Messages to Canada

Shoghi EffendiProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.9

Word count: 160K words
Chapters: 17

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Messages to Canada by Effendi ShoghiAuthor: Shoghi, Effendi, 1897-1957,Language: English, Class: BP: Philosophy, Psychology, Religion: Islam, Bahaism, Theosophy, Other and new beliefs, Release Date: Sep 17, 2006

Editor's review

This book is a collection of letters written by Shoghi Effendi to the Bahá'í community in Canada. It is a primary-source document of early Bahá'í administrative literature, released as a free English e-book by Project Gutenberg. Its value lies not in systematic exposition but in showing how a community of faith was guided, organized and encouraged in a specific region: the epistolary form preserves a mix of injunction, exhortation and explanation, letting readers sense directly the author's concern for local affairs and his expectations for the believers' spiritual life. For readers studying the history of the Bahá'í Faith, religious epistolary literature or Canadian religious history, this is a short but information-dense primary text; for general readers it is more an archive that requires background knowledge than an introductory guide. It is best read as historical material rather than popular reading; only with a basic grounding in the Bahá'í Faith and the relevant Canadian historical context can one truly grasp the setting and weight behind the letters.

Who it's for

A good fit for

University faculty and students studying the history and administrative literature of the Bahá'í Faith
Academic readers collecting primary sources on Canadian religious history
Those who need English religious letters as translation or corpus-analysis material
Believer-researchers interested in how local Bahá'í communities operate

Not a good fit for

General readers with no Bahá'í background looking for an introductory book
Readers expecting systematic doctrinal exposition or popular narrative
Those who read only Chinese and are unwilling to look up English terminology

Reading tips

Spend half an hour first learning the basic framework of the Bahá'í Faith and Shoghi Effendi's role, then start the text.
Read through in the chronological order of the letters, marking passages on organization, education and local affairs.
Excerpt recurring injunction vocabulary and compare how the same theme is phrased across different letters.
Read alongside sources on Canadian religious history to understand the letters in their specific historical setting.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Can I understand this book without any Bahá'í background?

You can follow the literal meaning, but it will be hard to fully grasp what the letters are addressing and their weight. It is better to first acquire basic knowledge of the Bahá'í Faith and understand Shoghi Effendi's role in the belief system before reading. Many exhortations and injunctions point to specific local situations, and without background they easily read as vague generalities.

Is this book suitable as an introduction to the Bahá'í Faith?

Not really. It is a collection of letters and a primary document of administrative and spiritual guidance that presumes some background. Introductory readers are better off starting with overview works and then returning to primary texts like this, so they can grasp the specific concerns and historical context.

What supporting materials should I prepare for reading?

It is advisable to have a basic introduction to the Bahá'í Faith, a brief biography of Shoghi Effendi, and material on Canada's religious and social background in the mid-twentieth century. A glossary of English terms is useful for quickly understanding recurring organizational vocabulary.

What should I keep in mind when reading the e-book?

This is a public-domain English e-book released by Project Gutenberg, formatted mainly as plain text and suited to searching and excerpting. Use reading software that supports annotation and take notes by letter number; for academic citation, verify the edition and page-location method yourself.

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About the author

Shoghi Effendi Author · Iranian · 1897–1957

Shoghi Effendi (1897–1957), of Iranian nationality, served as Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith from 1921 to 1957. He was the eldest grandson of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, was born in Acre, and studied at Oxford University. He long directed the development of Bahá'í administrative affairs worldwide and devoted himself to translating and interpreting Bahá'í scriptures, playing a bridging role in the community. Seventeen of his works are held in the collection, mostly under inspirational growth, including The World Order of Bahá'u'lláh, God Passes By, Citadel of Faith, and collected letters to America, Canada, Alaska, Australia and New Zealand. These writings, chiefly letters and treatises, are solemn and earnest in tone, addressing the order of the Faith, historical reflection and community building. Public information is limited, so his biographical details should not be over-speculated; his works show a concise, clear style that has deeply influenced the organization and spiritual life of the modern Bahá'í community.