purpose of bolstering up Judaism and Christianity against the superior claims of
Mahomet.
And he is strongly supported in this belief by the terms in which the Corân
accuses the Jews of suppressing the prophetic announcement of Mahomet's advent,
and for this end of "perverting" and "distorting" their
Scriptures. It is quite true that these expressions, if taken alone, might be
held to imply that the Jews had changed and interpolated the Sacred text. But
they must be construed in unison with the natural meaning of the context, and
also with the general tenor of the Corân upon the subject. And a careful study
of the Corân, in its connection with the life of Mahomet, convinces me that the
charge of fabrication is not justified by the context, while it is inconsistent
with the sentiments expressed in many other passages; and that, in point of
fact, the position thus taken up by Mahometans is altogether untenable.
The Old and New Testaments are everywhere in the Corân referred to as extant
and in common use; Jews and Christians are exhorted to follow the precepts of
their respective Scriptures; and from first to last both portions of the Bible
are spoken of in terms of reverence and homage consistent only with a sincere
belief in their genuineness and authenticity. The expressions noticed in the
foregoing paragraph can naturally and properly be construed in accordance with
this view; and hence it is obligatory that they should be so construed, and not
in a sense which would run counter to the rest of the Corân.
To render the argument complete and unanswerable,