God Passes By Outline
Correlation with A Traveler's Narrative and The Dawn-Breakers


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Introduction (by George Townshend)

Foreword (by Shoghi Effendi)

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Retrospect and Prospect

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Introduction   Foreword   1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25   Retrospect and Prospect






Condensed Outline


GPB page #- paragraph# (print copy line#)Topic/HeadingsDB/TN page # (or GPB page # cross-reference)
402-0 (1-3)
  1. The first Bahá'í century was unparalleled in religious or any history of mankind for sublimity and fecundity.
402-0 (4-7)
  1. The nature of this process.
402-0 (7-12)
  1. The process worked through different locations of this period.
402-1 (13-28)
  1. Broad overview of the process' spread, origins and protagonists, and irresistable successes amidst challenges
402-2, 403-0
  1. Increase in maturity of the Faith from its obscure beginnings due to this unleashed process
(see below)
The Báb: 403-1; Baháu'lláh: 403-2, 404-0; 'Abdu'l-Bahá: 404-1, 405, 406-0; The Administrative Order: 406-1, 407-0
  1. Overview of events for the century
(see below)
407-1, 408, 409-0
  1. Punishment afflicting those who challenged (and heroic opportunitiies for the humble)
GPB 81, 224, 317 (see also the TN and DB cross-references in the outline for Chapter 5)
409-1, 410-0
  1. Crisis and victory alternating throughout
(see below)
410-1, 410-2, 411-0
  1. Successes
411-1, 412
  1. Future (objectives and hope)










Extended Outline


GPB page #- paragraph# (print copy line#)Topic/HeadingsDB/TN page # (or GPB page # cross-reference)
402-0 (1-3)
  1. The first Bahá'í century was unparalleled in religious or any history of mankind for sublimity and fecundity.
402-0 (4-7)
  1. The nature of this process.
402-0 (4, 5)
    1. This process was divine and mysterious.
402-0 (5-6)
    1. The process was awful in retribution for those who resisted it.
402-0 (4, 6-7)
    1. The process was endowed with infinite potential (for regeneration and redemption).
402-0 (7-12)
  1. The process worked through different locations of this period.
402-0 (7-12)
    1. The process went from Shíráz to Tihrán, Baghdád, Adrianople, 'Akká, across the seas, into the West, in the midst of North America.
402-1 (13-28)
  1. Broad overview of the process' spread, origins and protagonists, and irresistable successes amidst challenges
402-2, 403-0
  1. Increase in maturity of the Faith from its obscure beginnings due to this unleashed process
GPB xii-1 (22-38), xvi-1 (18-41), xvii-0 (1, 24-33), 372-1 (13-14); Many of the elements of this section below are also in the outline of the foreword.
402-2 (34-37)
    1. A few Shaykhí Ithná-'Asharíyyih Shí'ah students were transformed into a unified, animated, world community.
GPB xii-1 (22-27), xvi-1 (25-29)
402-2 (37-38)
    1. No less than 20,000 martyrs consecrated themselves for this Cause.
GPB 372-1 (13-14)
402-2 (38-40)
    1. They have been forged into a supranational, non-sectarian, non-political world religion.
402-2 (40-41)
    1. They spread over 5 continents and also to islands.
GPB xii-1 (28-29), xvi-1 (18-25)
402-2 (41), 403-0 (1)
    1. They have spread to over 60 sovereign countries and 17 dependencies (at the time of writing).
GPB xii-1 (30-31); (see the following site or this page for more current, authoritative statistics)
403-0 (1-2)
    1. They have a literature translated and broadcast into 40 languages (at the time of writing).
GPB xii-1 (31-32), xvi-1 (32-41), xvii-0 (1); (see this page for more current, authoritative statistics)
403-0 (2-3)
    1. They have endowments totaling several million dollars (at the time of writing).
GPB xii-1 (32-34), xvii-0 (28-33)
403-0 (3-4)
    1. They have been recognized by a number of Eastern and Western governments.
GPB xii-1 (34-36), xvii-0 (24-28)
403-0 (4-6)
    1. They are integral in aim, outlook, belief, and law.
GPB xii-1 (27-28)
403-0 (7-8)
    1. They have no professional clergy but are united through a divine, unique Administrative Order.
403-0 (8-10)
    1. They include representatives of all leading Faiths, of various classes and races.
GPB xii-1 (37-38), xvi-1 (29-31);See this page for more current, authoritative statistics)
403-0 (10-13)
    1. They are faithful to their civil obligations and conscious of civic responsibilities, facing perils and sufferings together with the greater society, but confident in their own high destiny.
403-1; 403-2, 404-0; 404-1, 405, 406-0; 406-1, 407-0
  1. Overview of events for the century (see also VIII. below)
(see below)
403-1
    1. The Báb: Summary of His Ministry
GPB Chapters 1 and 2, 3, 4, and 5 (and part of Chapter 6)
403-1 (14-23)
      1. The Declaration in Shíráz; the resulting clamor amongst the people, government, and clergy and His resulting imprisonment in Máh-Kú and Chihríq where He instituted His Covenant, laws, and majority of Writings.
GPB Chapters 1 and 2 (and part of Chapter 6)
403-1 (23-26)
      1. His disciples under Bahá'u'lláh dramatically ushered in the new Dispensation, abrogating the Islámic law.
GPB 31
403-1 (26-39)
      1. He publicly proclaimed Himself to be the Qá'im in front of prominent leaders; He endured massacres of His followers in the provinces which eliminated many including His noblest supporters/Letters of the Living; He suffered personal humiliations and finally His own execution, leaving only Bahá'u'lláh in a dungeon (after the greatest Bábí heroine and His amanuensis were also martyred).
GPB Chapters 3, 4, and 5 (and part of Chapter 6)
403-2, 404-0
    1. Baháu'lláh: Summary of His Ministry
GPB Chapters 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12
403-2, 404-0 (1-14)
      1. In a dungeon (9 years after the Báb's Declaration), Bahá'u'lláh, the fruit of the Báb's promise was redeemed, and though He was banished and withdrew to Kurdistán, He returned to reform the community and proclaim His Mission.
GPB Chapters 7, 8, and part of 9.
404-0 (14-28)
      1. Though the Báb's nominee rebelled (and though He was banished again), Bahá'u'lláh's Faith shone highly in His proclamation to the kings and rulers.
GPB Part of Chapters 9 and 10
404-0 (28-40)
      1. Though then banished to 'Akká, He was allowed by this to formulate His laws and principles of His Order.
GPB Part of Chapter 10, 11, 12
404-1, 405, 406-0
    1. 'Abdu'l-Bahá: Summary of His Ministry
GPB Chapters 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, and 20
404-1, 405-0 (1-12)
      1. Though the enemies of the Cause were emboldened (including a defection by one next in rank to 'Abdu'l-Bahá) and the supporters shaken, Bahá'u'lláh's Covenant preserved the Faith's unity and led it forward.
GPB Chapter 15
405-0 (12-21)
      1. Due to the success and strength of the Covenant, 'Abdu'l-Bahá's influence reached Europe and North America, He was able to begin to transfer the remains of the Báb, and begin the process of erecting the first House of Worship in Turkistán.
GPB Chapter 16
405-0 (21-35)
      1. Though barraged and circumscribed by the Arch-breaker of the Covenant and 'Abdu'l-Hamíd's orders, 'Abdu'l-Bahá was finally able to journey to Europe and America and consolidate and expand the Faith, leading it to the Far East and to the Antipodes.
GPB Chapters 17, 18, 19, and part of 20
405-0 (35-41), 406-0
      1. Despite the threat posed by the cruel Jamál Páshá and the disrupting world war, 'Abdu'l-Bahá was able to guide the West with the Tablets of the Divine Plan, and with the war's end, the military despot was defeated, 'Abdu'l-Bahá's prophecies were fulfilled, His prestige enhanced, and His Cause spread to Australia.
GPB Part of Chapter 20
406-1, 406-2, 407-0
    1. The Administrative Order: Summary of its important events thus far
GPB Chapters 22, 23, 24, and 25
406-1
      1. Though 'Abdu'l-Bahá's passing brought sorrow and hope to the enemies of the Cause, leading the latter to political and religious instigations, His Will and Testament (inspired by Bahá'u'lláh) allowed the galvanizing of Europe, Asia, Africa, and America into action to help them establish local and national Assemblies and constitutions, become recognized by authorities, found administrative headquarters, raise the Western House of Worship superstructure, expanding endowments and gaining their recognition in Israel and North America as being religious.
GPB Chapter 22
406-2, 407-0
      1. Despite (or because of) the Egyptian ecclesiastical court's ruling against the Bahá'ís, the unjust decision of a court in Baghdád robbing the Faith of a site of pilgrimage, the powerful communist adversary in Russia robbing it of its first House of Worship, His followers asserted (and sometimes gained recognition of) their Faith's independence, enforced some of their own laws, obtained a world Tribunal's condemnation of the Baghdád court, expanded to 34 more countries and 13 dependencies, spread literature in 29 more languages, enrolled a Queen, and completed the exterior ornamentation of the second House of Worship, concluding their first Plan.
GPB Chapters 23, 24, and 25
407-1, 408, 409-0
  1. Punishment afflicting those who challenged the Faith (and heroic opportunitiies for the humble)
GPB 81, 224, 317 (see also the TN and DB cross-references in the outline for Chapter 5)
407-1, 408, 409-0 (1)
    1. Afflications against opposers of the Faith:
      1. Heedless kings/emperors/princes were topped, assassinated, or shamed;
      1. The Caliphate was humbled;
      1. Other hostile sacerdotal orders were dismembered, declined, or secularized;
      1. Apostates and rebels (including especially formerly prominent ones) despite the havoc they brought were frustrated or degraded and impotent against the march of the Faith;
      1. Opposing ministers were disgraced;
      1. Humanity as a whole was brought into two awful wars.
GPB 81, 224, 317 (see also the TN and DB cross-references in the outline for Chapter 5)
409-0 (1-6)
    1. The humble, on the other hand, who responded gained a heroism even dwarfing the earlier spiritual heroes of humanity
409-1, 410-0
  1. Crisis and victory alternating throughout (see also VI. above--this section repeats much of the contents in VI., albeit to demonstrate the alternation of crisis and victory amidst those events)
(see below)
409-1 (7-13)
    • Introduction to pulsations of crisis and victory
409-1 (13-22)
    1. Crisis and victory during the Ministry of the Báb
GPB Chapters 1 and 2, 3, 4, and 5 (and part of Chapter 6)
409-1 (13-18)
      1. Despite the resulting fanaticism and His imprisonment after His Declaration, the Báb subsequently set up His laws and Covenant, had it proclaimed in Badasht, and publicly asserted His station.
GPB Chapters 1 and 2, (and part of Chapter 6)
409-1 (19-22)
      1. After uprisings in the provinces, His execution, and Bahá'u'lláh's imprisonment, the Bahá'í Revelation then dawned.
GPB Chapters 3, 4, and 5 (and part of Chapter 6)
409-1 (22-33)
    1. Crisis and victory during the Ministry of Bahá'u'lláh
GPB Chapters 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12
409-1 (22-26)
      1. Bahá'u'lláh's banishment and withdrawal was followed by a Bábí resurgence and His Declaration.
GPB Chapters 7 and 8
409-1 (26-30)
      1. His banishment to Constantinople and the crisis started by Mírzá Yahyá were succeeded by a proclamation to the leaders of the world.
GPB Chapters 8, 9, and 10
409-1 (30-33)
      1. His banishment to 'Akká was followed by the promulgation of His laws and Covenant.
GPB Chapters 10, 11, and 12
409-1 (33-41), 410-0 (1-7)
    1. Crisis and victory during the Ministry of 'Abdu'l-Bahá
GPB Chapters 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, and 20
409-1 (33-37)
      1. Mírzá Muhammad-'Alí's rebellion was followed by the Faith's introduction in the West and the transfer of the Báb's remains to the Holy Land.
GPB Chapters 15 and 16
409-1 (37-41), 410-0 (1)
      1. 'Abdu'l-Bahá's renewed incarceration was followed by 'Abdu'l-Hamí's downfall, 'Abdu'l-Bahá's release, the entombment of the Báb's remains, and 'Abdu'l-Bahá's triumphal journeys to Europe and America.
GPB Chapters 17 and 18, and 19
410-0 (1-7)
      1. The world war, dangers brought by Jamál Páshá, and Covenant-breaker activity led to the Tablets of the Divine Plan, the flight of Jamál Pá, the liberation of the Holy Land, enhanced prestige of the Faith at the World Centre, and expansion of activities in East and West.
GPB Chapter 20
410-0 (7-23)
    1. Crisis and victory during the Beginning of the Formative Age/Administrative Order
GPB Chapters 22, 23, 24, and 25
410-0 (7-11)
      1. The agitation at 'Abdu'l-Bahá's passing was followed by the promulgation of His Will and Testament, the beginnings of the Formative Age, and the laying of foundations for the Administrative Order.
GPB Chapter 22
410-0 (11-23)
      1. The seizure of the keys to the Tomb of Bahá'u'lláh, the occupation of His House in Baghdád, outbreak of persecution in Russia, and expulsion from Islám in Egypt was followed by a public assertion of the Faith's independent religious status, by the recognition of this status at its world center, by the League of Nations testifying to the justice of its claims, by expansion of its international teaching and literature, by royal testimonials to its Divine origin, and by the completion of the exterior ornamentation of its Western House of Worship.
GPB Chapters 22, 23, 24, and 25
410-1, 410-2, 411-0
  1. Successes
410-1
    1. Through unparalleled assaults, preserved its unity and strengthened
410-2, 411-0
    1. Broad overview of great achievements thus far including spread throughout the earth, establishing of its Covenant and Administration, freeing itself of many hindrances to emancipation and recognition, gaining victories over its adversaries, and launching its first spiritual crusade (and remaining objectives exist--see below)
411-1, 412
  1. Future (objectives and hope)
411-1, 412-0
    1. Remaining objectives detailed
411-1, 412-0
      1. establish the Universal House of Justice, achieve full emancipation, launch successive campaigns to places where Administration not set up, gain the seat of learning in Egypt, liberate the Most Great House, build the House of Worship in Tihrán and the dependencies of the other existing two, rear the dome of the Shrine of the Báb, codify and promulgate the laws of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, undertake measures for instituting Bahá'í courts, rebuild the community and House of Worship of Turkistán, discover the sovereign to rule in Tihrán, fight the contest brought on by attacks by leaders of religions, and await the Golden Age, Most Great Peace, Kingdom of God on earth, the maturity of humanity, and birth of a world civilization through energies released by Bahá'u'lláh's World Order
412-1
    1. Whatever opposition, Faith has proof it can overcome and more until its foreordained mission is fulfilled