23

THE MOHAMMEDAN CONTROVERSY

him: the weakness of the human intellect is then dwelt on, which can reason only upon the perceptions we receive, and is therefore incompetent for the discovery of subjects regarding which we have no experience;, and hence is deduced the necessity of bending to the revelation of God with humble and implicit faith. The First chapter takes up the proof of our Saviour's divinity, and a section is allotted to the evidence derived from His own words. This is a very suitable arrangement, as Mohammedans always ask first for Christ's own assertions, holding that no statements of another party are to be received towards the proof of that which our Saviour did not himself affect to claim. But why are Gabriel and the Angels' evidence admitted into this section? A Maulavi remarked to us, that the Mussulmans would smile at this; "the Padre," they will say, "set out with proving Christ's divinity from his own words, and in the very first page he is obliged to have recourse to other testimony": it is in reality no great blemish, as the object is to usher in the birth of the Saviour whose own words are about to be brought forward: but it may be as well not to give any ground for the eager hyper-criticism of our antagonists. Our only other remark on this section, and on the following which is appropriated to the evidence of the apostles, is that the expression "only begotten Son" is not sufficiently insisted upon.1 This was repeatedly assumed by Christ to himself; and to have more prominently seized upon it would have strengthened our author's position. In other respects this portion of the work is full and satisfactory, as well as the third section, which continues the argument from the Old Testament.

The Second chapter is on the Trinity, and, its first section con-


1 We learn from the author of the Saulat uz Zaigham that "White and Williams, Padres," took their stand upon this expression, when pressed by him as to the ambiguous meaning of the word "Son." It is evident that he found it was hard to explain away its meaning, for he has resorted to the convenient argument of interpolation;— a subterfuge which the readiness with which he brings interpretations and glosses to suit his purpose seldom renders necessary.
The same author fancies that he has discovered an argument against us in the expression "first begotten Son," because it was applied by Moses to   [... footnote continued on next page]