Afterwards Christ appeared, saying, “I am born of the Holy
Spirit.” If it is easy today, among Christians, to acknowledge the truth of
this claim, at the time it was very difficult. Thus, according to the text of
the Gospel, the Pharisees said, “Is this not the son of Joseph of Nazareth,
whom we know? How then can he say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” (Cf. John
6:42)
Briefly, this Man, Who appeared lowly in the eyes of all,
arose nonetheless with such power as to abrogate a fifteen-hundred-year-old
Dispensation, notwithstanding that the least deviation from its laws would
expose the offender to grave danger and bring about his death and annihilation.
Moreover, in the time of Christ the general morals and manners of the
Israelites had become entirely confused and corrupted, and Israel had fallen
into a state of utmost degradation, misery, and bondage. At one time they fell
captive to the Chaldeans and the Persians; at another they were under the yoke
of the Assyrian Empire. One day they became the subjects and vassals of the
Greeks; another they were subjugated and humiliated by the Romans.
- ‘Abdu’l-Baha (Table talks in Akka, authenticated by ‘Abdu’l-Baha; ‘Some
Answered Questions’ – 2014 revised translation by the Baha’i World Centre)
