27

THE MOHAMMEDAN CONTROVERSY

Deity must exist in trinity; and a few of Pfander's expressions seem calculated to give rise to such an impression. For example, lie argues thus:— "If you reject the doctrine of trinity, and hold to simple unity, you reduce your Creator to an inanimate existence" (p. 75); to which the Mohammedan retorts— "You confuse the terms of personal and metaphysical unity; the latter I do not hold: the former, viz., a Creator whose existence is endowed with the attributes of intelligence and will, —such is my God"; and the reply would be just, because, according to the supposed reasoning fully carried out, the Christian Trinity would be not one but three trinities. It must not, however, be understood that Pfander in any degree intentionally employs the argument as an à priori and independent one; on the contrary, his declared object is simply to show that the doctrine of the Trinity as revealed does not oppose reason, and this he repeatedly states. At the same time, we trust that in a future edition the line of reasoning and cast of expression will be so far altered as to leave no possibility of misconception.1

The closing section dwells on the truth that our knowledge of God, and hopes of salvation, are bound up in the doctrine of the Trinity; and excepting some expressions of the nature just noticed, its contents are most valuable. The wonderful love of God in effecting man's salvation through His eternal Son, and the blessedness of sanctification through the Spirit, are shown to be so dependent on the Trinity, that he who denies the Son hath not the Father nor the prospect of eternal life.

The Tarîq-ul-Hyât, or "Way of Life," takes up a point which was but briefly noticed in the Mizan namely, the nature of sin;— to all a subject of extreme importance, but especially to the Mohammedan whose loose and imperfect ideas of inward sin, lull him to sleep, amid the outward ceremonies of a shallow faith, and steel him against the attacks of conscience and the Gospel. The nature of sin to which, in the Introduction, are ascribed all the unhappiness and misery of man, must be sought for in God's word. The first portion of the work is


1 The quotations from Arabic and Persian metaphysical works are much too long.