Upon an examination of revisions in recent Bahá'í literature, it seems that the institution of the Guardian of the Cause of God has been the subject of the most widespread bowdlerization of texts.

Upon an examination of revisions in recent Bahá'í literature, it seems that the institution of the Guardian of the Cause of God has been the subject of the most widespread bowdlerization of texts. The office of the Guardian was first established by Abdu'l-Bahá in his Will and Testament. Shoghi Effendi, his eldest grandson, was named as the first in a succession of hereditary Guardians. The Guardian is the authoritative interpreter of the holy writings and the permanent head of the Universal House of Justice, the supreme administrative body which was referred to by Bahá'u'lláh in his Kitab-i-Aqdas. Through the Guardianship, the Cause of God is believed to be safeguarded from schism, because he is to be under the protection and infallible guidance of Bahá'u'lláh and the Bab. (67) However, the Bahá'í world was thrown into confusion when Shoghi Effendi died suddenly on November 4, 1957. He had left no Will or instructions, and he had named no successor. Since all of Bahá'u'lláh's living male descendents had been declared Covenant-breakers by Shoghi Effendi, the Hands of the Cause of God assumed authority over the entire Bahá'í community. The Hands were a group of leading Bahá'ís who had been chosen in accordance with Abdu'l-Bahá's Will and had been named "the Chief Stewards of Bahá'u'lláh's embryonic World Commonwealth" by Shoghi Effendi, shortly before his death. The Hands of the Cause moved the community in a direction which culminated in the election of the Universal House of Justice. This was accomplished with surprisingly little opposition or schism.

Changes in books written prior to 1957 indicate that the failure of what was to be a perpetual, divinely ordained and protected institution became a delicate subject with the Bahá'í Administration. But, it should be pointed out that, although there have been numerous revisions, there are still books which have not been changed at all. So, there does not appear to be a conspiracy or systematic program to eradicate the notion of a continuous Guardianship. However, the books which have been substantially reworked are popular introductions and histories, often used for propagating the Faith.

John Ferraby's All Things Made New is second only to Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era in the number of textual changes. The original edition, first published in 1957, was dedicated "To Shoghi Effendi: The First Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith." (69) In the 1987 edition the dedication is "To Shoghi Effendi: The Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith," implying that there was to be only one Guardian. (70) Ferraby originally stated that, "Abdu'l-Bahá, in his turn, arranged that the Cause would still have a visible Centre after His passing, by providing for a succession of Guardians of the Cause of God to follow him." He then included over two hundred words from Abdu'l-Bahá's Will to explain the importance of the perpetual Guardianship and how successors are to be chosen. (71) This entire section has been rewritten in later editions, stating that Abdu'l-Bahá's Will only provided for "the possibility of a succession of Guardians..." And, the portions of Abdu'l-Bahá's Will have been replaced with the statement,"Although there could have been a series of Guardians, there is nowhere in the writings any promise or guarantee that the line of Guardians would not be broken but would endure forever." (72)

But, there were others who were also convinced that the institution of the Guardianship would continue. George Townshend, another Hand of the Cause, wrote that,"When it is written that 'the government shall be upon his shoulder' the reference can be to the Guardian only and the continuing 'forever' of his sovereignty can only be referred to the lineage of succeeding Guardians." (73) In later editions, Townshend's interpretation of this passage from the Biblical book of Isaiah which he said could only apply to the Guardian has been changed to refer to "the devolution by Bahá'u'lláh of supreme authority upon his divinely guided institutions..." (74) Shoghi Effendi's wife Ruhiyyih Rabbani was convinced that her husband was the first in a line of Guardians. In a book which is no longer in print, she argued that: "The principle of successorship, endowed with the right of Divine interpretation, is the very hub of the Cause into which its Doctrines and Laws fit like the spokes of a wheel - tear out the hub and you have to throw the whole thing away." (75)

Finally, it is important to consider Shoghi Effendi's understanding of the nature of the Guardianship. He was probably more familiar with his grandfather's Will than anyone and he is believed to have been endowed with divine inspiration to make authoritative interpretations of the Writings. (76) The original edition of The Selected Writings of Shoghi Effendi included numerous references to the institution of the Guardianship and its inspired origin, its perpetual nature, and its absolute centrality to the Covenant. This collection of his writings opened with a large extract from the Will and Testament of Abdu'l-Bahá which could best be summed up as an appeal to the believers to be "firm in the Covenant" and follow the divine guidance which can only be found in the Cause of God. In the 1975 edition most of the text of this appeal has been removed, except for two paragraphs which promised that the Twin Pillars of the Guardianship and the Universal House of Justice are under the guidance and protection of Bahá'u'lláh and the Bab. However, the phrase "...and after him will succeed the first-born of his lineal descendants" no longer appears at the end of the paragraph concerning the Guardian. (77) Two complete pages have been removed from the original edition without notation, including this explicit statement:

Divorced from the institution of the Guardianship the World Order of Bahá'u'lláh would be mutilated and permanently deprived of that hereditary principle which, as Abdu'l-Bahá has written, has been invariably upheld by the Law of God. 'In all Divine Dispensations,' He states, in a Tablet addressed to a follower of the Faith in Persia, 'the eldest son hath been given extraordinary distinctions. Even the station of prophet hood hath been his birthright.' Without such an institution the integrity of the Faith would be imperilled, and the stability of the entire fabric would be gravely endangered. (78)

-Vance Salisbury
https://bahai-library.com/salisbury_critical_examination_literature