Customer Reviews

Portals to Freedom

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For those of you interested in the Baha'i Faith, I feel that you will find the story of Howard Colby Ives, (a prominent Christian Clergman of his time), both heart warming and informative. The book describes the impact of the Baha'i Faith on the early American Followers of the Religion, and details the spirituail transformation that Colby Ives goes through as he encounters Abdul Baha,(the son of the Phrophet Founder of the Baha'i Faith), when he visited the United States in the early 1900's. Howard Colby Ives became a prominent Bahai. I feel that this book is a must read, and a book that I read as I was deciding to become a Baha'i. I keep two or three extra copies to loan to other souls, seeking information about the Baha'i Faith, as was done for me.

Portals to Freedom

Book Review
Portals to Freedom
by Howard Colby Ives
George Ronald, Oxford 1947.

When I first came upon this book in the Amazon listing, I expected a new work by an author new to me, and thus a fresh look at a subject as old as time itself. To find that it was first published in 1947 was surprising indeed in this world of instant gratification and "What's New?"

The author was a Christian Unitarian Minister whose relatively sheltered life was thrown into turmoil through having met numerous times with 'Abdu'l-Baha, a charismatic gentleman of Persian descent who visited the United States in 1912. Of this visit, George Ronald, the original publisher of Portals to Freedom, remarked that "...If the claims of the Baha'i Faith have any reality, the story which it tells may well come to be regarded as the most significant and outstanding event in American history." Howard Ives' story is historical, a one-of-a-kind taste of an unusual and arresting overview of what might well have occurred to a few individuals during the Life of Jesus. That Ives was a "man of the cloth" frames the story in an unique light. I was reminded of the lines from Robert Frost's, The Road Not Taken: "...I took the road less traveled by, and that has made all the difference..."

In view of my having noted the steadily increasing influence of those claims to which Mr. Ronald referred, not only in the "Old World" but in the New as evidenced in the West, I borrowed a copy of the book from my local library, read it from cover to cover, and knew I had to have a copy of my own. My "fresh look" expectation was indeed there, rendering timeless the message inferred therein given to all and sundry: "A new world order is come."

The author's story begins in the years leading to World War I in which he sees a crumbling of beliefs in God and human morals. He says of his first meeting with 'Abdu'l-Baha, "...A new and exquisite emotion all but mastered me. My throat swelled. My eyes filled. I could not have spoken had life depended on a word... That is all. But life has never been quite the same since." His adventures from that time until his final talk with 'Abdu'l-Baha aboard the ship S. S. Celtic which was to return him to the Holy Land, are of the most remarkable nature and substance. The writing is beautifully descriptive and carries in its wording an humble flair for simplicity that sets it apart from fiction or faction in the modern Western sense. I can see readily why Portals to Freedom was deemed worthy of repeated printings even in today's late date and in the face of popular demand for greater and greater elaboration of human foibles - this is a quiet but gripping account of a Christian Minister who met and talked with a man of simple greatness that spoke to his soul.

No doubt in the interests of producing a book for low cost the publisher mentions among the opening pages that a photo of the person the author met belongs on that page, but instead lists only his name and the date the photo had been taken. By the magic of today's instant world wide internet one has but to enter the search command "Abdul Baha photo" into the Google search box and four views of him appears on the screen.. (A translation of the Persian words of his name/title is "Servant of The Glory.") I was struck by how similar his likeness seems to various artist's renderings of how Jesus might have appeared to those in His audience. I quote at length from the author's introduction: "...To those bred in the Christian tradition one might ask what would be the probable effect upon them if they could have been among the audience when the Sermon on the Mount was spoken, or if one of them, like John, could have reclined upon the breast of the Master. Without daring to suggest that the comparison is parallel, my own experience when brought into close association with 'Abdu'l-Baha', was so overwhelming, so fraught with sensations suggesting an entrance into a new and super-mundane world, that I can think of no other comparison more adequate."

I now own my own copy of Portals to Freedom!.

--Waldo T. Boyd, reviewer.

This book is a magical account of meetings with a Christian Pastor and the son of the Founder of the Baha'i Faith, Abdu'l-Baha. Set back in 1912, you will feel as if you were there for these intimate talks with two very enlightened men. My heart was filled with joy and my eyes with tears in reading and experiencing a trip back in time to a spiritual world full of mysteries This book will leave you with a sense of joy, peace and awe at the Glory of God and our purpose in this life. This very personal book will pierce your soul.

This book is a deeply intimate and emotional account of how one man, earnestly seeking truth and meaning his whole adult life, was spiritually reborn after meeting Abdu'l-Baha.

Some of you may be fans of the "The Power of Now" by Eckhart Tolle. This book, like Tolle's, will if you are ready for it, completely and utterly shatter your world view.

Now the work is to hold on to this new perspective! Thankfully we can read the books over again. :o)

I have to admit that I am hopelessly intrigued by stories of Abdu'l-Bahá! I loved "Promulgation of Universal Peace," "Paris Talks," "Abdu'l-Bahá in London" and "Sweet and Tender Stories" because of the glimpses they gave me of the life of this extraordinary Exemplar of the Faith. "Portals to Freedom," however, brought me to an even greater appreciation of Abdu'l-Bahá's life and his tour of North American in 1912 because it is a glimpse of Him through the eyes of a Christian Minister. This book gave me a new perspective on my Christian roots and how well they are integrated into the message that has been brought to us by the Manifestation of God for our time. I am so grateful for the suggestion that I read this book - and even more grateful that I decided to accept the suggestion!

The item was received in a timely manner and my product was received in perfect condition.