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THE MOHAMMEDAN CONTROVERSY
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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
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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.
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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
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