Thou hast written of a verse in the Gospels, asking if at the time of
Christ all souls did hear His call. Know that faith is of two kinds. The
first is objective faith that is expressed by the outer man, obedience of
the limbs and senses. The other faith is subjective, and unconscious
obedience to the will of God. There is no doubt that, in the day of a
Manifestation such as Christ, all contingent beings possessed subjective
faith and had unconscious obedience to His Holiness Christ.
For all parts of the creational world are of one whole. Christ the
Manifestor reflecting the divine Sun represented the whole. All the parts
are subordinate and obedient to the whole. The contingent beings are the
branches of the tree of life while the Messenger of God is the root of
that tree. The branches, leaves and fruit are dependent for their
existence upon the root of the tree of life. This condition of unconscious
obedience constitutes subjective faith. But the discerning faith that
consists of true knowledge of God and the comprehension of divine words,
of such faith there is very little in any age. That is why His Holiness
Christ said to His followers, "Many are called but few are chosen."