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THE EEV. S. M. ZWEMER^ M.A., D.D.^ 



formality of Islam sprang. Other similar instances might be 

 mentioned, one of them appearing on page 95. According to the 

 teaching of Islam, every individual was accompanied by an evil 

 spirit ! Surely that was a corrupted and perverted version of the 

 beautiful truth, revealed in the Scriptures, that all true children of 

 God are accompanied by angelici messengers — ministering spirits 

 sent forth to "minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation" 

 (Heb. i, 14) ; while of little children, the Lord spoke of " their 

 angels " (Matt, xviii, 10). 



The Chairman pointed out, for the guidance of speakers, that; 

 the subject was Islam and Animism, not a comparison between 

 Animism and Christianity. 



Mr. Joseph Graham, alluding to the Chairman's mention of 

 certain aspects of purity and truth in Islam, said he was reminded 

 of Gibbon's remark concerning the Mohammedan summary of faith : 

 " There is one God, and Mohammed is His prophet," namely, that the 

 familiar statement contained the greatest truth and the deepest lie. 

 Further recalling his reading of Gibbon, the speaker said that 

 Mohammed was, on the one hand, struck with the degeneracy of the 

 Jews from a religious point of view, and on the other hand, 

 disgusted with the way in which Christianity had been wrapt up in 

 forms and ceremonies and superstitions — very much akin to what 

 had been described in connection with Islam. 



They might venture, perhaps, to give Mohammed credit for 

 honesty, and a desire to put forward truth in place of the error which 

 he observed ; but inasmuch as he was not speaking from the inspired 

 Word, he was thrown upon resources which must inevitably lead to 

 error ^ — his great error being to proclaim himself as the prophet of 

 God. He recognized the " claims " of Jesus Christ, and Moses, and 

 others ; but he was careful to establish his own claim above them all. 

 The inevitable result was a system which needed to be bolstered up 

 from any source available. 



He thought the special interest of the paper was that it was a 

 statement by one who was in touch with modern Islam. The inten- 

 tion of the paper apparently was to show that, as the inevitable 

 consequence of the position which Mohammed took up, there was a 

 gathering from all sources without a true guide such as we had in 

 the Holy Scriptures, and that gathering must necessarily be affected 



