adorned with its present perfection. . . . Man in the beginning of his existence and in the womb of the earth, like the embryo in the womb of the mother, gradually grew and developed, and passed from one form to another, until he appeared with this beauty and perfection, this force and this power. It is certain that in the beginning he had not this loveliness and grace and elegance, and that he only by degrees attained this shape, this form, this beauty and this grace . . . . Man’s existence on this earth from the beginning until it reaches this stage, form and condition, necessarily lasts a long time . . . but from the beginning of man’s existence he is a distinct species. . . . Admitting that the traces of organs which have disappeared actually exist (in the human body), this is not a proof of the impermanence and the non-originality of the species. At the most it proves that the form and fashion and the organs of man have progressed. Man was always a distinct species, a man, not an animal.”
The Bahá’í teachings with regard to body and soul, and the life after death, are quite in harmony with the results of psychical research. They teach, as we have seen, that death is but a new birth—the escape from the prison of the body into a larger life, and that progress in the after-life is limitless . . . .
All the signs of the times indicate that we are at the dawn of a new era in the history of mankind. Hitherto the young eagle of humanity has clung to the old eyrie in the solid rock of selfishness and materialism. Its attempts to use its wings have been timid and tentative. It has had restless longings for something still unattained. More and more it has been chafing in the confinement of the old dogmas and orthodoxies. But now the era of confinement is at an end, and it can launch on the wings of faith and reason into the higher realms of spiritual love and truth. It will no longer be earth-bound as it was before its wings had grown, but will soar at will to the regions of wide outlook and glorious freedom. One thing is necessary, however, if its flight is to be sure and steady. Its wings must not only be strong, but they must act in perfect harmony and co-ordination. As ‘Abdu’l-Bahá says: “It cannot fly with one wing alone. If it tries to fly with the wing of religion alone it will land in the slough of superstition, and if it tries to fly with the wing of science alone it will end in the dreary bog of materialism."
Perfect harmony between science and religion is the sine qua non of the higher life for humanity. When that is achieved, and every child is trained not only in the study of the sciences and arts, but equally in love to all mankind and in radiant acquiescence to the Will of God as revealed in the progress of evolution and the teachings of the prophets, then and not until then, shall the Kingdom of God come and His Will be done on earth as it is in Heaven; then and not until then shall the Most Great Peace shed its blessings on the world.
