counted by God against a Mussulman, while the mere intention to do a good
action, is reckoned as one and, if it be carried out, as ten good deeds!
Inward corruption and impurity are therefore ideas foreign to the Mohammedan
creed. The Gospel is now introduced. Faith in Jesus is shewn to be the
requisite and only acceptable accompaniment of repentance; and the wonderful
splendour thrown upon the Divine attributes by the love of God, in the gift of
His Son, is fully dwelt upon. The concluding portion displays by copious
extracts from Scripture, and with great power of language, the blessings
conferred by participation in this salvation. The springs of the Christian's
character and happiness, his restoration to God's favour, his delight in
prayer, his love to all mankind, and his glorious prospects for eternity, are
described with a fascinating eloquence which cannot fail to captivate the
reader. There is no space for details, but attention may be drawn to the vivid
parallel between the heaven of the Bible, and the paradise of Mohammed; a
species of argument which Pfander frequently adopts with great effect. Thus,
after dilating at length on the excellencies and the perfections of some
Christian doctrine, he suddenly brings forward the corresponding tenets of the
Mohammedan faith, the comparison adding to their native deformity. So again
(p. 146), after dwelling upon God's mercy and desire that all should be saved,
the teaching of the Coran, that millions were created for damnation, is held
up in contrast. Such a course seems more effective, and more likely to,
produce conviction, than successively to bring up each of the Mohammedan
doctrines like culprits to the bar for separate condemnation.1
