Page:The Fall of Constantinople.djvu/37

 CHRISTIANITY AND ISLAM. 19 Prophet's acts and words constitute throughout Islam the standard of morality. The explanation of his influence is to be found in various jesnsnnd facts— in the strong individuality and power of at- Mahomet. tractiou which Mahomet possessed, " as one of the great governing and leavening minds of the world, one able to stamp his own image upon nations and generations;'" in the character of his teaching, which in the short and simple creed, repeated at least three times daily, associates the name of the Prophet with that of God, whose greatness and unity are forever insisted on ; but above all, I think, in the fact that the character of Mahomet is one which is much more likely to attract barbarous men than that of the meek. and gentle Jesus. The "White Christ" of our forefathers, the beloved of children and women, the Teacher who had not where to lay his head, w4io bade his followers when struck on one cheek to turn the other, Yho forbade his disciples to use force, who was in sympathy with the poor in spirit and who prayed that Lis murderers might be forgiven, whose religion demands self- sacrifice as the first of duties, appeals to those who are ca- pable of a lofty ideal. The acceptance of Christianity has a humanizing effect, which becomes the stronger the more thoroughly the people embracing it become imbued with the teaching and the spirit of its Founder. The claim that Christianity has done more than any other religion towards diminishing the amount of cruelty and suffering in the world is a just one. The Christian churches, indeed, like most other human institutions, have had a tendency to become crystal- lized, to become the apologists of abuses, as of slavery and of others which they have found in existence. Progressive spirits have, however, always found teaching in the Bible which has enabled them to attack such abuses. Christianity has thus always been better than the teaching of the churches. Its tendency is humanitarian, and at all times has supplied men wntli encouragement who have longed to realize a loftier ideal. It would be, perhaps, fair to say that the Christian ' " Religions of the World," F. D. Maurice, p. 18.