William Henry Neale

“ God the Father dwells in majesty inaccessible, whom no man hath seen or can see: the only begotten Son, the Messiah, the brightness of the Father's glory and express image of his person, has revealed Him and his gracious purposes to mankind: the Holy Ghost in various ways ratifies and attests the truth, and applies the promises of the Gospel to the hearts of believers. In a revelation respecting the Divine nature difficulties will occur; we see and know only in part: fully to comprehend the subject is beyond the grasp of our limited faculties. ”

“ Christianity has now existed more than eighteen centuries, and its practical operation or tendency has been sensibly felt and acknowledged. Experience is a test of truth, and in ascertaining the most happy and flourishing empires, we should not search amongst the abodes of paganism, under its various appellations; nor should we fix on Turkey, Persia, or the empire of the great Mogul, but where Christianity, by diffusing its light and blessings, has given birth to a well-ordered state of things, utterly unknown in the despotic dynasties of the East. ”

“ Love to God and man is inculcated on the purest and most exalted principles: the due subjection and regulation of our passions, forgiveness of injuries, humility, resignation, and the like, are brought into notice, whilst many supposed virtues are discarded and deprived of their usurped dominion; such for example as revenge, which Aristotle and Cicero mention with commendation, and which also the Koran sanctions, Christianity forms the only system of virtue worthy of heaven, and perfective of human nature. ”

“ When the inevitable day of judgment shall suddenly come, no soul shall charge the prediction of its coming with falsehood: it will abase some, and exalt others. When the earth shall be shaken with a violent shock, and the mountains shall be dashed in pieces, and shall become as dust scattered abroad ”

“ But, passing over the argument from miracles and prophecy, in which Islamism is notoriously deficient, we approach the internal evidence, and discern there grounds equally strong for rejecting it as an imposture. Mohammedanism does not accord with former dispensations, allowedly proceeding from God: it is obviously neither the confirmation or counterpart of any preceding revelation. Christianity is to Judaism what the splendor of the meridian sun is to the dawning day: the crescent of Mohammed is indicative of the dark night of error and confusion, in which its votaries are involved. ”

“ Christianity conveys the most exalted notions of the Great Supreme, whether as the God of nature or of grace. The beautiful copy of the divine perfections, as exhibited to us in the Scriptures, presents a striking transcript and finished portrait of all conceivable virtue. ”

“ The more we consider the scheme, the more clearly we see the genuine impress of Heaven upon it: it takes in the rights of God, as well as the necessities of his creatures. Now that the plan is fully manifested, a beautiful symmetry and adaptation of parts appears throughout the whole, from its first developement to its perfect consummation: reason acting as the handmaid to religion, cordially approves of the provisions made for the recovery of a lost world! ”

“ The abolition of infanticide, the encouragement given to alms and charitable deeds, must be mentioned with high approbation. The Koran also may lay claim to elegance of style, but it is not an equable performance: it is disfigured by frequent absurdities, contradictions, anachronisms. Yet, after all, beauty of style, conceded to the utmost extent, would of itself be no proof of a divine original. The meretricious ornaments of language are rather calculated to mislead the judgment and excite suspicion, being artifices which truth seeks not, and if they come, arise unsought and unsolicited. ”

“ To doubt or attempt improvement or correction in any point, must be accounted an act of sacrilege or impiety—the melancholy consequence of which is, that man is degraded from a rational being to a necessary agent. Knowledge must be held in light estimation in countries so situated, and a contempt for every thing exists, save the Koran and its expositions.
The conflagration of the library at Alexandria by the Caliph Omar, shews the early existence of such fanaticism and bigotry among the followers of the Arabian Prophet! ”

“ The creed has been sometimes admired for its simplicity (which however on examination will appear more fancied than real) and is conceived in the following terms: "I believe in one God, I believe in his angels, in all his writings, and in all the Prophets whom he has sent into the world, without excepting one, and making no difference between the prophets and ambassadors of God: I believe in the day of judgment: moreover I believe that every thing that exists, whether it be pleasing to us or not, was created of God." ”

“ This balance, they say, is of such large dimensions, that one scale hangs over Paradise and the other over Hell: and it will be sustained by the Angel Gabriel. The resurrection will extend even to beasts, who will be allowed retaliation, as well as to genii and men. The faithful Moslems pass over the bridge Al Sirat, which they say is laid over the midst of Hell, finer than a hair, and sharper than the edge of a sword, the Prophet himself leading the way; while the wicked, from the difficulty of the path, shall miss their footing, and fall headlong into hell, which is gaping beneath them. ”

“ In the providential administration of the world, according to the best judgment we can form, the means and end are inseparably connected; and therefore when success may be accounted for on ordinary principles, to ascribe it to the direct interposition of heaven is an illogical and unsatisfactory mode of arguing, for if such a proposition were admitted, even truth would be variable and dependent on the ever fluctuating vicissitudes of human affairs, rather than grounded on the impregnable basis of internal and external evidence. ”

“ The asperities between rival countries are mitigated: though they have not yet turned their spears into plough-shares or their swords into pruning-hooks, yet it may be reasonably anticipated, in proportion as the spirit of Christianity becomes more and more influential in the world, that there will be a diminution of the evils of this scourge, until prophecy shall be fulfilled, and the nations learn war no more. ”

“ ISLAMISM UNSUPPORTED BY MIRACLES AND PROPHECY—OPPOSED TO FORMER DISPENSATIONS—DEFECTIVE IN ESSENTIAL POINTS, AND UNDESERVING THE CHARACTER OF A DIVINE REVELATION.
When any system of belief arrogates decided superiority to itself, it is reasonable that the grounds and evidences should be clearly stated, in order that the truth may be fairly examined, and placed beyond the fear of reasonable doubt and exception. A momentous question presents itself on the threshhold of inquiry, whether Revelation affords criteria by which pretensions to a divine origin may be ascertained. ”

“ Say, shall I desire any other Lord besides God? Since he is the Lord of all things, and no soul shall acquire any merits or demerits but for itself, and no burdened soul shall bear the burden of another. ”

“ Man is conscious to himself of transgression, that he has not loved his Maker with that sincerity and ardour of affection which reason dictates is his due: the unfailing monitor in the human breast not only accuses of individual transgression,—but on reference to the world around him the truth is written in characters too plain to be mistaken: if there be any argument in history, the history of nations is but a confirmation of the fall. ”

“ Miracles and prophecy have ever been regarded as the grand seals of Heaven. The miracles of Moses operated as so many incontrovertible proofs of his legation; and Jesus also received attestation among the Jews by the signs, miracles, and wonderful works which he performed.
In submitting Islamism to this test, the result must prove a death-blow to its pretensions. Mohammed, in the Koran, expressly disavows the power of working miracles, and lays claim to none, but the intellectual one, as it is called, of the Koran, professing himself to be only a Teacher, Warner, or Admonisher. ”

“ The sinner is no longer under fear and doubt as to what may be the divine procedure towards himself: it is of the essence of Christianity to inform the mind and tranquillize conscience on this important particular! ”

“ She said, I fly for refuge unto the merciful God, that he may defend me from thee: if thou fearest him, thou wilt not approach me. He answered, Verily I am the Messenger of thy Lord, and am sent to give thee a holy son. She said, How shall I have a son, seeing a man hath not touched me, and I am no harlot? ”

“ While one can be regarded only as an artful contrivance to draw nations over to the faith of Islam, and strengthening the delusion that has too long prevailed, perpetuating war and blood-shed: Christianity tenders its blessings to mankind without interfering with any mode of government, or upholding any temporal interests ”

“ For it may be remarked, that the separate parts of Christ's life, excite high expectation, each event rising in interest and importance over the other, and forming collectively a series of wonders, till the scene terminates in his exaltation to heaven; and therefore suppression was prudential, because the facts could not well be mixed up with the matter of the Koran, and irresistibly prove that Jesus was the Messiah to whom alone men were to look for salvation. ”

“ The introductory chapter is a prayer, in as frequent use among the Musulmans as the Lord's Prayer is with Christians, "Praise be to God, the Lord of all creatures, the most merciful, the King of the day of judgment. Thee do we worship, and of thee do we beg assistance. Direct us in the right way, in the way of those to whom thou hast been gracious; not of those against whom thou art incensed, nor of those who go astray." Mohammed retains the institution of the Sabbath with the peculiarity of transferring it to Friday, the day on which the Koran was feigned to be delivered from heaven. ”

“ To suppose a confederacy among Jews and Christians, for the purposes of erasing from their Scriptures testimony favourable to Mohammed, involves absurdity and impossibility. Scattered as they were throughout all the world, and armed with mutual jealousy and hatred, it cannot for a moment be imagined that they would unite for such an object, or alter their respective copies in these particular places. ”

“ Verily we have created the damsels of paradise by a peculiar creation: and we have made them virgins, beloved by their husbands, of equal age with them; for the delight of the companions of the night hand. ”