The Master's Voice

Abdu'l-Baha was the greatest interpreter and exemplar of his Father's teachings — and one of the most remarkable public speakers in modern religious history. From the salons of Paris to the churches and synagogues of America, from the war-shadowed talks of the early 1910s to the intimate conversations preserved in later collections, Abdu'l-Baha translated Baha'u'llah's revelation into language the world could hear. This course surveys the major collections of his talks, set within the historical sweep of his ministry: the imprisonment in Akka, the journeys to the West (1911-1913), and the final years that produced the Tablets of the Divine Plan. The course moves chronologically through the principal collections: *Some Answered Questions* (the table talks in Akka), *Paris Talks* (the earliest Western audiences), *The Promulgation of Universal Peace* (the American lectures of 1912), *Selections from the Writings of Abdu'l-Baha*, and other key compilations. Students encounter Abdu'l-Baha as theologian, social reformer, peacemaker, and spiritual guide — and learn to navigate one of the richest bodies of religious discourse in Ocean Library.