Vol. III.

Regist.ered l. No. 303,

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No.2.

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QADIAN,

I

I

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I ~

THE

(REVIEW OF RELICIONS

(FEBRUARY 1904.)

CONTENTS.

PAGE.

Tn E UNIQUENESS OF JE~US

37 51

TIn~ NATUHE OF Pl1AYEH. AND ITS BLESSING':)

.'l'HI~; llANAGBA'1' Mli:-lSIONAH.Y

57

NOTES AND COMMENTS

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1'111<: BIBLI': S'l'l)DI~N'1'8' UNlON AND nIF: HIOHER CIUITCISM 70

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THE REVIEW OF RELIGIONS.

VOL. 111.]

FEBI~UAnY 1004.

[No.2

r~~ JJ ) vr": ) ) 41) ) I-~

r~. J5:J , 6.J }AN ) u-1.c uLaj ) II v..o.S\j

The Nature of Prayer and its Blessings.

(BY THE PROMISED MESSIAH.)

It is commonly thought, and often urged as an argument agll.inst the efficacy of pra.yer, that a prayor to God and the seeking of means arc two opposite lines, and tll<Lt since tho latter course is sufficient for the attainment of an end, a man need not resort to the former. 'I'his objection agahlsr. pmyol' is not only directed from tho atheistical camp, but wonderful as it may a.ppe:1f, even within the circle of Islam there arc men, by no mc~~us few in numbers, who cntertvin this mistaken view. When we cast a glance at the Divine laws manifested in external nature, it becomes q ui.te clear. that there is a. necessary aud indissoluble connection between means and pt·ayer. Anyone who sots before himself the at.tainmen t of an object, at first looks for the means and endeavours to his utmost to find out tho agencies by which ho call possibly attain that end. In this search for means he has to apply all his faculties to the object before hiui and give his whole attention to the finding of those means. vVhQn we are sick, for instance, we seek for the proper remedy, or if we have not the skill which can enable us ,to find the true remedy, we call in a physician who reflects .on tho causes and nature of our disease, and whose genius is sometimes guided to a remedy which removes our illness to some extent. The method

38

THE REVIF:W Oli' RELJOlOUa

(February

thus Bugge.iLed is the result of n. deep l'of1t:ction and of the considcrntion given to the question, which, iu other words, may be called a prayer. ]'01' when we strive hard in search of what is hidden from U8 and unknown to us, we really see k fur guidance from a Higher power from whom nothing is hiddeu, ill a language which is expressed by 0111' very condition. In fact it cannot be doubted that when, in search of a thing, the sou! stretches out its hands in true zeal and ardour to the Gi ver of all gifts, and finding itself weak and unable to attain the end by itself seeks for light from some othor source, it is plunged in a prayerful meditation, and ita cond ibion then is truly of one who prays to God. It is thus prayer which is tho key to all treasures of knowledge and which has brought about the discovery of so mn.ny sciences. Our meditations and reflections and our search for that which is hidden from us, are all a sort of prayer. 'I'he difference is only this tha.t the truly wise, the holy men of God, pray with due respect to Him whom they recognise to be the Source of all blessings and their supplications are based upon a clear knowledge, while the prayer of those upon whose eyes a veil is cast, is like wu.ndering in darkness and it bkes the form of meditatiou and reflection. Both have the same object ill view, viz., the opening of hidden wayt! and deep paths and the discovery of means which would make them successful in the attainment of an end. 'I'he person who has not H. true knowledge of God and a certain faith in His existence, is ignorant of the Giver from whom he must seek, but still when in distresa he seeks for assistance from some other source which he docs not know. He walks in darkness and does not know that the way opened to him upon reflection and consideration is also opened by God. But Almighty God sees the heart and looking upon its meditations as ))rayer, guides the man, who is thus engaged, in the attainment of his object. In short, it is God who breathes into the hearts of men new points of wisdom and knowledge, for Almighty God knows that it is !-Ie from whom the assissanoc is sought thougl~ _...the seeker may be unaware of it. If, as stated above, the search is made and assistance sought with a certain knowledge of the true Guide and a certain belief in His existence, it is a devout prayer as required by the holy Word of God. But if the search for true light degene-

1904,)

THE NATUItE OF I'ltA YEn AND ITS DLESSINGS,

39

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rates ouly into a search of means by deep consideration and reflection, and the source from which that ligh~ comes is not recognised, it il! a pmyer OVeL' which the veil of ignorance is drawn.

It is, therefore, clear that prayer has precedence of means and thltt it is an essential step for every pcrson who sete any object before himself. Every OlH1 who seeks to gain an end must pass over this bridgo. To set prayer in opposition to means is the height of absurdity. When we pray to God we only supplicate the Almighty Being, who has superior knowledge of the subtlest and most hidden means, to infuse into our minds some suitable aud proper plan or by' His creati ve power to bring into existence S0Il10 plan which can bring about the object that is- before us. Means, therefore, are not opposed to prayer but a result of them •. Moreover as this close connection

. between means and prayer is established by the laws of nature, human nature also bears witness to it, It is not only to means and remedies that the nature of man turns in distress and disease, but it also seeks a relief in alms and prayer. A glance at the different uatious of the world establishes the universality of this rule. Resorting to prayer is, therefore, as well a req uirement of human nature as the seeking' of moans, and both these methods for the attainment of au eud are, like twin brothers, the benefactors of human nature. Prayer ope~s the way to means, and the search of means calls for prayer. The true success and prosperity of a man lie in this that before adverting to means he should resort to prayer and seek assistance from the true Giver of all gifts, 80 tha.n being fed from that source of light, he may find tho best and most suitable plans.

'I'he necessity of prayer is evident from another point of view. Wo cannot say with certainty that a particular measure would lead to a particular end or that a particular remedy would cure a particular disease. Under these circumstancea no greater misfortune can befall no man than that trusting in probabilities, he should omit to seek the grace and mercy of God by means of prayer, ]'U1' what is it that we seek in prayer? ']'he whole object of our prayer to God is that He may either protect us from a disease for instance and thus save us the trouble of resorting to medicines, or going to physicians, 01' if we are suffering from a disease that He, the Knower of all secrets, should (mabie us tu diagnose

40

THE llEVIEW OF ItELIGIONS.

the disca .... e rightily and discover the proper remedy. Can it be doubted that there is :I, Highor Doing who holds all power ill His hands and to Whose will and order OUl' li v cs aro wholly subject r When He wills a certain thing, the whole system of earth and heavens obeys His order and turns in tho direction in which He wishes to turn it. If it is HiH will tha,t tho health of n, country should he good at a particular moment, He brillgs about moans which arc lleccs~mry fOI' that cnd. On the other hand, when it it; His will that any country should be infected with a pestilence, He brings into cxisteuco tho causos which would bring about the desired object. 'I'hc dominion of earth and heavens is in His hands and every particle of the uni verso hears His voice and obeys it. HiH power has not ended with the orcabiou of the world. Even now He creates and exercises His dominion us He did before. Our own bodies bJ:I,I' wituoss to lIi~ now creation. 'I'ho old part.iolcs of tho body nrc momently dying away whilo now ones take their place. Almighty God is coutiuun.lly creatiug and continually auuihilatiug, One world perishes every moment while another is brought into existence. Almig hty God is also tho supporter of what He has

. ,

created and everything has ttnscxistence on account of His support.

It is a great error to supposc jthat, He did not create matter and soul, 01' that having created them once, Ho lias now nothing more to. do with them. no is the soul of every !:IOU I, and everything. owes. its existence aud the coutinuaucc of its existence to Him only. As we have not come iuto existence without His act, so we cannot live without 11 is support. If lIe is then the God in whose hands is our life [mel death, and in obedience to w hom tho particles of our body unite and disunite, what a ~l'ievol1s error to think that we can do aught or [ivo prosperously by our own machinabious and independently of Him 1 Such is not the case. Our plans ;1.lI)~ come from Him. Our intellect is without a light unless He enliglttens it. 'l'hc clements are not under our control, and we have 110 power over the lrLWS of nature. There are numerous causes which have their effect on our h-alt.h and thoy arc not controlled by us but by God who iH their author. It is in reference to this that Almighty

God .~ays i~~ the Hol y Quran i I..:J!:-! ;~ ..... ~J ) y tS\.w.J J.) f ~;J ) '-.Jl.~. }"'J j

o..:J )lHJ. (" j.llJ w tJ. ~ vi' ) )) J) ~ t~ wJ, " A nd the chance of winds

, 0

and clouds (is the work of Goel) , and heroin are 01gn8 of the exis-

1904.)

TII'W NA1'Uln: or I'HAYlm AND 1'l'S BT,108sINa8.

41

-------

__ -_-_. ------- ... ---------------

tcnce of God and of Hit! power fur the wise." The change hero spoken of is a two-fold change, i c., an upparcnt change of winds and clouds or their turuing from one direction to another direction and from oue place to another place, and a change in their qualities or making the air and. water morbiferous or salu brious in their effects, producing plagues and pestilences in the ono case and promoting health ill the other. Man has no control in bringing abou t these changes.' Moreover there arc numerous other causes, so subtle, obscure and hidden that the human eye cannot discover them, which oxert no beneficial or injurious effect upon our health, and no one call by his own exertions make them subservient to hili own cause. There is not the least doubt then that man stands in urgent need of turning for assistauce to Him who has sllprelIlO control over all primary as well alb the remotest causes.

'I'he 'VOl'd of God has kept a clear distinction between tho two men, one of whom looking upon Almighty God a') the fountain-hend of all blessings, seeks His assistance and su pport by prayers, expressed by his condition or uttered with the tongue, while the other rciyillg upon his own strength and plans considers prayer as mere trash and a thing to be langhecl ltt and walks in va.niby as if he were independcut of God. 'l'hc a iffcrcnce between the two is the difference between the good and the bad man. 'rho person who in distress or difficulty resorts to prayer and seeks from God the solution or removal of his difficulties, is blessed with tranquility of mind and true happiness, provided that his prayer has all the requisites of a. true prayer ill it. Even if he dues not nttain the object for which he pra.ys, he is granted peace and security of mind from God and docs not meet disappointment or dissatisfaction. Besides success, his faith is thus strengthened and his belief in God attains a higher degree of certuiuty. But the person who docs not turn to God with prayers, lives and dies a blind man. It may be thought by a superfici»] observer that sometimes the man who prays witnesses failure while another man who neither prays nor believes in God is successful in his undertrtkinge, and seems to have triumphed for n while over the supplicator. 'I'his is not actually the case. As pointed out above, the true object of prayer is thcnttaintueuf of true felicity and of the pC~LCC and security of mind. It is by no moans true that our real happiness consists only in the attaiumeut of the object prayed for. The Omniscient God

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THIt mWf.EW (II!' HELTOIONS.

(Fcbruary

_.~ ~_ • ·_a • "._._ ~~. .. .. _. • .. .•• ~_._.' . ._. _

ouly knows what coust.itutcs our real happiness and therefore our devout prayers aro accepted by Him by the bestowal on us of true happiness which is the real object of our prayers. It iA impossible that the man who prays with devoutness and sincerity ,of soul, should meet with d isappointmeut and sorrow. The supreme felicity which neither wealth nor dominion, nor even health, can bring to us, aud which is solely in the hands of God, who grantA it. 1;0 whom He will in the way He chooses, that perfect bliss is granted after devout and sincere prayers. When God wills it, a righteous sor v ant of HiH in the groateHt distress finds himself after prayer in a state of blissfulness w hich the greatest monarch has never. experienced in the height of his power. He who finds this state of bliss attains the real object and his griefs and anxieties end in, JOY,

But true satisfaction and real happiness· are obtained only by devout and sincere prayers, and hence tho man who follows his own plans cannot taste of true delight even though he may attain the object which he wished for, His very success is a failure for beneath it is all suffering. He docs not look to the end, but judges matters from an apparent and temporary success or failure. The truth is that a, good end is reserved only for such· as fear God and pra.y to Him. Theirs is tho true success for they find supreme delight and perfect felicity.

It is unjust to deny the grace which flows exclusively from prayer, and to scorn the teachings of the holy prophets of God whose lives were itlustratious of the marvellous efficacy of prayer. Is it not true that it was by tho prayers of those holy ones that their arrogant and contumacious enemies who opposed and persecuted them, were brought to disgrace or destruction? Consider the efficacy of Noah's pmyer which washed away his enemies by a deluge; reflect upon the power of Moses' prayer which swept off Pharaoh with all his hosts; look at the efficaciousness of the curse which J ~sus pronounced against the Jews and which became the means of their destruction at the hands of tho Romans; and think about the prayers of our own Lord and Master against his cruel persecutors and torturers how they brought the wicked mischief~makers to a sad eud. Is it not a satisfactory proof that according to a spiritual law which can be traced to the earliest times of the prophets, the

1904.).

TIm NATURE m' PRA YF.R AND ITS Br.F.S~rNGg.

43

k ind.ncss of the Div iue Being especially comes into motion on devout andhu mbl o pra.yers, awl t,hc f\Vour~ of sec urity and satisfaction of mind and of true bliss are only then granted in full abundance? If we pray for the .right object, it is grunted to U8, and if on nccount of our ignorance wo arc guilty of an error like the Billy child who asks his mother. to let him hand le a burnin g coal or a serpent, Almighty Goel who has !:mpreme knowledge of the means of our welfare, bestows upon us some other gift which ie conducive to our good and happiness, And whether our prayers are accepted by granting us the very object prayed for or otherwise, our faith is greatly strengthened, for from the answers to our pra.yers we know beforehand of their acceptance and conscquen L1y we, as it were, sec God.

It should be borne in mind that we cannot hring about tho acceptance of our pra.yers by OUl' own efforts. \Vhen it is the will of God that no certain object should be performed, the Divine law is that some oneof His righteous servants is moved to pra.y for it, his condition expressing utter helplessness and disquietude for the at.tainment of that object. and his whole attention and care being occupied with its performance. 'I'he devout and humble prayers of such a ono who loses himself entirely in the contemplation of Divine Majesty and Glor-y, draw tho grace of God from heaven, and Almight.y God brings into existence such means and agencies as are necessary for lninging about the attainment of that object. Though the petitioner iu such a case is evidently a man, yet he is 80 far annihilated in God and at the time of prayor walks in such utter annihilation of his self, that his hand at that time is not his own hand, but the hand of God. 8110h is the prayer by which God is recoznised and the existence of that Glorious Being d iscoverod , Who is Lid den behind thousands of screens. For those who 'pray in this manner, heaven is brought nearer to earth, and the prayer being accepted, unknown ways of the solution of their difficulties arc revealed. This is often revealed to the supplicants before the occurrence Of the events, or at least the cer .. tainty of the acceptance of their prayers is driven like <1, nail of iron into the core of their hearts. 'I'ho truth is that if the efficacy of prayer had not been a reality. no human bting could ever havo realized tho certainty of the truth of Divine existence. It is prarey

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TITE RF:VrEW OF rmtWWNS

(Februa.t·y

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that leads UH to the fountain of inspiration and prayer whichmakoa us talk with God. When a person prays with true siucerity, love, fu.ithfnlncss and submission to God until his own self is completely annihilated, then the living God who is hidden from the eyes of the world, manifests Himself to him. Prayer is a necessity of our life not only on account of its usefulness in the at.tainment of our worldly objects, but also because without the mauifcstation of the heavenly signs which appear after true and sincere prayers, the face of the God of glory is Hot revealed to man in its full effulgence. An ignoruut mau thinks that prayer is a meaningless thing, but he is not aware that it is by prayer only that Almighty God shines in His glory upon the seekers and reveals to them His wonderful power and might. Let every oue who thirsts for certainty, bear in mind that ill this lifo prayet' is the only moans fur a seeker aftcrispirit.u~l light which can bring about a certainty in the existence of God and dispel tho darkness of all doubts and misgivingH. 'rho man who

atta.ins his objects without prayer, does not know from whom h'1 has got them. The person who lays stress 011 tho efficacy of means, and is indifferent to lwayer, hardly ever entertains the idea that the objects he has attained have been of a certainty granted by Almighty God. On the other hand, tho person who on his prayer is given the glad tidings of SllGCeSS in his undertaking, ad varices in Divino love and knowledge on the fulfilment of that object and witnesses a manifest heavenly sig-Il upon the acceptance of his prayer. Being thus filled with ccrtaiuty from time to time, he is purged of every sin and every sinful tendency and becomes so to say a spirit. on account of his perfect freedom from every earthly desire, But tho man who through 'prayer never w itnesses the signs of the mercy of Almighty God is devoid of true certainty not.withstanding his successes in the attain mont of his objects and the possession of means of comfort and treasures of wealth. His prosperity instead of exercising any healthy and beneficial influence over him gradually hardens his heart and only adds to his vanity and self-glory. His faith in ,God, if he has such faith, is a lifeless and vapid thing which cannot rostrnin hi m from yielding to tho passions of flesh or bring about a. pure transformation in his life .

. It can scarcely be advancod as a serious objection to the efficacX

1!)04.)

'l'Ug NA'rl1m~ o~' PUA ygu, ANI) I'J'R Jl1.l<~S81NGS.

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of praYCl: Llw,t, [,he pre-ordained decrees of God arc unchuuucablc, Pur, if their unchungcublencss prcvcntx the efllcucy of prayer, it, must also prevent the efficacy of medicines and ill fact of all sorts of plans for the attaimncnt of various objects, 13uL as the properties of medi-

cines arc established by experience and their efficacy in hcul illg diseases it'! frcqucutly witnessed, so the acceptance of prayer and its powerful efficacy aro facta based 011 the ex pericncc of wise and holy men. Whether this deep secret nmy or ma.y not be plainly realized by tho generality of men, it is a most certain fact whoso trut.h has been borne witness to by the experienceof millions of the righLeous servants of God in ali agetl, and by the writer's own proved experience in this age. I have witnessed thousands of times with my own eyes this hidden truth that our prayers have a magnetic, power which draws tho gracc and mercy of God. Prayer is als» the true essence and spirit of our J.lo,maz, i.e., daily prayCl'H, and in the Faiilca when we pray t.o God in tho words r~:i.""''9'J J b J J..aJ J li v~ J we only wish to draw by means of this prayer the heavenly light which descends from God and fills the heart with love and certainty.

Some men think that prayer may be resorted to, but prayer means only the worship of God and it is a deed of merit which wilt be reworded hereafter. This is a serious error. Bvel'y dovot.ion which is devoid of true spirituality and every reward which is vai nly looked for at some future moment, is (l, worthless thillg or au idle hope. Sincere worship of God and true reward make their light and blessings felt in this very world. It is the sign of the acceptauco of our devotions that when praying to God we witness with cur spiritual eyc that n pnnaccun light descends from God, nullifying the effect of the poisonous matters ill our heart, and falling upon l1!:1 like a flame of fire burns away the carnal desires and fills the heart with certainty and w il h a holy feeling of love and joy, and opens the breast for receiving truths and heavenly wisdom. If the mind does not experience these LhillgH, our worship and devotions are nothing' more than lifeless ceremonies. Evcry prayer, though it be for the rcrnovu l

'of our worldly difficulties, casts a benignant influence on our minds. It first strengthens om faith and increases our Divine knowledge, and after granting a security, openncos, and bl iRI·;flllnoss to the: mind, it then dispels the gloom of our distresses and bauishcs our cares and

46

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...... _-_ .. _._ ... _._._._---- -........ . ..... _ •.. _

sorrows' III one way or another. 'I'he mere u tteruuce of a few words, docs not, therefore, cousbi tu to I.lr pl'a yer. A truc prayer is that which has actually no magnetic power, und after which a light descends, from heaven which dissiputee the clouds of our anxieties, and grants· us a:. pc;:.ee and sccuriuy of mind. It if:} true thab Divine assistance is vouchsnfcd to' us in one of two ways nftcr a true prayer, vie., either the ditllculty which would crush ue under rits weight is altogether removed, or \VO' arc grant.ed no HU pcruutura.l power to bear it, and' thou we- find a joy and n; bliss in it), uud being freed from all un .... easiness' our breast is opened for its reception. In both casea Divino' aHsistt\n(m docs, certainly come to Us after a devout and sincere'

prn.yer~

'1"0 understand the' acceptance of prayer, we must first know the' nat.ure of a. true prayer. Between God and His righteous servant' there is n. mutual attraction. 'I'hc utercy of God. at first draws His servant to Him. Almighty God then Como}; nearer to His

sel'v'ant by the attraction of his' fuithfulnoss and siucerity, At tho' time of prayer this conneotion having reached n" particular stage' d'ispluys its wonderful chnmctoristics. W hen the servant. being involved ill' serious, diflicul tics turns to God with perfect faith, f1ibfwhtte certainty, full hope, coneunnnatc love, complete faith .... fuluess and undaunted rcsolu tion, an'd having rent asunder all veils of remisaness, tra-verses the vast fields, of annihilation, Divine glory is reV'ea;led to him in: full lustre, His' soul then lays' itself down on tho Divine' tln-cshold ill' complete submission and its jrmgnof,ic powe'r r.;ttra.cts the. grace and favors of God. The Divino' will' then turns to perform tho object prayed for and makes the' pl'a.;yer' influence the' causes which ultirnntcly bring about the at-tainment of the desired cnd , It. is, therefore, a fact esteblished and p~()verl by bhe experience of tho righteolls who are fed from tho' source of inspirat.ion, that tho pY':1yel's of a perfect man have a creating power in t.hcm ; in obhor words, they influouco with Divine permission the forces acting in tho material and spir ittral worlds and also net upon huntau thollght, 1.lr[H1 will, and thus rnako them al] ad con(mrrontly ho accomplish the object. Instancea of this abound in all holy hooks and the miraou lous owes its existence to a great exteut to the acocptanco of praynr. What, was it that happened in the sandy deserts of AmLin. ( The dead were raised to life In

1004.)

TttF. NATURE OF PR.AYER AND ITS BLESSINGS.

47

thousands, the blind were made to see, the dumb were made to utter words of heavenly wisdom, and the depraved of long generations were clothed in Divine morals. The whole peninsula underwent in a few days a transformation which no eye had seen and no ear heard. All! these were the midnight prayers and deep sighs of a perfect one which showed these wonderful works whose oxecution by a helpless unlearned orphan seemed an impossibility. Pour down Thy favours, blessings and peace upon him, 0 God, in as great an abundance as was his grief and anxiety for the welfare of 'I'hy people, and canso the lights of 'rhine mercy to descend upon him to all eternity !

I have myself experienced upon thousands of occasions that no a.gency in the material world comes up to prayer in its powerful efficacy .. If it be objected that there are cases in which prayer fails to bring about the desired end, I say that the samo Jaw prevails in the material world. Ta.ke medicine for instance. Has it shut the door to death 1 Is it an infallible cure for diseases? Or does it not fail to produce its effect in certain cases! And does. any sane person in spite of this deny the efficacy of medicines? It is true that the decree of heaven prevails everywhere and for ever, but it does not void tho sciences which are based on human experience or rob the means of their instrumentality. On a deeper re:Beeliion it appears that physical as well as spiritual means are subjcct to the decree of heaven. For instance, if health is ordained by heaven for 0. sick man, efficacious remedies are also obtained, and every condi,

. tion is of service in promoting his heal tho So also with prayer. ' 'I'he conditions for its acceptance and the requisite means are not available unless it is the will of God that it should be accepted. But as such a contingency is no bar to us in resorting to medicines in case of sickness, and their actual benefit, though sometimes they do fail, cannot be disputed, so there is no valid objection to the use and benefits of prayer.

Moreover, whon it is admitted that the happiness, felicities and blessings of the next world, which nrc expressed in the one word "S:tlvation," are obtained by means of prayers, the' efficacy of prayers IS also admitted; for, if our prayer can not help us III getting freed from ad versities and in the at-

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TilE REVIEW 01<' nrnUGIONS.

(February

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tainmcnt of our objects in this life, there is no reason they should effect that purpose in the lifo to come. If prayer has no efficacy in this world, it; is absurd to suppose that it will show its efficacy in the next. On the other hand, if we believe in its efficacy in the next, we cannot but admit its efficacy here, so that its manifestation in this very life may strengthen our faith and hope in the next, and we may vmy with greater zeal for the blessings of the next life.

It must also be borne in mind that there are four reasons for which Almighty God has rendered prayer obligatory upon the ~1u8lims. Firstly, that by turning to God at all times and in all states, we may acquire firmness in our faith in the Divine unity, for our entreaties to God arc equivalent to our confession that He is the sole Giver of all gifts. Secondly, that on the acceptance of our prayer and the attainment of the object prayed for, our faith in God may be strengthened. Thirdly, that if Divine assistance comes in any other way, our knowledge and wisdom may be. increased. Fourthly, that if the acceptance of our prayer is promised to us by means of inspiration or visions and it comes to pass exactly in the same . manner, one may advance in Divine knowledge, and attain from knowledge to certainty, from certainty to love and from love to a total freodom from sin, and an entire disseverance of all connections besides

our connection with God, and thus obtain tho fruit of true salvation. But if our objects arc attained independently of prayer and a veil hides the face of God from us, tho fulfilment of our desires becomes ultimately a source of grief and anxiety for us, and every success which was deemed at first a pleasure becomes a sorrow. But the sight and knowledge which are granted through prayer and the blessings which are bestowed upon us from the heavenly treasure, never diminish or decline. On the other hand, ndvancing day by day in Divine love and knowledge, a man will ascend by this holy ladder of prayers to the pinnacles of bliss.

. .

'I'horc are four prime attributes of the Divine Being and each of these calls for a particular state in man. The four attributes arc Ro,uub·iyyat (sl:stenance) llahmaniyyat"(mercy,) Rahinl,iyyat (compassion), and .111Jl'bk-iyyo,t [Lordship of tho day of Judgment). Rau1.J.ffiyyat requires for the exercise of its favors absolute nothingness or a state

1004.)

TlT'F. NA'rtrHF. OF l'HAVER ANn tTR nLl~RRrNOg •

. ....•. _ ... _ •... _ ......•...•.... _-_,-------

. rcscmhliug it, and all beinga, organic as well as itlorgallie, owe tlwi.r existence to this attribute~ il:tI,hl1'"c.Lniyyctt roC! uircs also a, state <ir nothingness, but it is exercised only in 1'eb.tion W. [i Vil~g beiHg~';. R(J,h:il1ti.yyat has its sphere limited only to humau beings, and requir+« a confession of utter insignifieaucc and llothillgllOSS from man. ),fJ,likiyyat requires a humhling of one's self and sol ieit.ing li ko a true suppliant. It relates only to ruon who as supplicants prostrate themselves on tho Divino threshold and conscious of their poverty aincerely vbclieve in the Lordship of God and il1113101'0 DivillcgrcLCC. '£hese four attriulltcs arc always working in the world, Out cf bheso tho Divino attribute of 1'cddntiY'!lctt moves ::t man to prayer. while mal·ilbi-yya.t, melting the soul with tho fonr of God, inspires in t.o it the truo spir it. of humil ity, lowliness und submission, fOl' it shows that salvation and Divine protection cannot be claimed as of right, bu t are granted only by Di ville gra.ce-.

In brief, iti 11.ppOars from the Holy Qnran, n.1'1d reason supports the fact, that the four above-named attri bu tes are the ch iof attributes of tho Divino HOlng, and tha.t, tho att,rihniic of 9'[£hirniyyo,t requires a man to pray, HO that Divine a.~Sillt()'llCO and fnvours may-come bo him. 1.'he1'efo1'o to deny the efficacy of prayol', 01' its ma,gn:etism in drawing tho favours of God, is, in fact, a denial of 'i'aldl1tiyyat, the third attribute of God, which is cortaiuly no movement towards atheism. Rfi.Jhi'ffl/iyyn.t is. tho at~rih\lto through which no mau's fa.ith in the other attriblltes of tho Divine lking-, is strengthened ami brought to perfection. For, when in obed ionco to the requirement of this attribute we receive the favours of God on our humble pruycrs and supplications and our (liffi· eulties are removed, our fiLith regarding the existcuco, po,,;;e1:", mercy and other attributes of tho Di v inc iluing becomes a certainty, and we l'Oa,lil'1o the truth of our obligation to thank and praise Him for His

numerous blessings,

It is clear tha.t the first and most importnnt ohj,~ct of our li VCR is n. true knowledge of God, and if there is defect or obscurity in it, our faith i's devoid of light and certainty, Unless WG recognise God by seeing Him. thl'ough tho 1U:.lonifcs.tu..tiOo1J:S. of His. att.liib.u:te· of 't,'c6hi'iniyyat ti, c., the beetowal of Il is favours. by ececptsnee ,>( 0111' prayers), we ca.nnot driuk of the puw and sW'celJ fountain of Divine kuowlcdgc.

Un less we are self-deceived, we must sec 0\11." incbiliby . to. reach tha.t ~OUl'CC by :;4ny o.thc;.l' way, The oxistcncc of God is. not a, coetainty to. us unless tho Divino a.ttl'ihu,tcs or mercy, grace and power being fully realized by us, through cxporicncc exert snch a powerful iuHuol1ce on our mind a~. to. free it from allcarual desires and, evil insinnations, which arising from. a.. weakness of Iaith und want of cCl;tainty quite overpower 11.,8,.. Is, it not true tha.t in, this ephemeral lifo. D.IUl.\l'1! is, involved in terrible darkness, because the rays of the light of Divine. knowledge do. not penetrate to. his, heart, 1 The greatcl.· the love he: ~ntcrta~ns. {or this world and its. attract.ions of wealth and. F"wGr,. the: loss the desire which he h.as for true happiness and ctcrual welfare .. Now, the, cause of all this. ind iffercucc and apathy to. the joys. of heaven and bliss of tho next world is nothing but the absence of a true faith concorn.in,g thc vpower; l1;1.0roy and promises of God. It is.,· there ... fore, ncccstia:ry for the seeker after truth that he shonld try. to. obtain in righ.t. earnest, such tIUO faith, Tho mere fact tha,t he is. a Musalmau:

. ~Ull hates: 8h·~r.7, and says. his. prayers, is. not sufficient to. release him. from the bondage ofsin, 01: m .. ukoIiim attain salvation, Ouly ho wilt tina true salva,Lion and SUprCll);e clc1izht and perfect bliss. aftcr dcatb, who has. fonud in, this very. life the true and living, tight which tarns. ~ man wibh, a.IL his, faculties, iucliuutiona and desires; to. God;, and! ~10rt·ifyiug aU earthly desires, works, a pure transformatioa iahis soul .. A.uc1 what. is ~his true and living light? It is, nothing but ~ cel1taintJ" Qf Di viue existence, and a perfect Divine knowledge. It is. the hcaycllrly po \V, CJ: which with its powerful ha.ll,d; draws a lAM out of the. c;langerou,s. and dark ],lit of slavery to ~):.\StiiOl:l, and seats hi~ i,1;l Ol?C~ :;;pace w.hm:c there is, Light and safety,. Before this, lig,4t. is, Oh~:.U:IlPd',. a man's, Vil:~~l,OUS. deeds arc Ol,l,l',y formalitiea in, obedience to. CUQ~OI~l ~~(l the sJightes,t trial is. apt to: stumble him, W·ith.Ql~t CCI:ta.inty ~ Ulan's rcl,atioll, with God cannot be clear. Hut tho man to. whom cortaiut,y is given flows, towards God like, water, flies. to, Him f!n,stel" than tho. wind, burns, like fU'CCV01:-ything foreiga to. God, and bears: every s,uffcr~Ilg with. paticucc a.n,d s.tcadfas,tncss. like. earth. It is a. sweet s.yrup which, as, soon as it is. takcu, sweetens, the whole body. It is a de1icion.s. }llilk which \1).ak.08 a man indifferent to, the daintiea of the. world. Rut it is· found only by meana of true and devout. Vl\~ers. in which t\ lW·U~ completely annihilates h,iu;l.sql.(. ~~ if? oQt~hw~

t904.}

no doubt the task amI narrow the path! Is there any O}1e who would undertake this task and seck th~s path ?

The Uniqueness of Jesus.

That the otd Ohriatieu doctrine of mediation, to which the Chi'itJ~ tintls havo brustcd for about nineteen hundred years, is no more beliovcd in by the majority of sensible Christians, and is for nll prnctical purposes a dead doctrine, is freely admitted by Christian speakers nud ill Ohrlstian papers. Writing under the heading of the "Chris;: tian Interpretation of Mediation, Mr. IIogg contributes an artiele to the Christian College 1\in,ga,1.ine forJ anuary, 1904, in which he says: " In the formulation of this estimate (i. e., the estimate of J esus as the one unique Mediator), preserved in the Creeds of Christendom, there is

much that appears hopelessly foreign to Indian ways of thinking, andin may not be rash to coujecturo that if Christianity had. made its firsf n.bidillg conquest in India instead of in Europe; its creeds would have

been couched in no bormiuology singularly different .

And if it is safe to conjecture. that even a. Christinnisod India) would have thought out its theology othcrwi ao than the West has dono, is it not equally safe to affirm that, were the· past suddenly to be forgotten, and were Christians of uhe West to be called upon to formulate their faithanew, they too would be found speaicihg a. language which tho early Chriatian Fathers would have felt to be disconcertingly foreign 1" And again: "·From this standpoint the great historic creeds must be confessed to possess immense value as protests against heresies which misconstrued and. obscured the real uniqueness of Jesus, but can never be regarded as perfect and final constructive formulm. In fact it will be bounden duty of any who think that, for modern ears, the formulro have ),ost their meaning and convincing

power, to seek a. more cffecti v e re-statement .

Some may consider that the idea of .mcdiution acquires under this

treatment so altered an aspect that the name becomes a misnomer. It may be so,"

Up to this time the essence of tho mediation of JeSl.is. Was suppos .. ed to be.in tho efficacy of his blood; but it is uow discovered that. i1;"

'I'HE REV JEW 01" TIEUGIONS,

[Fobruary

52

w;~.., an Ct'1'Or. Wh.Lt is the f:Lto of the millions who lived and pnssed t.ho dupes of the false belief, is not our concern. But if Paul is actu~d I Y the writer of the letters included in the Now 'I'estament canon, t.her» is no doubt that he also died the dupe of a false belief; for he Wl,YS ill Born. v , 9 : '" Being now justified by hia blood we shall be saved f1'01n wrath through h'im,"

The In.nguagc of the present-dny theologian is simply a contradic ..

. tion of tho b.uguf1.gc of Pau l, the real founder of Christianity. "~ow much more shull the uiood. ()f Gh'I',i,,~t, whu through the eternal spirit

offered himself without spot to God, lJ'lIT[Je YIJu,1' conscience from dead "Wcll'k..,t() se1"V0 llie l'ivtng Goil:" [Hcb. ix, 111). II 'Whom God hath SOll' forth to' bo a propitiation through faith in his blood" (Rom. iii, 25).

, ,. And to Jesus the mediator of tho new covenant, and to tho 'bluod of r:;prinkling that spcakcth better things than that of Abel" (Hob. xii, 24): And this was the doctrine which Paul preached his whole life if he really wrote tho lottcrs wl.ich are attributed to him. Be that as it may, the Christians are bent upon constructing new creeds 011 the decay of old ones. It is at lifc-uud-dcath struggle, and the end'

I

w ill not be long in coming. The old creeds having been hopelessly

Sh;1tt.Cl'cd in the light of sound criticism,:1 desperate uttcmpt is now mu.lc to keep tho name of Jesus alive. Tho uniqueness of Jesus is now L,dked over as the central point of Chrisbian ity. 'I'ho religion ,th~1.t goes after the name of Chrisu has no doubt one extraordinary faculty, and this is the faculty of changing its colour in accordance with its surrouudiugs. It is eminently chameleonic ill its character.

'I'ho new theory regarding the mediation is thus formulated as stated by Mr. lIogg: "According to the principle, the uniqueness of Jesus munifcstsitsclf through his power of impressing himself upon countless individucLh; as absolute Lord and Master, as a, supreme per .. s-iualiby, living and commanding still, though not now visible 'on earth." T'hi8 is the sense 'in which mediation is to bo underf;tood by the new Christians. It may be a misnomer, as Mr. Hogg himself s.l mits ; but as it serves to keep the name of Christianity alive, "it must be understood as a new interpretation, a "rc-stMement" of tho old theory of" blood-bath." As a matter of fact, the two theories 'are so foreign to each other that Mr. Hogg himself has to admit that while the theory of the early Fathers gives" tho perfected, and sole

1904.} .

_._----------------_- -'--------

sufficienb, form or mediation," tlul.t propounded by the new bheolo ..

;gist~ N may be regarded as giving the death-blow to the idea of modil,t·ion in the external, and. most natural, sense of tho term." But whether it is considered as a reconstruction ot the old creede of Chris .. bcudorn, or an alt,ogethcr new theory which its advocates are bent npon

representing as genuine Ohristian doctrine, from the etandpoint ot reason it shows little im provcmcut ~ and if tho old theory has taken nineteen hundred years in dissolution, the new one is, for apparent reasons, destined to perish within a generation or two. The foundations of the Christian religion having been pulledtlown, the super .. structure In'Ll'! really fall ell down; but as Jesus has been recognised. and worshipped as a, God for about two thousand years, the doctrine has been imbibed into Christian blood: and thollgh the creeds may be openly forsaken, the spell ofJ OiUS cannot be unloosened all of Or sudden, The present generation, or the succeeding generation, may remain bound by this spell; but as time goes 011 and the artificial dignity of Jesus loses its hold on Christiun mind, people will begin to 'see the light, and will hugh ·a.t the theory of the uniqueness of J esus, asthoy

'do even 'now at that of his blood. •

Mr. Hogg feels that Jesus makes unimpression upon his mind, Ho snysthat the uniqueness of Jesus is manifested .in tho impression it makes " upon countless individuals," but this is highly misleading •

. lie could have said upon "countless Oln-istians,' but perhaps even then he would not have been right. Is it not truethat the pretend .. cd uniqueness has failed to make ~ny impression at allupon countless Jews, who have always reviled and abused -Icsue and denounced him as an heresiarch? And though Mr. I10gg even now finds ~'the earns spirit of holiness" moving amid the " welter of human sin," the Jews who came in contact with that '" spirib " never felt itsholinesR.NaYI 'they went further and called it the spir~t of impurity. It, therefore, appears that countless J ows fclt Jothcrwisc, and tho uniqueness of Jesus never made an impression upon them. Nor did it impress countless Buddhists, countless fire-worshippers, countless Hindoos, countless idolators and countless other people. 011 the other band, all idol makes a greater impression on the mind of a Hindoo than the spirit of Jesus upon a Christian of Mr. Hogg's type; llay, a cock 01' a scrpeut, or ,\ stone or n shell, is believed by the negro

I)'H~ nsvmw 01<' nsr.rrnoas.

(t'crbunry

--..........._._.-~--- ....

-'-,___- ...... ~~-----,.------

to possess the eamo unique power us is to be found in Mr. Hogg'3 Jesus. Just as Mr. lIogg finds it impossible to define the" spell" of JeKuH,' so do' the worshippers of other things. 'rho uniqueness of Jeaus is, therefore, limited to Christianity, and the samo ' kind of uniquenesa may be witnessed in others, 'I'horo is no line of disuinction, Tho ono which Mr. l!ogg tries to draw ia a hopeless failure. H 0 makes the assumption that in other religions, Hinduism for instance, incarnation moans that God 4' disguised his true nature under a fleshly garb ;" but in Christianity it means that" instead of disguising his true natura God revealed it by becoming an ind'iv'idu,(tl man, an immortal human soul.' So think tho Christians, but the Hindoo thinks exactly the reverse of this. There are no external circumstances which should in ... dicate that God was revealed in tho ono case and disguised in the other. 'I'ho body of Krishna was not transparent; and if therewas Hod within him, ho might very likely have remained concealed; but we presume that Jesus had also an opaque body like other mor tals, Mr. IIogg makes one assertion in favour of Jesus and another against the incarnate mediators' of other ~eligton,s, and tho one is as impossible of

proof' os the other is impossible of refutation. He concludes by saying that the Christians" cannot acknowledge more than one incar-

, ,

nate mediator without destroying the distinctive message of Chris ..

tianity;" and we may add. that the Hindoos "cannot acknowledge that one incarnate' mccliatorwithout destroying the distinctive message of Hinduism." And we leave it for the reader to consider whether Mr. Hogg has gail1ed, or tho Hindoo lost, anything by this stra,nge reasoning.

Let us now see if the assumed uniqueness or jesus has performed the mediatorial function by establishing a relation between God and man; in other words, by working a pure transformation in the lives of those lipan whose minds it has made, in the language of Mr. Rogg

. • . I

IC an impression of trans~endai1t..power and authority, as well as of

transcendantmoi'al oxccllcncc.v v'l'his panegyric on Jesus is, it.is to be sadly noticed, not suppor'tcd by actual facts. ~he present condition of the countless flock of Jesus is deplored. by all well-wi~hets of humanity, find i~ equally denounced from pulpit and platform. If the effect of the uniqucncsa of Jesns is to be seOi1'.frOl~ the condition of th~ majority, ib is to be painfully remarked that it docs not present <t picture of anythiug app1'Oachiug ., tl'al1~CCllJallt· moral excellence.' Asregal'ds tho

)904.) .

THE t1NIQVENEss'OJo~ .JEstffj.

55

by a sacrifice of ourselves and not by .the sacr ificc of ot.hcrs, Difficult p.'1st of Chl'ist.ianity, the more we look at it, .tho more hateful the sight becomes. The horrors of the middle ages and tho gl'OSS. imuwralitics that prevailed, need not. to be told. Going still further. back, the horrors of the .secne arc hardly mitigated. The state of tho church, oven at so early a. period as. the second century after Christ, has hardly. any uttructivc.fcuturcs. Nay, mom than thal, Casting a glanco oven at tho apostles, at the twelve so carefully chosen by the master to carry his errand to tho Jows, tho redeeming features of tho scene appear to be wonderfully few. Leaving apart their weakness of faith and tho worldliness of some of them, of which we Hndthe master- complaining so frequently, one of tho chosen few becomes a traitor and the 1'811w.in ... ing eleven act. hardly less ignobly until HO.t a. single individual-is left, with him in the hour of his trial. Furfher, it docs Dot apl)ear from tho. Gospoh that Jesus delivered his countrymen from great vices and breathed into them any trall.s.cendant 111.o1'a1 exccllcnco. All that is stated is, that he attracted some fishermen by the wonders he showed, such as exoroism, the turning of water into wine, therapeutics; etc, And yet this is the man who is oxtolledto the skios for tho ~~ impression which he makes." Mr. Hogg sees. in him a "- forgivcnc~s \V hich remained wholly PUl'C," and tho Jews saw 111 him a malioo and vindic ... tivencss on account of his unbecoming . denunciations and extravaga.n.t. railings against their leaders. 'rhis is. perhaps, accordiDg to him, 'n, '" reserve "- of moral cxeeljenco '~}lot drown upoa," as hosees II). his, failures. with a blind admirer's eya (la. reserve o£ powei: not (:h:awn upon." So. it seems to him, but it uevcr seemed so to. the Jews.. And yet Jesus diu draw upo.n this. '( reserve of powc·r" also som.otimes, as f~l' iustaaco, at tho time o.r- his tri~m~l~~l 0u.try into Jerusalem upon a; ass or a colt, O}" both (the obscurity IS III the Gospel state1ncnt), amid. ~he wild cries. of a. fanatical' mob, or at the timeof his scourging the m{)ney-eha.Jilgol's with a lash aftec tho: fashion of DOll Quix.ote.. So. it appears tllat his" reserve" did nob in any way differ from ·the reserve of other men, aud that it was aot ulways " not drawJ:lIupon •. '"

'Vha.t is thou the crijerion to tcs.b tho uniqueness of a man who; may claim it for himself" or whose votaries mny claim it for him? Tho more feoliug ora p.e·rsoll about a thing one w.ay docs n.o~ show tha~ i~ is actually so. It is no argument hut only a scutimeut, Diffcfl:ut men fcc! d.iffcI0Ut ways, and tllcre it) no reason to. tuke il ChrjBtiull':S fcd.ing It:;

56

,THl: ~RVI&W 011" ·UEtWTON9.

(Fobruary".

--------------------- .. _._----.-----

true and-reject a Jew's feeling a s false. If God did, in fact, '< come down toman," and" Himself mediated tho aCCOSH to Him ." ill . tho person of, JOHUS, thoro must be some manifest sign indicativa of such accesa to God. Tho matter cannot be decided upon claims only; for, as Mr. Hogg, himself admits, there are other claimants also. Tho test of feeling, Jesus' uniqueness, which he points out, it! not a test a.tall.Jesus, never taught tha.t a man's accesa to God is to bo judged by his feeling a thing one-way or another; forho said: 44 If yo hU.V0 fait'l as a. grain of mustard-seed, yo shall say unto this mountain, remove hence to. yonderplace, and it shall remove, and nothing shall be impossible to you ~'" (Matt. 17 :~O); and agnin: " For tho tree is known by its fruit." (Matt~ 12: 33). Even Ohristiansbrag of God listening to their prayers ane!· answering them nos a sign of their access to Him, bu t this talk is limited to the family circle, or at the most to a believing audience. 'But out,' side the holy circle such an assertion is never dared; for if actually put. to test, it must prove false. Experience is indeed fatal to the cl .. iims of these men. Now the only manner in which efficacy of a man's pray·e.l(· can be tested is, that being informed by God he should be able to disclose the result boforehaud, Is there asingle Christiau who deems. that J csus has mediated his access to God, who can provo tho acceptance of his prayer to the whole world 00 clearly 1 No one dares, be ... cause no one has true access to God. Had these men a mind to arrive a.t a right conclusion as to the true mediator by this. method, all C011- troversics would have come to an end. But their object is not that truth should be manifested, but that their profession should be kept a-going, and for this end the real point at issue is always evadcd.'.L'he. uniqueness of this or that prophet can be easily tested by the access.' to God' which his followers can prove to satisfaction to possess. \Vewould not be guilty of condemning the unproved claims, of others, while setting up similar claims for ourselves. Nor, do we wish to hideour meaning in clouds of words like the Christian exponents of the uniqueuess.of Jesus. We give facts and everyone may test, .them . forhimself, 'l'he uniqueness of Oll.f Holy Prophet, ma.y peacc and the, blessings of God be upon him, as a mediator between God and . man is established by facts, the truth of which cannot be questioned, So: great was its impression upon his companions that they fo:r:sookevery worldly comfort and sacrificed their lives for. his sake, . It, was the-

,I·, '

1904.)

Tnlt RANlAG1IAT 1tUSStoNARY.

57

effect of the holy Prophet's mediation that the Arabs,' who had been brmtght 11p in idolatry, polytheism, and all sorts of vices, became zeoloua ad vocates of the unity of God, and showed an unparalleled devotion to its cause; They rose from the lowest depths of degradation to the highost pinnacles of righteousness and civilization. 'I'he word of tho Prophet acted like magic upon them. The scene at Medina, when intoxicating liquors were forbidden, is one of the numerous examples. Information being received that wine was forbidden, the wine- pots were immediately broken throughout the whole city, and wine flowed like water in the streets of Medina. Has the world ever witnessed ntagnetism like this in the voice of a man? But tho blessings conferred by the mediation of the holy Prophet did not terminate with his life upon the earth. His mediation has conferred an everlasting benefit UpOI1 his followers, viz., that God speaks to them and reveals to them His holy word, disclosing the deep secrets of the future. He also listens to their prayers and informs them beforehand of their accept. auce .. It is a blessing of the holy Prophet's mediation that the Promised Messiah has been raised by God among the Muslims, who has furnished proof of all these blessings on numerous occasions, and is ready to furnish such proof to everyone who seeks earnestly after truth. Thousands of heavenly signs have been manifested in his sup. port, and hundreds of thousands of his prayers have been accepted, of which fact he was often informed beforehand. There arc hundreds of thousands of living witnesses to the truth of these; but if anyone still' entertains any doubt, he may see tho fresh signs of God. Hero wo have a man who gives proof of his ncar access to God: is there any earnest seeker after truth among the Christians who would listen to his voice 1

The Ranaghat Missionary.

This gentleman has a very zealous controvel'sia·l spirit; bu' ~o does not. ~uow ~ow to carryon a controversy, except by engaging m pereonalities which always run into virulence and abuse. Nor is

this all. He makes insolent and abusive attacks upon gentlemen who take 110 part in the controversy, and thus shows that he does not care even for the threat contained in the Gospel-text w'hich

58

'I'HE HEVIEW OF UELIGIONS.

he preaches: U Whoi;oever shall ao.y to his brother, Raca, sha ll .be in dallger of the council: but whosoever shall say;' Thou fool, 13110.11 be in danger of hell-fire" . (MatL" 5 : 22). In a letter to the NjJ'iphany, Jun. 16th, 1!)04, he says: "The procedure which the Mirza follows is simple, but it is not tho pl'occduroof the fair-minded controversialist-it is only that of tho tricky charlatan. It consists of two prUCCI:lScB. 'I'ho first is the somew hat ignoble pursuit of discoveriug mare's nests; the second ie the still more discreditable device of perverbing the obvicus meaning of the text of the Quran or other authorities, in support of his fancied discoveries." He goes on in this strain of insolcut invective, und.udda to the abuses repeated mention of defeats sustained by " the Mirza." and victories won by himself and his supporters.

If we were to follow the same course, we should (God forbid), abuse Jesus Christ. For we, the Muslims of. tho Ahmadiyya sect; recognise Mirza Ghulam Ahmad .to be the Promised Messiah. as t he na.nagha~ Missionary oonsiders J esus Christ to be the Messiah. 'rho uruiclcs appearing under the heading of" Monro on Sinlcsanesa ," in the Ileoieu: of Religions, are not contributions from the pen of the PromiseuMest:iiah or any other gentleman, as is evident from tho absence of siunature. 'I'ho Promised Messiah wrote an urticlo for tho

'-' .

Review on the subject of" Sinlessness " in May, ~902, and it was pub-

li~hcd under hi~ signature. This article was not written i~' reply to: any of Mr. Monro's writings, nor did it contain any reference to him. P(this ho was informed in our issue for December, when we pointed

out his use of abusive epithets for the Promised Messiah. It is,;

. . . I

therefore, nothing but sheer impudence and impertinence on bis part

to contiuue to abuse the sacred leader of a community, oven knowing that he takes no part in the controversy.

As to. the contents of his letter. It affects to be Do refutation of the articles appearing in the Review of Religio?18,?cing a review of :Mr -. Monro's pamphlets on the subject of "Sinlessness." A. new plan has been devised by Mr. Monro for the refutation of the mani-

f~ld ·argumcnts which he finds t90 strong to be .refuted. It is. given.

ill the concluding paragraph of his letter, where he Bays: "The same

system of iuveutiou Of perversion, or botbcombiucd, is followed through-

1904.)

TilE ltANAGlIAT hUSSroNAn\".

59

-:-----------_._---_ .. _---------

--------

out thearticles in the Review of. Udiail)lts in dea.ling wit.l, tho charge of idolatry against Adam, with Abraham, Mose«, l>a.\'id, Jona,h, etc," An excellent devise: to get rid of diiftcul ties l ' And the credit of this discovery belougs to tho clever missionary of H,anagh1:bt. It ~s sufficic~t for him that he thinks that he has proved the fail ure of ono" argu"mcut, for he is sure that the other arguments are all of the same kind and his dupes believe him.

Let us now take the contentions of Mr. Monro CIS regards Adam's act in eating of tho forbidden tree. He assumes, in the first place, that we are giving some now moaning to the words of the Holy Qura.n 110t known to Muhammadan theol()gi~ttl lLlill conuncututors, and therefore ho presumptuously calls them ~c the Mirza's ware's nests.' It is a pity that boing utterly ignorallt of the rcali tly, he should thus impud.eut.ly cast uspcrsious at 'Others. Ho docs not care in the least to koep up his charucter as an honest controversialisb, but always vouturcsto make absolutely fulso f'tttL<.>ments in pnhlic papors. 'I'he belief in the sinlcssnosa of the prophets has been tho belief of the whole Mil hammadnn world from the ear-liest times with vory fow dissenting voices) and tho C'6JHanic text has always been' understood in a 8011:3e compatible with this belief. It is nothillg but tho height of absurdity and ignul"ltllcc to attribute to us perversions ' of tllQ mea1ling of the sacred text for giving it tho signi Iicatiou genCl·ally received by Muhunnnudans. This we state simply asa matter of fact. MI'. Monro onght, further to know tllOoii perversion of tho sacred text is thu inhor ituuoo which he has received Irorn his religious ancestors, for them tho Holy Qu ran blames for it. In fact when he blames us [01' perversion, and makes the ]\1 uslims shnro with the Christian . ., his imagillary victory, ho panders to the religious prejudice of ignorant Muslims.

All that Mr. Monro has to say is simply this, that in tho verso l~ _)~ &J u~j rJ , I.. ;,_i,; J~:; ~~ r ~ I ~.).J t; vy.c viiJ J thcword. r j.c docs.not mean an ~ntolltion to 131'0:1 k the commund nHn~t b~t. no ' determination to keep it, and that the formor mea.nHlt; is our own invention, while the latter meaning is tllC only 0}10 given by all commentators. This is the su bstanco of his letter, if the vollcvs of abuses to which he hag recourse in overy paragraph of his letter are omitted. Now whatever i j.c moans, our asser-tion regard~ ing the sinlessness of Adam is sufficiently borne out by the word ...,;_J

(Fobruary,

GO

THE REVIEW OF RELIGIoNS •

.. he forgot," used of him in this verse. 'I'he word clearly negatives his intention to break the command ment ; because where there ia forgetfnlness, there is no intention. 'I'hat intention is a. necessary element in sin we have been asserting from the beginning, but now when. Mr. Monro finds that according to this definition sin is not l\ttribn~. able to Adam, he calls it a '4 dictum" devoid of" authority save that of his own imagination." In his impatience to attribute sins to the prophets of God, he is blind to the most apparent facts, and like the drowning man catches at straws. Forgetfulness is a natural human ""eakness, and a thing done through forgetfulness iii not a sin ; for the very plain reason that Almighty God says that He does not burden nny soul beyond its power, and not to forget is not within the power of man. Hence there are plain rules in M uslim Law that if a man forgets to perform his devotions at the appointed time, he may per·· form them when he remembers. So also in case of fasts; if a man· eats or drinks through forgetfulness, the fast is not broken. 'I'heso are simple rules upon which all Muhammadans act, and accordingly nothing has been supplied from ima.ginat,ion. Bnt we are prepared to furnish a still more plain evidence of the trnth of this assertion to Mr. Monro. Tho very first tradition in the Sa,heelt Bukluiree, tho most authoritative work on tradition, runs as follows : J ~~ )J ) l ... jJ u)j t,..c J~) J~J !..o.j Jj 0 t~.i(4 ~'Verily a deed is to be judged by the intention with which it is done, and every man will meet his rewardaccording to what he intended." 'I'hese are all Mu hammadan authorities on the point that intention is a necessary clement in sin, and that a deed done through forgetfulness does not constitute n sin. Even, according to Jesus, God looks to the intention with which a deed is done. We will quote the words if Mr. MOllro denies it.

We will now consider the meaning of the words t. .r 6) ~ ~j J These words immediately follow the word u-j spoken concerning Adam. Mr. Monro does not obj~ct to our translation of the latter word, and the word unquestionably means " he forgot." Now 6J ~~ jJ {,..c j~ literally means 4 we did not, find in him any determination' which might either signify 'a determination to break the commandment,' or 'a determination to abstain generally from what was pro· hibited to him.' But the previous word u-J clearly shows that the former siguificatiou is the one which fits in hire. Alwighty

1904.)

Tnr. RANAottAT MHlstoN,\RY.

61

God speaks of Adam's forgetting a commandment given to him and not intentionally breaking it, and therefore the absence of determinelion is the same absence of intention which is clearly indicated in tho words I' he forgot." Hitherto Adam had received only this commandment from God, and though he could not keep it, ,yet Almighty God himself excused him on this occasion by saying that it occurred only through forgetfulness. He had not broken any other commandment, and consequently it could not be said that Almighty Gpd had not found in him" a determination generally to abstain from what was forbidden him." There was only one commandment, and consequently the absence of intention on the part of Adam relates to, tho same act of forgetfulness. Now we ask .Mr. Monro to state honestly whether, he, had seen all the Muslim oommcutators and consulted all

authorities at the time of his making the daring assertion, that this was a " discovery of' a mare's nest" on our part, and that we were guilty of perverting the meaning of the sacred text? But as such a. confession from nn evangelist of th~ Gospel of truth-c-or the Gospel of. errol', as the Higher critics would like to call it-is the very last thing" we proceed to show that he did not act like an honest coutroversialist. Commentary, we have already stated, is not taken as the Word of God by any .Muhammadan, and therefore we do not quote commentaries but only to give the lie to the pious gentleman in his sjateuient that it is our iuveutiou. l~efuting arguments against the sinlessuess of Adam, Fakhr-ud-Din Raai writes in his valuable work

. ,

the 'rafsir-i-KaLir ~j jJ , \,J-ij 6.) Y; u; I:.J t~_lJ ~ 6.i-.D -' uJ tAJ 6.j ~ -'

~"~ , J ~ ~ , J -' L-o j~ 6J "And because Almighty God calls it an act of forgetfulness in the verse L-o j~ 6J ~ rJ -', u-ii and this negat'ives his i,tttm,t'ion." Again, he translates these words by g~~, u~ i li4J, ~ l ... j~ 6.J ~j r-' "And we did not find in him an intention to stand upon disobedience." Another commentator, Abll Sa'ud,also gives its translation in' these words: ~ ~ , uL= t.-c r ~~~ r -' Jlb.AJ 6..i 11" A determination, t~pon tho Zanb for he forgot and had no intention." 'rho Lisanul-Arb writes under the meaning of

i j~ as follows: 4Ltj.) J. • •• ••• 1.( ~ ',,~ i j~ ." IIe ha~ an i j~ upon a deed when he intended its doing," According ~o this signification of i r the verso in question would mean : " We did not

62

THE REVIEW or ItRLtGION8.

(February

find him having an intention to do the deed which he did." Of course' w~ do not deny ~hat tho other meaning is also given in commentaries ' but this does not show that the meaning given by Mr. Monro, is the truo meaning, and that given by us wrong; Of, as Mr. Monro would have it, an invention and a perversion on our part.

, Rega.rding our q notation from theLisanul-Arab in that article, he makes tha...same presumptuous remark that it is a perversion, but he' docs not point out in what manner. When charging us 80 seriously, it . was his duty to produce the words of the book and give the' re3.S0nA for which he charged us with perversion. Such of our readers as can have recourse to tho Lisanularb, may see Vol. XIX, l)n.gc 378, lines c and 7~ where we hnvo the following y l~ J7"- )Jl U' ~

'~!f 4~ ~; v~) U' _,A; 6.~) ~ JJ ,_s.4Jt; J7'- -'r 6J yO;, ' •• i.e., "u- )i: . (gn.wu.), spoken with respect to a man means' ho was disappointed', or 'ho failed; and in the word of God 1...5' )i; 4~) J , I.,.S'.4Jt;

tl .. .1 '., ~

re moamng IS ~.I: t?:-'-.I: ~_, (1,. e~,. there was disturbanco in the

life of peace which he enjoyed)." And we now support this statemont from Laue's Arn.bic l~nglishLcxicon (see Book I, P. VI page 2304), which among tho difft)l;ent significations of 1,J')i: gives ,. was disappointed; or, failed of attaining his desire ;" and again" Z has mentioned the reading in tho Qur. (XX, 119), ~) r J I o,J.4~ -' U"yi; expl, as '" meaning (and Adam, di8obeY'-d h'i.~ Lord, and 8u.l~r~d i1~cli.rJestion from. much eating, but bettor than this is what Az and Er. Baghib say ; that it is & )i; and that the meaning is, and his lil,ybecameevil to him; or he was di~J,ppointed, or he actl!d ignorantly; . or some other of the mea.nings mentioned by the expositors." We think Mr. Monro would be in a much bettor position if he digests this.

Mr. Monro never foars to b~l' exposed, and without thinking what he is going to say, he runs out to his favoul'iteEpiphany, by tho C~ courtesy," of whose cdito r 11~.1.1aS accomplish-d great things, and in which though coubroversies are for others sharply declared us closed, yet for tho brags of Mr. Moure its columns can afford unlimite,d space .. It is, therefore, no wonder to see a controversy which was closed on thc.17thJanuary, 1903, by the editor of the bpiphany, carr-ied on, on one side only, by Mr. Monro in the same papor up' to tho 16Lh1 and oven 23rd, January, 1904. But that is not our

) 904.)

'Ins RANAonAT MISSIONARY.

concern, Mr. Monro vory politely calls our explanation of the word. rlb ffu.lm, as giveu· in the ' July number of the Review another instance of ' our " otymological juggling;'" previous instunoes being those relating to the signification of Farqleet, etc, Thoro is no dou.bt,tha~ various l:Iigni~c.atioll.s ar~ ut~alcho.d to ~ho word .~ u~d we plamly said so, when glVlllg Its signification, 1D tho article in question. But the signification which we have ascribed to' it is also given ill Arabic Dictionarios.Lano's Lexicon will do for ,the present. In Book I, Pt. V, page 1920, we have : " According ,to some it

, .

(fb) primarily signifies ~iJ J as . moaning the making to 8uffer

loss or detriment." And again: ". ~~ info n- ~ al~o moans, I~ irnposed upon him. a thing that was above his power or ability,;' We advise Mr. Monro to read again.~hat article with this meaning in view, and he will find no difficulty. In fact his reference to, the signification, given by us as a " fnntaseic invention;" was simply the outoomo of his ignorance of the Arabic languago andho did not take the trouble to consult an authoritative work before rushing out to the Epiphany, although h~ 'had full six: months to ponder over it.

Tl~e meaning of the word farqlee; was discussed in July I 1902, in the Review of 1l"U,gi01i8, and thoro is no uso reproducing that article here. There wo noted the etymology of tho word and showed that it was a pure Arabic compound consisting of two parts J) tk fa.rq and h~J leet, and meant' one who destroyed falsehood,' or I one who distinguished between truth and falsehood.' We then stated that the Greek form paraclete was only a corruption of .the Arabic

jarqleet 'for the very plain reason that the speaker was a man

of the Hebrew race who spoke a Semitic language very closely ,allied: to Arabic, We further stated that tho two words, fariq and leet were not only to be found in Arabic but also in the Hebrew langu-. age, and this conclusively settled that Jesus di'd not utter a word which was the equivalent offa1'qleet'~ut tho very wO~'dfarqleet itself •. It IS these facts which Mr. Monro with his usual insolence terms as

. .' .

" etymological juggling." If this is honest criticism, then all die-

tio:nariesmay bo' easily condemned as masses of "etymological. juggling." Farqleet and paraclete· have a close resemblance and, since the two, while having two different moanings, have been' applied

64

Tn'E R'Evt'EW OF R'EUatONS.

(FchrURfY

-_._-_._-_._----_._----

to the same person, there is not the lecst doubt thnt one of them is a corruption of the other. 'I'he originality of the Semitic form ie placed beyond any doubt when it is considered that both tho speaker and hie

audience were Semitic people, who spoke a Semitic language. In Hebrew far·iq means to break, or to crush, and lot means a covering, n veil, sorcery, etc. If Mr. Monro wants authority, he must consult adic .. 'ionary of the Hebrew language. 'I'he word lot occurs in various forms in the Old Testament, Ex. 7, 22; 8,3,14; Is. 25,7; Ruth 3, T; I Sam. 18, 22; 24, 5, and in all these places it bears the significance in. dic'Rted above. We have often shown that on account of his ignorance of the Arabic language, Mr. Monro makes aseerbions which would bring 1\ blush to him if he had some knowledge. Farqleet is a pure Arabic word, and is given under the root J,; in the Lisanul-Arub', Vol., XIl page 182, where it says: r 11-Jl ,,~ 4:La_, J ~ ~ 1 tJi ,

Jb 4J '" ,",~J 1 \:J!:! J .1~ IJ' 1 lb~ J) U ~J .I..-J 1 ,-:""W 1 oJ; 1..-. 1 ~ J and so also in the Majma-i.Bihar-ul-Anwar, Vol. II, page 73, Lo-~

Jk 4J '" J:s:.l1 ~ J,;AI. IJ J lbhJ J) lj iaJ I..-J, ~, , .,_"A. Both are to the same effect and indicate that ill traditions it is related that in the

former books the Holy Prophet was called 4cJlariqlect i.e., one who distinguishes between truth and falsehood." Two things are to be

specially noted'. III tho first place the word is gi Veil under the rooj; J .1' farq, thus clearly signifyiug that the word is derived from this root, for, as a rule, only those words are given under a root which are derived from it. Secondly, the word lar'iqlcet is in both places written as ~J ~) !, far'iq·o-litan, and thus not only the component parts are indicated separately, but the construction itself shows that It is a purely Arabic form, and literally means a distinguisher between truth and falsehood, thus rejecting all ideas of its foreign derivation. It should also be berne in mind that the words of the prophecy relating to the farqlect also clearly show that the farqlcet is none other than one who distinguishes truth from falsehood. 'I'his was fully discussed in our articlo on the ".Paracloto." What happened was this, and it is not a strange process at all, that the Greek scribes of the. Gospels found a Greek word' pa·raclete closely. resembling' the Semiticfu1'qlcet, as contained in the prophecy, and either not understanding its exact signification, or thinking the signification of the. two words to be nearly the same, wrote down paraclel~ for ja'l'qleet.

1 {)()4.)

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--_ .. _._------ -------

nut wo do iiot expect from :M1'. Monro a {a,it considorabion of those points, and therefore leave his abuses and ecoffings to tho indignation

of honesty, and leave it for tho reader to judgo tho merits of tho eon trovCl'sy;

Notes and Comments.

That tho lute Henry Edwal'd john Stanloy, third Baron Staniey

Death of a Muslim of A1clorloy, was a sincere and devout MUBMember of the House lim, was known to very few men -. Retid.or,s of Lords. of tho Safwat-~d Itbar (Travels of SheIkh

.Muhammad Bfl,iram Fifth of Tunis), however, knew very well that Lord Stanley hadlortg boon a sincere believer in the principles of islam. But his fa.ith was not limited to fi, p1'ofessioIiby word of mouth. trhe author of tho Sofwat-1tl-Itbar rolatos incidents which show how deoply Islam had entered into his heart. HE) found him

,hot only llogtilm> in tho fi vo do.ily pr-n.yors, hut also constant at tahajjttd . (tho midnighl, prayers) ; and what is sl.ill moro wondorj ul, ho found him vory humble in his praYOl'B,) and rar above most born 1V1 uhummadnns. Whon ho t .. ilkod of tho Holy Prophob, it was with profound lovo and deep rospoct that ho mentioned or named him .. lIo found him abo vory wall versed on tho princi plos of Muslim thoology, and. in his convcrsabion with him he found that tho doop conviction of his miud was tho rosult of a comprchonsivo knowledg-e of tho pi-inciplos of Islam. This was about tho year 1880. Who could imagino that auch a sinoorc : and devout worshipper of tho truo God was living ill tho heart of Christondom ?

Lord Sbanloy breathed his last 011 Friday, tho 21st day of Rama ... zan (corresponding with Ll th December 1903). It u.ppoars from the I Oroscent" timt his Muslim naino was Abdul H.allman. Tho Ore- 6Cent gives tho following account at his .intor-mcnt : "On 'I'ucsday, tho 25th Ralllazan (15th Decctnbor}' his mortal remains wore laid silently to 'rest in Il, secluded plantation in Aldorloy Park, his late Iordship's ancestral homo. 'I'ho interment took placo at an 0:1r1y hour, and was conducted sbrictlv aocordinc to Muslim usarro, in

J. 0 0

which noly and Lmper'ishablo Fn,~th his lordship lived and Jieu.

(.t1lha,md-o-"lillah I) Tho corpse was inclosed in a plain deal coffin,

Gf)

(Jrehl'uary

,-----

-~-------,-.--.-----.- .. --.,- .. --

and borne £1'0111 tho hall by workmen on the Ah1crloy estate .. Followlug it on foot WOI'O tho successor to I,h0 titlo (tho Hon'ble Ly ulph Sta.nley ), his wife,their two 80m;, and 01,11.01' rclat.ives. By the late Lord StanloY\1 spocial d irccl.iou t.hOl'O \"ILL::! al so present as chief mourner his Excellency Humid Bey, Proin ier Seoretaire to tho Octoman Embassy ill IJOllUOll. ~Ph(J Islamic prayers were recited over the gl'a,ve 'by tho Imam to tho 'I'urkish lDrnbas:-;y. A Jaauiza. ser-vice in rnernory of the d eocasod was held at, the Liverpool MOSqllO, and wag conducted by His Honour AbllulhQuilliam Ifllfomli, Shoikh-ul Islam of tho Br-itish Isles." So lived, and passed a noble soul, and this must no 'dclll bt bo a " terr ible blow ' to tho orthodox Chriatians us tho 1!'reothinkor sayB, which corroborutos this account of Lord Sta.nley's death aud burial. M:vy God receive him into His mercy lLIHl opon tho eyes of 01,1101' Christians to tho shining lights of tho true and living faith of Islam ! Amen!

The tru til of our remarks made else.:

Prayer in Christ's name. where, concerning tho supposed accopt;

anco :111<1 answors of prrtY0l'l::l in Christ's

namo, is il1ustl'atod in tho Epiphanv of 16th January. Syod Ziu-ulHag from -Ioyrampur calls tho attention of tho editor of tha,t paper to a claim uiado in a, previous issuo concorning tho acooptanco and unawers of the Christians' prayers through Josus Christi, and to tIle clnims put forward by l\1ir~a Ghulam Ahmad, the founder of the Ahma,diyya Sect of Islam, that he is tho Promised Messiah, that his pr:tYI:H'S uro most of all accepted in the world, and that in a" duel or prayer" IjO tost his' claim' to+tho Promised Meseishahip his prayel's will c=rbaiuly be accepted, while that of his opponent as certainly rejected. He cites tho example of Dr, Dowie of Chicago, who wall cha.llenged to pray to God asagainet the Promised Messiah that tho liar may die first, and how he has kept his silence, and then proposes that " a Christian missionm-y, in order to be true to your romurks," should'" stand against Mirza Sahib ill 11 duel of prayer." But al we have already stated, the Christians have not the courage to put their claims to tho acceptance of prayer to test; for if they are certain or anything, they are certain of this that ex .. perienco will deal a death-blow to their pretensions., Evading the proposal, therefore, tho cditor vsuys ~ !- As tho Mirza claims bo be the Messiah, wo challenge him to v erify his pretension (1) by

ID04.)

proving himself immortal, (2) by cOlllpolling 1,lu~ submission of Is. Iaru and Ghri~tiimil.;y, <bud (3) do:;tL'uyiug' all hit) oppoueute, including OUL'8dve:;~ by u;tlliug duwu fire [l'OIU lw:t.ven. l\Ieauwltile we will . iH'tty ~lmt. his impo::;LuL'O llla.y pr-rish when he hiuisclf d.ics. AmI OUl' corrcspoudcnt will wutc h tho rosul s.' Proofs of this ne.tu re huvc alw;(,ys boon dcruaudcd of tho p ruphcts of Goll. J USU<i ltaa a, capi tal vppor tuuiby to couvert tho devil hiuiself if he could hav e cast h iu.self down Irutu the piunaclo of tho tern plo aud shown that tho angols of God had ella,l'ge over him, Had he performed this simple feat, tho devil would huve been conqu orcd once £OL' 1IIt1, aud Josus would have LH3011 saved tho hardships of cru cifixiou. 'riw dcuuu«l of "proving himself iuunortnl " Srt.VOL'S of ib like n aburo. 'I'wo Iltltel' proofs are d emandcd, vi,z., eOlllpolling' tho suhm issiou of Isluin aud CllI'iHli:LUiLy, and calling d owu fire from heaven to cousutno his oppouents iuclud iug tho, members of the Oxford Mission. Now tho Ro v. gOlltlol1l~l1 carrying 011 the busiuess of cvaugclization should know tho Bible, and fit least tho Gospels, n Ii tt.le b-t tcr. What d id JOSU8 saywhen a sigH was demanded ! Mat.thew says, ho said: (,(, An evil and ad u I ter ous gencration scokcth aftcl' a sign; und thoro ,':ilml1 no sign he given to it but tho sig'u of the Prophet Jonas" (M'Li,t 12: :W). Msrk ~J:LyS, 'hr~ sig-llOd d ooply :1.111] ausworcd : Cl \-\Thy doth this gl:ll1orahon seek nH,M n. sigH? Vor-il y Lsny u nt.o you, tlror-e shal! no sign bo given u uto tltiiil gonerat,ion" (Mark H: 12). Luko n.gTOOS WiUL Matt.how, only ho is more pol it« nrul t~allH tho people evil hut not adu lterous. John" does not know whether such n, tiling e vor happcnod. Thi~ is ouly to show how an ouvl ior Mossiuh, who is now wo r . shi pped 11.S a God fared at, the hands of tho J ows. As a matter .of faeL, the Promised Messia.h. is flll'lli~hing proof of ovory sort. But tho Cd.ltOl' of tho J!lpiphnu.y w.mbs him to provo his iuunot-tal iby. 'Phis 18 simply an absurdity. 'I'he prophets of G .. d tWO spiritually immortal, but irnmor tali ty in the 8011;-;e ill which he wants it has uot been gmutoll to allY mau-na.y, Hot to n. Oln-istiun God accord iug to his belief. Josus n.IHO died. IJ: we keep Iuiruess .. ttl tho rule, ana uruth a.s the object in rel ig'ious discussions, much good can result froui them. Had our Christian friouds tho slightest C1U'O for Iuirucss awl truth, such reiua.rka could never have boon ui.ido. Diu·J tBU.:! show tho sign;:> domundcd ] Did Ito Pl'OVO his iuunortality to tho Jews?' DiJ he compel tho 8U om iss ion of J udaism alono? Did ho destroy all his opponents by 9allillg downIlrc {row. heaven ? If he di .. Luot do any of thoae things,

(Pebrunry" .

_-------------_._----- . ----.-------- -- ---------_._---_._--------_._----------------

beiug the Mosaiuh, uud cvou tho vory UoJ uccord ing to Uhristian boliof, do not the Christians feel asliamod to demand such proofs from the Promised Messiah?

But look at tho sucooss of the Promised Messiah and contrast it with tho failure of Jesus. So far as Ohrisuianity is conocrncd, its building has boon dornolishod by tho disoovony of the tomb of Jesus and athol' powerful arguments ngainst-, ibs doctr-ines. 'I'ho Chriatians are already socking for new theories, tho old theory of blood having proved 0, signal fniluro. As for Islam, tho I\ol11isod Messiah has. como to establish it and give now lifo to its pr-inciplos, and as tho principlos of Christianity uro docnying, tho faith of Islnrn is reviving, Tho Promised Messiah has nbout two hu rid rod thousund Iollowors ; how many had Josus? 'rho fire in which tho oditor of tho Epiphany desires to be consu mod has como d own from hoa von alroady and, is raging in tho country. Is ho not aware of tho havoc mado by tho plaguo? C11n he deny tlmt all tho prophets had foretold of the pln.guc as n sign of U10 ad vent of tho Promised Mossiuh l' And as early as lSB4, more than twelve years before its actual appoarancc, tho Promised 1\'1 CSSi,!Jil also -roretold of its. appoarunco in this country. ]\)1' fu rt.her infncma.tion that this is tho fire SOlAt down by heaven, ho should read (,110 Noah'8 Ark.

And now having dono with tho demands of the odito» of tho SpiphCLny, wo would ask him to ace opt tho proposal in Sycd Z.i;~-ul· Haq's lotter, and not to evade it by vain excuses. If ho knows that. Gall accepbs his prayers aud that God must reject tho prayers of one 'Whom, 110 calls an " impostor " as against himself, why should ho thus shun and have recourse 1;0 ovasi ve answers? The struggle between the religious prinoiplos of Ohvisbianity and Islam will . be decided O~lC() for al] if he eums up a little courage,

So says tho Ta.Olet, which writos, in its 1SS.Uo. of Brd October, The Bishops should 1!)03~ as followa :_--

do something.

I' Mirza Ghularn Ahmod has been reading tho Jilncyclopa;dia l1iblica, and inasmuch as that notorious work is edited hy a"Q 1\ng1i~ ~11l) qignita,rYl perhaps pardouahly f001s ont.itled to quote it ngains.~ QIW~~ti~~~s.. I~\ t1w I~4~~~~ ~evic'U! 0/ R_clifJions t,his goqtle~all fl~rs I.

1 \>04 .• )

NOTBS AND CO},f-r.TF.N'PS.

G9

rrho most trustworthy book coutaining the views of Higher Critics and written by profosaod Christians is tho EnC1JC~op(jJdia Bibl-ica, in which it is stated in oolumn 1,811 (Vol. II), that in all the Gospels there aro only five absolutoly erodible PfLSS3.g0S abou t Josns. ProIosaoe Sohmiedol, Professor of tho Now 'I'osbumont Exegesis, Zurich (fol' tho author of those remarks is no loss n, Church dignitary than ho}, thon goos on to say that thoso passagos, which' might be called the foundation-pillars for a truly soiontific lifo of Jesus,' conclusively prove' that in the person of J esus we have to do with a C01U4 pletely human being, and that the Divino is to bo Bought in Him only in the form ill which it is capable of being found in a man.' We hope that. tho Christian miss iouaiics will plainly IWOW those tru ths and condemn tho falao belief of tho Divinity of J osus.'

" A correspondent of Tho G'l1,ardian commonting on this pass ago says; "l'hat u, Moh.uumudau should claim for the Quran a higho~ in8pil'n.tion and nu thoriby than tho Biblo is not surprising. Hut timt ho should be able to support his contontion by quotations from 0. book in part edited and written by l1 priest and dignitary of the English Ohuroh, and a professor of tho University of Oxford, is a reproach to which wo ought not to be cxposod, As a privnto ind i v id ual, Professor Choyno is froe to think and wri to ~~:;!._hc pleases but when he uses his poaition and the influence it gives him·n~'<:lis"" leminating doctrines directly subversive of SOmO of the funda,mental-· ~:rticleB of the Catholic faith, ho implicates the whole Church oi which he is a member, u.w.l strikes a. deadly blow ut the roligion Sl16

is trying to propagate.' .

4' An appeal on this subject. in the shape of a protest. is understood to. have been made to tho Chancellors 0.£ tho Universities of Oxford and Cambridge. But- the correepondcnt who writes to The Gu,ardian is of opinion that tho Uishops should do somobhing. lIo recalls tho solemn question to w liich the Bishops and, indeed, tho clergy have given assent: 'Will yo.u bo ready with all fait hfuldiligonco to banish and d rivo away all erroneous and s.t\·ange d octrines contrary to God's WOl'd l' Ho adds ~ 'The denial of tho divinity of 01,11' Lord is not a strange doctrine, but at least wo be-liovo it to. bo erroneous, and, it is. cerbuinly coutrm-y to God's. Word .. ' Bnt if the Bishops weco to censure OV01'Y hLlse doctr-ine, what would bOCOUlO of tho comprehensiveness of A11g1ical1islll l'~

70

Tnl<~ m~Vn:WOF rmr.IGIONS.

(Fo bruary,

But what can the pOOl' Bishops do with a book, which has falsely been asaumod to be tho Wonl of God. Still we must await tho result of those appeals.

U ndor tho above heading, tho Record and tho Bock both pu blish, in their issuo of tho 30th October, The Bible Students' Union tho following lotber from tho pen

and the Higher Critic\sm. of Mr. Corfo, tho gontlemall who,

some timo ago, preferred all uppoal to the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge aga.inst the verdict of

the Il ichor Criticism :-

u

"Sir ,-The Society for tho Propagation of the Gospel inForeign Parts has now apparently thrown down tho gauntlet by inserting' the article in their Quarterly Ma.gazine' Higher Criticism an A ia to Missionary Work.' 'I'his, too, in the presence of the grave information from India that tho Bible, as represented by tho Higher critics, is publicly estimated now in India as being on a level with tho Qnran. The Principal of tho Church Missionary Society's High.' School, Krishnagar, Bengal, writes to the Record, that the Punjab lieoicv: of Religions' lays hold .of the most recont and advanced criticism, claims that this school teaches what the Quran 1U1,8 al waya taught, urges missionaries to give up teaching a Bible which has been proved fn.lse, and to recognise that the so-cu.lled Divinity of Chrisb is nothing more than every other mall possesses.' 'Thus has tho Bible been swept away as a struw before the mighty current of modern criticism, and such was the fate it deserved.'

" 'I'his position, so full of insult and menace to Christianity throughout the world, drew at once an appeal, in this country ,to the Ohuucellors of Oxford and Cambridge U n i veraities. Under .such circumstances as these, therefore, this challenge of the S.P,G., unless quickly answered, would lead to the dislocation of missionary work. in all foreign lands. It will be ausworcd ,

" Again, tho Socioty for tho Promotion of Chr ist.ian Knowledgo has recently pu bl ishcd a. book conta.ining the following: 'The personality of Buddha. must, I think, rank second to that of Josus Christ in the whole history of tho world; unless, indeed, we place him above tho figuro of Moses.' Thus Abraham, Elijah, David, I"':I.i'Lh, the Evangelists, tho Apostles, the Virgin Mary, St. Paul, are

. thus assignod an iufevio r place to Budd ha in the above words written by Arehdcacoll Wilson, and printed bearing tho. imprimatur of tho S.P.O.K.

1004.)

71

--------------~-- --------

" l\foreovor, at tho lh'isLul Church Cougresa a Bishop-c-who has for many years shared with Canons Driver and Cheyne the distinction of being theablest of the English Higher Oritice-e-repeoted the same theories 011 which tho denials of tho truth of tho Dible in Lnd ia, Australia and other parts of tho world are based.

"The answers to all such challenges? by whomsoever-given, are already at hand. FOt' during tho last fow yoars a library has boen forming, t\ library of export works by English and German Profcssors, and experts in every branch of modern Biblical cr iticiam , scientifically contradicting the theories of tho Higho.r Critics and l'o-establishing tho truth of tho Holy Scriptures.

"Tho Bible Studonts' Union has been recently founded in 'England and Scotland especially for tho purpose of diffusing at homo and abroad this Biblo-dofonco knowledge which has been accumulauing, and thus placing, the materials and weapons of skilful Biblical defence within roach or all.

" Expert defence of the Bible has now become a necessary part of the national life of this country if it is to remain Ohristiun ; and this is seen to be more urgent in view of the strong efforts which are being made to secure the children £01' the Higher Criticism by teaching it in schools and Bible claseos. A glance at tho abovo effect of it in India ought to suffice.

" Finally, the vory last rot ugo offered by tho dcstructivo 'critics as compensation for a wrecked Bible-namely, Christ Himself and His teaching-both are destroyed owing to the joint effects of tho Kcnosis school and EnC1Jclopmdia Hibli.c((, school, for Christ has been deposed by them to the rank of a fallible teacher and of an ordinary human man. Thus nothing iq left-nothing but the powder pro ducod by the falling of the corner-stono-exactly as it was foretold.

"The Bible Students' Union has been joined by Borne of the most distingu ishcd schelars of tho day.

" October 116.

ROBERT P. C. COR]j'E."

What the Bible Students' Union has practically done may bo known to Mr. Corfe. Porhaps it is in its infancy, and when it begins , to work, it will be too late, for Christians Missionaries find Ministers all over the world are giving up tho position which Mr. Codo has an earnest wish to keep.

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