If a soul shall utter a word without the sanction of the
Covenant, he is not firm. Baha'u'llah appointed a Covenant to ward off
dissensions; so that no one can have his own opinions; so that the Center can
be referred to. There were dissensions in the time of Christ because there was
no Center. This is the reality of the question.
Whatever the Center of the Covenant says is correct. No one
should speak a word of himself. Baha’u’llah has called down the vengeance of
God upon anyone who violates the Covenant. Beware! Beware! Lest ye be shaken!
Remain firm even if the people of heaven try to shake you. Firmness in the
Covenant is not mere words. The command is explicit. (‘Abdu’l-Baha, from some
instructions given by ‘Abdu’l-Baha to several friends in America, July 1912,
which received His personal signature; Star of the West, vol. 11, no. 14,
November 23, 1920)
