Persian by N ...
" and says they will play an important part in establishing the Faith around the world. He states that to contribute fully to this process, American Baháʼís must internalize three spiritual prerequisites: "moral rectitude," "absolute chastity," and "complete freedom from prejudice."
The book repeatedly references the ''
Tablets of the Divine Plan
The ''Tablets of the Divine Plan'' collectively refers to 14 letters ( tablets) written between March 1916 and March 1917 by ʻAbdu'l-Bahá to Baháʼís in the United States and Canada. Included in multiple books, the first five tablets were pr ...
'' by
ʻAbdu'l-Bahá
ʻAbdu'l-Bahá (; Persian: , ;, 23 May 1844 – 28 November 1921), born ʻAbbás (, ), was the eldest son of Baháʼu'lláh, founder of the Bahá’í Faith, who designated him to be his successor and head of the Baháʼí Faith from 1892 un ...
–which gave an early impetus to the spread of the Baháʼí Faith in North America–and Shoghi Effendi devotes more than half of the book to discussing the attitudes to be adopted and techniques to be used by Baháʼís when teaching the religion.
References
*{{cite book , first=Shoghi , last=Effendi , authorlink=Shoghi Effendi , year=1938 , title=The Advent of Divine Justice , publisher=Baháʼí Publishing Trust , location=Wilmette, Illinois, USA , isbn=0-87743-195-7 , url=http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/se/ADJ/
External links
Compendium on The Advent of Divine Justice
Works by Shoghi Effendi