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248 THE MIZANU'L HAQQ

teach all nations (Matt. xxviii. 18-20), it is impossible to say that Muhammad fulfilled the prophecy that the Paraclete would bring to the remembrance of the Apostles what Christ had taught them (John xiv. 26). (10) To appeal to Mani's claim to be the Paraclete in proof that Muhammad was such, is a strange way of arguing. If we Christians were to compare Muhammad with Mani and the Qur'an with the Artang,1 which book Mani claimed had been brought him from heaven, and was such that no one could produce another like it, our Muslim brethren would be much offended. Let it be noticed that the writer of these pages carefully abstains from instituting any such comparison. But it is clear that the best instructed Christians refused to accept Mani principally because they knew (1) that the prophecies regarding the Paraclete were such that they could be fulfilled by no man, but only by the Holy Spirit, and that (2) these prophecies had already been fulfilled by the descent of the Holy Spirit on the fiftieth day after the Crucifixion of Christ (Acts ii. 1-36). This shows that the teaching of the New Testament in Mani's time was just what it is now. Christ's only prophecies about prophets who would come after Him were not such as to induce Christians to accept any who claimed to be prophets (Matt. xxiv. 11, 24; Mark xiii. 22: compare Matt. vii. 15), hence they refused to accept Mani, whom Muslims also hold to have been a false prophet. (11) The Paraclete was to dwell in the hearts of all true Christians (John xvi. 14: compare I Cor. vi. 19; Rom. viii. 9), which cannot be said of Muhammad. (12) Christ promised that the Paraclete, the Holy Spirit (John xiv. 26), should descend from Heaven upon the disciples within a few days of His Ascension (Acts i. 5), and bade them not begin their task of evangelizing the world (Matt. xxviii. 19, 20) until the


1 The fact that Mani was a painter and that the Artang was full of pictures is mentioned in the Shahnamah, but not by Al Ya'qubi, Al Biruni, Ash Shahristani, and other Arabic writers of authority.
THE MIZANU'L HAQQ 249

Paraclete had come upon them, but to remain at Jerusalem until this promise was fulfilled (Luke xxiv. 49; Acts i. 4, 8). Did this mean that they should wait until Muhammad's claim to be a prophet was made, nearly 600 years afterwards? By that time they were all dead. Moreover, as we have seen, the promise was fulfilled on the day of Pentecost (Acts ii), just after Christ's Ascension. Then, rightly understanding their duty, they began their task of preaching the Gospel throughout the world. It is clear therefore that in the promise of the coming of the Paraclete no reference to Muhammad can be found.

10. In 1 John iv. 2, 3, some have endeavoured to prove that "the Spirit of God" denotes Muhammad. But no true Muslim ever gives Muhammad such a title. Some say that, in accordance with ver. 2, Muhammad taught that Jesus Christ had "come in the flesh" because he denied Christ's Deity and affirmed that He was a mere man. But "to come in the flesh" is an unmeaning phrase, if applied to a mere man. In reality the verse condemns the Docetic view that Christ had only a phantom body, and not a real human one. The belief that Christ was a mere man is condemned in scathing terms in this very Epistle (I John ii. 22, 23; v. 5, 9-13, 20). Hence the deduction which scholars draw from I John iv. 2, 3, is not one which in any way confirms Muhammad's claims.

11. Jude 14, 15. Some people have ventured to assert that "the Lord" in this passage is Muhammad, and that the "executing judgement" denotes his being "the Prophet with the Sword" and waging war with his enemies. But no true Muslim can hold this view, for the title "the Lord" (الرّبّ) belongs to God, and in the Qur'an (compare Surah ix, At Taubah, ver. 31) is given to Him only. Enoch's prophecy which is quoted by Jude refers to Christ's second Advent, when He will judge the world (Dan. vii. 13, 14; Matt. xxiv. 29-51; 2 Thess. i. 6-10; Rev. i. 7; xix. 11-21). The title "Lord" is often applied to Christ in the

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