because of the precept, "Prove all things" (I Thess. v. 21). Our Reason tells us that obedience to this precept is acceptable to God, who has given us intellect that we might use it aright to His glory. Truth is one of the Divine Attributes, and as such it can never perish, but must be eternal. Therefore the man whose hearts desire is to find the Truth and live according to God's most Holy Will has nothing to fear from an earnest and most thorough examination of the grounds of his faith. When he has made it, he is able not only to stand firm on the rock of truth himself, but also to help others tossing on the sea of doubt and uncertainty. His faith is now worthy of the name, and is no longer mere imitation (ألتّقليد) or bigotry or ignorance.

The libraries of Christian Scholars are full of books of Christian Evidences. But this is not the place to dwell upon this point, for we are writing not for unbelievers, but for our Muslim brethren, who accept the Qur'an as God's latest revelation to man, and believe all that is contained therein to be God's own Word (كلام الله). For Muslims it is most important to know what the Qur'an says about the Bible, and the more so because among the ignorant there is prevalent an entire misconception on this point. It is not too much to say that the idea which most Muslims have as to the teaching of the Qur'an on this most important subject is quite contrary to what their own Sacred Book really does teach. Every true Muslim is therefore likely to profit by joining us in the inquiry, "What testimony does the Qur'an bear to the Bible, and what may we learn about the latter from the former?"

It is evident to all that the Qur'an itself bears witness to the fact that in Muhammad's time there existed in Arabia both Christians and Jews, who differed from one another in religion.¹ These are both called in the Qur'an "The² People of the Book". The Qur'an

testifies to the fact that the Book from which these two religious communities received their title still existed¹ among them. As parts of this Book the Qur'an expressly mentions the Torah, the Zabur, and the Injil.² Moreover, the Qur'an states that these books were sent down by God Most High,³ and that the Qur'an itself was given afterwards to confirm⁴ them. It also teaches that those who reject these books will be punished in the next world,⁵ and states that the books of the Old and those of the New Testament agree with each other in their general teaching.⁶ Since the Qur'an says all this about the Bible, it is not necessary for us to adduce here the same degree of proof in attestation of the Bible which it would be necessary to adduce were we writing to convince an unbeliever.

It may, however, be said: "(1) You Christians cannot logically appeal to the Qur'an, for you do not accept it as from God. (2) Besides this, the Books now circulated among Christians as the Old and the New Testaments are not those to which the Qur'an refers, or at least not in their present state, for they have become corrupted, or at any rate they are annulled."

In answer to this we grant that the first of these objections would be quite conclusive against any attempt made by Christians to rely upon the Qur'an for proof of the authenticity of the Holy Scriptures. But we do not in any way whatever rely upon the Qur'an to prove our Scriptures for us. What we are doing is quite a different thing. We are endeavouring to show Muslims that they, as believers in the Qur'an, are bound to accept what it says about the Jewish and the Christian Books. This argument is a fair one, unless the second of the above objections can be proved