6- Newspapers - Before the talk

Worcester Evening Gazette, Tuesday, May 21, 1912.  Page 2 column 1.

Source: Worcester, MA Public Library.

ABBAS EFFENDI COMING TO GIVE TALK AT CLARK

Head of Bahamism Visits This City on Thursday Afternoon.

    His excellency, Abbas Effendi or Abdul Baha, by which name he is most popularly known, will make an address presenting the main points of the religious faith of which he is leader, at Clark university on Thursday, May 23, at 4 p. m.

    Abdul Baha is making a short tour in this country in the interests of his faith, which has many followers the world over.  To those who know of him through his work, he is a character that is held in absolute veneration and with deepest affection.  To those who have not known of this great religion, it affords an opportunity of listening to a man who has built up a religion under the most adverse circumstances.

     Bahamism began in Persian in the early 30s and 40s and was known as the Bab religion.  The followers were persecuted and the Bab was executed in 1850. Baha Ullah, from whom the religion gets its name, is the father of Abdul Baha.  The followers were fearfully persecuted so that those who did join its ranks did so only because it had something for them, and in this way only the strongest men came, for they knew the penalty.  Despite this fact, it has grown until now it has millions of followers and several hundred thousands in the United States.

    They believe that all religions are in a way revelations of divine truth, and theirs combines all customary religious teachings of Christianity with a greater liberality.  They emphasize the brotherhood of races, love, charity, sacrifice, kindliness, universal peace and language.

    Abdul Baha is 68 yeas old and was in prison at Akka, Asia Minor, for 40 years under the Turkish government.  He was released within the last three or four years from the place where, during his whole imprisonment, he directed the teachings of this vast throng.

    This affords a wonderful opportunity for the public to listen to a man who has stirred so many millions. He will probably be dressed in his native garb.

    The address will be under the direction of the department of history of Clark university, and arrangements have been made through the efforts of Prof. George H. Blakeslee. 

Worcester Telegram 2nd edition, Wednesday, May 22, 1912.  

Source: Copy from Worcester LSA, the 2nd edition of the paper is not available at Worcester Public Library :-(

ABDUL BABA TO SPEAK.

Great Religious Teacher Will Talk at Clark University Thursday.

    Abdul Baba, or Abbas Effendi, as he is called by his millions of followers, the holy head of the Bab or Bahai religion, will speak at Clark university at 4 o'clock Thursday afternoon.

    Professor George H. Blakeslee, head of the department of history, received word yesterday morning that his eminence would be able to address the students at that hour.

    The Bab religion has had on of the most phenomenal developments of any of the new religions of modern times, and its rapid growth is comparable to that of non of the more modern faiths unless it be Mormonism.

    The fact that in a few decades the followers of the original Bab have come to be numbered in millions and have missionaries in most of the civilized world, including this country, fore there are missionaries in Chicago and a church there, has aroused the interest of theologists and students of religious sociology all over the world.

    The Bab religion started in 1844 in Persia, in which country nearly 50 percent of the people are followers of that faith.  A Persian, by the name of Bab, proclaimed himself the herald of a might one, who was to be a Persian, and would come in the future.

    The Bab, so-called, was executed by religious fanatics in 1850.  soon after one of his followers announced himself as being the might one who the Bab had said would come and the revelation of God for the present day.  He died in 1892, and the present Bab, Abbas Effendi, is now at the head of the church, and is supposed to be possessed with divine faculties.  He has been imprisoned in Persia for 50 years, but was liberated during the young Turks' revolution of 1908.

    The Babbists would found a universal faith, laying great stress on the brotherhood of man.  To become a member of their faith they do not demand that a person alienate himself from other religious bonds.  Like the Mormons, they believe that the Baba religion is the most recent revelation of god.

    Among the things which they would bring about are the abolition of all war, an international tribunal for the settlement of disputes between nations, and universal language.  They are not explicit as to immortality and future life. Although they have been much persecuted in Persia, they have sh own a remarkable fortitude, great devotion and heroism, and their missionaries have been successful everywhere.

    Abdul Baba is now in this country visiting those who are followers of the faith, and stimulating the work of those who desire to propagate the new religion in this country.  His person is supposed to be endowed with a peculiar sanctity and he is highly revered by those who profess the Bab.  It is claimed that in this country alone the efforts of the missionaries have converted over 100, 000 people.

    The Bab is 68 years old.  He will speak in his native costume.