divine nature is the very foundation of the Christian faith. We have already stated this, but our Muhammadan brethren so commonly forget or misunderstand it that we must again call their attention to it, before we proceed to declare what we believe regarding the doctrine of the divine trinity in unity. We, Christians, believe, at least as firmly as Muslims do, in one Almighty God, creator of heaven and earth and of all things, visible and invisible. This we believe, because it is most clearly taught in both the Old Testament and the New. We quote a few verses from both to prove this.

In the Law of Moses the doctrine of the unity of God is taught in these words: 'Hear ¹, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD.' So also God says in the Book of the Prophet Isaiah, 'I ² am the LORD, and there is none else; beside me there is no God.' In the Gospel, the Lord Jesus Christ quotes the former of these passages in answering the question, 'What commandment is the first of all?' that is to say the most important. His reply to this was: 'The ³ first is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God, the Lord is one: and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength.' So also in other parts of the New

Testament it is written: 'We ¹ know . . . that there is no God but one:' and again: 'One ² God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in all.' It would be an easy task to quote many other passages to the same effect, but these are sufficient to show how baseless is the charge of polytheism (الشرك) brought against us by some people. Such a charge is doubtless due to ignorance of the true teaching of the holy Scriptures. If any one is not a believer in the oneness of God, he cannot be a Christian.

What has been stated above is undoubtedly the teaching of the holy Scriptures regarding the nature of God Most High. But it is not the whole of the teaching on the subject which the prophets and apostles have been divinely commissioned to give mankind. Nor can any believer in the one true God think himself justified in accepting part of God's teaching and rejecting the rest. This conduct is worthy of heretics and not of God's true servants. Besides revealing to us His divine unity in the holy Scriptures, the most merciful God has also revealed his most holy nature in the same holy Scriptures as existent in three Hypostases (اقانيم), the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. According to the teaching of the holy Scriptures, the title of Father is applied to the absolute, invisible, mysterious and