Wombat,
Questions are permitted as I understand it..Should you wish to debate however there is a forum for that purpose here...
In answer to your question..
Does that mean the "administrative order" is entitled, empowered, , authorised to abrogate and override what Abdul Baha has stated?
Once again, the comment was made before the administrative order had taken shape ..
At that time Abdul-Baha Himself attended services at the Mosque in Haifa.. Even though He was clearly not a Muslim. Baha'is with Christian backgrounds continued in their churches.
Abdul-Baha envisioned a time though when the Faith would be organized along different lines..in His Will and Testament
such as:
"The sacred and youthful branch, the Guardian of the Cause of God, as well as the Universal House of Justice to be universally elected and established, are both under the care and protection of the Abhá Beauty, under the shelter and unerring guidance of the Exalted One (may my life be offered up for them both)" (part 1, paragraph 18)
He does not say then that the way things were done in 1911 or 1912 is the only way for Baha'i communities in the future...
Some of the Tablets of Abdul-Baha that come to mind addressed the very issue of church membership:
Thou hast questioned how thou canst accept this divine cause, for thou art a member of the Church: (Know thou) in the day of the Manifestation of Christ, many souls became portionless and deprived (from the favor of God) because thy were members of the Holy of Holies in Jerusalem. According to that membership, they became veiled from that brilliant Beauty. Therefore, turn thou thy face to the Church of God which consists in divine instructions and merciful exhortations. For what similarity (is there) between the church of stone and cement and the Celestial Holy of Holies!
(Abdu'l-Baha, Tablets of Abdu'l-Baha v2, p. 327)
Thou hast written that they have expelled thee from the church and thy friends are manifesting aversion toward thee. This is the beginning of thy trials. There are greater trials than these. Therefore, be thou not sad, nay rather, be thou happy and full of glad-tidings. There is no harm done if they have expelled thee from the church. Thou hast stepped into the Kingdom of God. Thou hast entered into the Heavenly Jerusalem and discovered the Way to the Holy of Holies of the Kingdom. That church is of stone and cement, whereas this Holy of Holies is of overwhelming Light.
(Abdu'l-Baha, Tablets of Abdu'l-Baha v3, p. 504)
Summon the people in these countries, capitals, islands, assemblies and churches to enter the Abha Kingdom. The scope of your exertions must needs be extended. The wider its range, the more striking will be the evidence of divine assistance.
(Abdu'l-Baha, Tablets of the Divine Plan, p. 43)
With the passing of Abdul-Baha the lines of the administrative order became even clearer and Shoghi Effendi expressed these advisories:
As regards the question you asked him: he feels that the Bahá'ís in Germany should, by all means, follow the same procedure as regards withdrawing from church membership as that in America. You should point out to the believers that, by belonging to other organized religious bodies, we are not acting openly because we firmly believe Christ has come again - so how can we belong to a church which does not accept Bahá'u'lláh and His message as the fulfilment of Jesus' message and the reappearance of Jesus Himself?
(Shoghi Effendi, The Light of Divine Guidance v I, p. 107)
He was very pleased to hear you are requiring all Bahá'ís to withdraw from church membership and similar organizations; he considers your Community the mother community in spirit, and is confident it will continue to lead the way in its exemplary conduct.
(Shoghi Effendi, The Light of Divine Guidance v I, p. 109)
