The Universal Religion: Bahaism - Its Rise and Social Import by Hippolyte Dreyfus-Barney on Free Audio Book Download

вЂњBahaism is not a new religion,вЂќ writes Hippolyte Dreyfus-Barney, вЂњIt is religion renewedвЂ¦ it does not pretend to represent the whole Truth; on the contrary, it recognises Truth in fundamental principles which are the basis of all former dispensations, and which for that very reason form the standpoint of concord too long lost sight of. And it requires people to renounce ancient superstitions, to abandon the dead letter in order to be penetrated by the living and vivifying spirit, then by that very means it confirms the original purity of their religion, whilst helping them to know and love everything profoundly beautiful in the othersвЂ¦ it will suffice for me to indicate that the Bahais believe that from all eternity God has raised up among human creatures higher beings who have inculcated mankind with the great moral principles on which societies are founded, and have thus been the supreme guides of its evolution.вЂќ Hippolyte Dreyfus earned his doctorate in law in February 1898 and became the first French BahГЎвЂ™Г in 1901. In 1903 he gave up his legal career to devote himself to oriental studies. He enrolled at the Г‰cole pratique des hautes Г©tudes university in Paris, where he studied Arabic and Persian to be able to translate the BahГЎвЂ™Г writings into French. He was one of the only Western BahГЎвЂ™Гs of his generation to received such formal training. He was the author of numerous books, articles and translations of the BahГЎвЂ™Г faith. Dreyfus-Barney attained in September 1902 with an American BahГЎвЂ™Г, Lua Getsinger, an audience with MuzaffaruвЂ™d-Din Shah in Paris. During this meeting the Shah was personally handed a petition to protect their co-religionists in Iran. After his marriage (1911) with the American BahГЎвЂ™Г Laura Clifford Barney, he adopted the name Dreyfus-Barney. He also traveled to numerous countries and represented the BahГЎвЂ™Гs in legal disputes. He died on 20 December 1928 and was buried in the Montmartre Cemetery in Paris. He was posthumously appointed by Shoghi Effendi as one of the 19 Disciples of вЂAbduвЂ™l-BahГЎ. Please note that the term Bahaism is no longer used by BahГЎвЂ™Гs. The appropriate term is the BahГЎвЂ™Г Faith. (Introduction by Nicholas James Bridgewater)