Page:The Moslem World - Volume 02.djvu/45

 you will, but arbitrary to the last degree. It ofiers no hope of salvation except through personal merit ; no Saviour, no atonement. The prophet justified l^ing, to a woman, in war and to reconcile friends. Now, a reUgion that permits falsehood under any conditions is one that will find adherents. Lying, licentiousness, cheatmg, poly- gam}', divorce and heaven is a progranmie that so completely suits fallen man, that it can be no wonder that Islam is gaining followers rapidly in a country Hke Africa.

The Moslem problem is difiicult of solution on account of its strong points. A rehgion containing some of the cardinal truths of our faith is much harder to influence than that which is burdened with the crude conceptions of fetishism or crass idolatry. The Moslem holds much truth mixed up with much error. He beheves in one God, maker of heaven and earth ; he beheves that Christ was a prophet, but not divine ; he beheves in the forgiveness of sins, in the resurrection and life ever- lasting. Now, a man holding in firm conviction so much that is strong cannot be expected to abandon his fortress without a great struggle ; indeed, he thinks his fortress stronger than yours. We find men in the homeland say, " Why do you not leave the Mohammedan alone ? His rehgion is good enough for liim." Is it ? Hear what Sclilegel, the German scholar, has to say of it : " A prophet without miracles, a rehgion without mysteries, and a morahty ^^ithout love, which has encouraged a thirst for blood, and which began and ended in unbounded sensu- ahty." We have seen its cruelties, its deceptions, its imblushing disloyalty to promises and the most sacred treaties. Its accommodation to human weakness cannot alone account for the impressive fact that it has made its appeal, with such striking success, to so great a variety of peoples. It is not at all hkely that a faith could have triumphed over so many types of rehgion unless it was girded with elements of great strength. I think it may safely be predicted that the strength of any rehgion will depend on that religion's conception of God. The higher the conception, the purer the rehgion ; the higher the conception, the stronger the hold rehgion t