The religion of God has two aspects in this world. The
spiritual (the real) and the formal (the outward). The formal side changes, as
man changes from age to age. The spiritual side which is the Truth, never
changes. The Prophets and Manifestations of God bring always the same teaching;
at first men cling to the Truth but after a time they disfigure it. The Truth
is distorted by man-made outward forms and material laws. The veil of substance
and worldliness is drawn across the reality of Truth.
- ‘Abdu’l-Baha (Notes of
conversations; ‘Abdu’l-Baha in London’)
