Formative Age

The Bahá’í era depicted graphically.

The Formative Age of the Bahá’í Faith, also known as the Transitional or Iron Age, refers to the present time period that began with the passing of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in 1921 and will last until the establishment of the Golden Age at some point in the future.

Background

Shoghi Effendi described the Formative Age of the Faith as being a period of transition, where the spiritual inspiration of the Heroic Age will be translated into personal and societal change that will lay the foundations for a Golden Age.

"The last twenty-three years of the first Bahá'í century may thus be regarded as the initial stage of the Formative Period of the Faith, an Age of Transition to be identified with the rise and establishment of the Administrative Order, upon which the institutions of the future Bahá'í World Commonwealth must needs be ultimately erected in the Golden Age that must witness the consummation of the Bahá'í Dispensation."

Shoghi Effendi stated that during the Formative Age the Administrative Order would be completed with the establishment of the Universal House of Justice, the Kitáb-i-Aqdas would be codified and its laws promulgated, the Lesser Peace would be established, and that mankind would unite, reaching maturity.

Shoghi Effendi identified the close of the Formative Age as being associated with the establishment of a Bahá’í Commonwealth and the Most Great Peace:

"The onrushing forces so miraculously released through the agency of two independent and swiftly successive Manifestations are now under our very eyes and through the care of the chosen stewards of a far-flung Faith being gradually mustered and disciplined. They are slowly crystallizing into institutions that will come to be regarded as the hall-mark and glory of the age we are called upon to establish and by our deeds immortalize. For upon our present-day efforts, and above all upon the extent to which we strive to remodel our lives after the pattern of sublime heroism associated with those gone before us, must depend the efficacy of the instruments we now fashion—instruments that must erect the structure of that blissful Commonwealth which must signalize the Golden Age of our Faith."

Shoghi Effendi did not give an exact prediction for when the Formative Age would end but did state that both the Formative and Golden Ages may have ended by the 2800's:

"The last twenty-three years of that same century coincided with the first epoch of the second, the Iron and Formative, Age of the Dispensation of Bahá’u’lláh—the first of a series of epochs which must precede the inception of the last and Golden Age of that Dispensation—a Dispensation which, as the Author of the Faith has Himself categorically asserted, must extend over a period of no less than one thousand years ..."

Epochs of the Formative Age

Shoghi Effendi divided the Formative Age into multiple epochs, and the Universal House of Justice has continued to define epochs. As with the Heroic Age, the epochs are not determined by a time interval, but by milestone events. They are separate and distinct to the epochs of the Divine Plan.

First Epoch: 1921 - 1944/46

Shoghi Effendi characterized this epoch as being associated with the erection of the Administrative Order of the Faith. He noted the First Seven Year Plan as being an important aspect of the period.

He described this period in the foreword of God Passes By:

"The inception of this fourth, this last period of the first Bahá’í century synchronizes with the birth of the Formative Age of the Bahá’í Era, with the founding of the Administrative Order of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh—a system which is at once the harbinger, the nucleus and pattern of His World Order. This period, covering the first twenty-three years of this Formative Age, has already been distinguished by an outburst of further hostility, of a different character, accelerating on the one hand the diffusion of the Faith over a still wider area in each of the five continents of the globe, and resulting on the other in the emancipation and the recognition of the independent status of several communities within its pale."

In a 1951 cable Shoghi Effendi places the close of the first epoch at the inauguration of the second Bahá’í century. A letter written on the behalf of the Guardian in 1953 states that the first epoch of the formative age spanned twenty-five years, placing its close as 1946. The Research Department of the Universal House of Justice has clarified that the first epoch ended with the period between 1944 and 1946.

The activities of the Bahá’í community during the first epoch were organized as follows; preparation from 1921 to 1937, the first Seven Year Plan from 1937 to 1944, and consolidation of the results of the plan from 1944 to 1946.

Second Epoch: 1946 - 1963

Shoghi Effendi characterized this period as being associated with the spread of the Faith beyond the confines of the Middle East and the Western Hemisphere through the Divine Plan, and with the rise and consolidation of the World Center of the Faith.

Shoghi Effendi referred to the opening of the second epoch of the Formative Age in his message to the 1947 American National Convention. He described it in that message as follows:

"The epoch we have now entered is destined to impart a great impetus to this historic, this twofold process. It must witness, on the one hand, the consummation of a laboriously constructed Administrative Order, and, on the other, the unfoldment of successive stages in the development of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Plan beyond the confines of the Western Hemisphere and of the continent of Europe."

The activities of the Bahá’í community during the second epoch were organized according to plans. The first major plan was the Second Seven Year Plan for the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States and Canada which began in 1946. Various other plans for other countries were followed during the late 40's and early 50's. A unified international plan known as the Ten Year Crusade began in 1953 and ended in 1963.

Third Epoch: 1963 - 1986

The Universal House of Justice associated the third epoch with the emergence of the Faith from obscurity and initiation of social and economic development plans. It was the first epoch to be inaugurated by the Universal House of Justice which was established in 1963. In a 1963 message from the House the following was written:

"Beloved friends, the Cause of God, guarded and nurtured since its inception by God's Messengers, by the Centre of His Covenant and by His Sign on earth, now enters a new epoch, the third of the Formative Age. It must now grow rapidly in size, increase its spiritual cohesion and executive ability, develop its institutions and extend its influence into all strata of society. We, its members, must, by constant study of the life-giving Word, and by dedicated service, deepen in spiritual understanding and show to the world a mature, responsible, fundamentally assured and happy way of life, far removed from the passions, prejudices and distractions of present day society."

The activities of the Bahá’í community were organized into three Plans during the third epoch. The Nine Year Plan beginning in 1964, the Five Year Plan beginning in 1974, and the Seven Year Plan beginning in 1979. 1963 and 1973 were years for preparation.

Fourth Epoch: 1986 - 2001

The Universal House of Justice associated the fourth epoch with the national communities taking on the responsibility for their own development, with National Assemblies formulating goals in consultation with their Continental Counselors, rather than goals being determined at the World Centre.

In a 1986 message from the House the following was written regarding the new epoch:

"This new process, whereby the national goals of the next Plan are to be largely formulated by National Spiritual Assemblies and Boards of Counselors, signalizes the inauguration of a new stage in the unfoldment of the Administrative Order. Our beloved Guardian anticipated a succession of epochs during the Formative Age of the Faith; have no hesitation in recognizing that this new development in the maturation of Bahá’í institutions marks the inception of the fourth epoch of that Age."

The activities of the Bahá’í community during this epoch were organized according to a Three Year Plan beginning in 1993, a Four Year Plan beginning in 1996, and a Twelve Month Plan beginning in 2000.

Alí Nakhjavání, who was a member of the House, has described the inauguration of the Fourth Epoch:

“As to the fourth epoch and the decision of the Universal House of Justice to open a new epoch with a new Five Year Plan, the reason for such a step was the fact that a stage had generally been reached in the Bahá’í world when a new culture had begun to prevail and a new sense of ownership and participation to evolve. If this sense existed in some old and experienced national communities, it had to be enhanced. The time had come for Training Institutes to become formally and universally established as a permanent feature of the work of every National Spiritual Assembly. This Institute was designed to produce facilitators and tutors who would develop and promote the activities of study circles. Devotional meetings and children’s classes also had to become fixed patterns in every Bahá’í community throughout the world. These core activities would be conducted in such a manner as to open the doors of the community to sympathetic seekers and non-Bahá’ís, both adults and children.”

Fifth Epoch: 2001 - 2022

The Universal House of Justice associated the fifth epoch with the enriching of devotional life in Bahá’í communities through the erection of national Houses of Worship, and the development of the functions of institutions at the World Centre.

The following was written regarding the inauguration of the new epoch in the Houses 2001 Riḍván message:

"The power of will generated by this consciousness characterized the conference of the Continental Counsellors and the members of their Auxiliary Boards who gathered here last January in the Holy Land. The event produced so illuminating an experience as to signalize the Faith's entry into a new epoch, the fifth of it's Formative Age. Such a freshness of vitality as was displayed at this historic gathering came to be understood as a manifestation of the rising quality of activity throughout the community. Pursuit during the past year of the essentials for advancing the process of entry by troops confirmed this observation. The path was thus paved for the Five Year Plan, the first venture being entered upon in the Fifth Epoch."

Upon the conclusion of the Fifth Epoch the Universal House of Justice wrote:

"A prominent feature of the epoch that now ends was the erection of the last of the continental Houses of Worship and the initiation of projects to establish Houses of Worship at the national and local levels. Much has been learned, by Bahá’ís the world over, about the concept of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár and the union of worship and service it embodies. During the sixth epoch of the Formative Age, much more will be learned about the path that leads from the development within a community of a flourishing devotional life—and the service which it inspires—to the appearance of a Mashriqu’l-Adhkár. Consultations are beginning with various National Spiritual Assemblies, and as these proceed, we will periodically announce places where a Bahá’í House of Worship will be raised up in the coming years."

The activities of the international Bahá’í community during this Epoch were organized into a series of Five Year Plans from 2001 to 2021 and a Twelve Month Plan from 2021 to 2022.

Sixth Epoch: 2022 - Present

In its 2022 Riḍván message the Universal House of Justice inaugurated the Sixth Epoch of the Formative Age writing:

"In the extraordinary rise in capacity that has occurred in the last two decades—and which has made it possible for the Bahá’í world to view its endeavours in terms of the release of the society-building power of the Faith—we see incontrovertible evidence that the Cause of God has entered the sixth epoch of its Formative Age."

See also

• History