vn AGNOSTICISM 213 



That kind of faith which Dr. Wace describes 

 and lauds is of no use here. Indeed, he himself 

 takes pains to destroy its evidential value. 



" What made the Mahommedan world ? Trust 

 and faith in the declarations and assurances of 

 Mahommed. And what made the Christian 

 world ? Trust and faith in the declarations and 

 assurances of Jesus Christ and His Apostles" 

 (/. c. p. 253). The triumphant tone of this 

 imaginary catechism leads me to suspect that its 

 author has hardly appreciated its full import. 

 Presumably, Dr. Wace regards Mahommed as an 

 unbeliever, or, to use the term which he prefers, 

 infidel; and considers that his assurances have 

 given rise to a vast delusion which has led, and is 

 leading, millions of men straight to everlasting 

 punishment. And this being so, the " Trust and 

 faith " which have " made the Mahommedan 

 world," in just the same sense as they have 



And he seems to think the question appropriately answered by 

 the assertion that it "ought to he regarded as settled by M. 

 Kenan's practical surrender of the adverse case." I thought I 

 knew M. Kenan's works pretty well, but I have contrived to 

 miss this "practical" (I wish Dr. Wace had denned the scope 

 of that useful adjective) surrender. However, as Dr. Wace can 

 find no difficulty in pointing out the passage of M. Kenan's 

 writings, by which he feels justified in making his statement, I 

 shall wait for further enlightenment, contenting myself, for the 

 present, with remarking that if M. Kenan were to retract and 

 do penance in Notre-Dame to-morrow for any contributions to 

 Biblical criticism that may be specially his property, the main 

 results of that criticism, as they are set forth in the works of 

 Strauss, Baur, Keuss, and Volkmar, for example, would not be 

 sensibly affected. 



