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and not to men in general, and he admits his failure. Again, were it possible to gather
from all over the world a collection of moral precepts which would be analogous to those
of the New Testament (a thing which men have often attempted, and always failed to
accomplish), it would be thereby proved that the one little book which we call the New
Testament holds enshrined in it at least as much moral teaching as all other books put
together. This alone would prove its inspiration, for by no amount of study could the
writers of the New Testament in their own time have culled all these precepts from
Chinese, Indian, Egyptian, Greek, Latin, Persian, and other writers, many of whom had not
then been born. Moreover, the New Testament system of morality is a system, which
this collection would not be. It would be a mere heap of withering flowers, whereas the
New Testament is the fresh and fertile flower-garden, a garden in which are no weeds.
Again, in Christ Himself we have the perfect example, who carried out His own lofty
precepts. Nowhere else do we find any such character. Besides all this, while other books
give us good precepts mixed with bad, the New Testament gives us good only. The difference
will be understood if we remember that, though doubtless the shoulder of mutton given to
Muhammad and his companions for supper after the capture of Khaibar was itself good, yet
the poison1 which was in it injured Bishr and others who partook of it.
Finally, the Gospel gives a motive-power love to Christwhich is found nowhere
else. A student once asked a learned Buddhist monk in Ceylon, "You have studied the
Bible as well as the books of your own religion: what is the greatest difference between
them?" The Buddhist replied: "There are noble sentiments in the books of my
religion as well as in the Bible: but the great difference between them is that Christians
know what to do, and
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have power to do it; while we know what to do, but have not power to do what we
know to be right." Other religions, we may say, can, as it were, lay down the railway
lines: Christ alone can supply the motive power to move the carriages of the train towards
the desired goal. This difference is vital. Let it not be forgotten that Confucius only
once in all his works mentions God, and then it is in a quotation. He gives absolutely no
religious teaching whatever.
7. The inspiration
(إلهام) of the Holy Scriptures is proved by the fulfilment of the
prophecies which they contain. This fact is unparalleled in the other religious books of
the world. Besides the numerous prophecies in the Old Testament concerning Christ, which
He fulfilled when He came, as the New Testament shows, we have many others. An infidel
King of Prussia once asked a Christian to prove the inspiration of the Bible in two words.
He replied, "The Jews, your Majesty." The prophecies about their fate (for
instance in Deut. xxviii. 15-68; Matt. xxiv. 3-28; Mark xiii. 1-23; Luke xxi. 5-24) have
been fulfilled, as our eyes have seen, in their condition to-day. Similarly, the ruins of
Nineveh, Babylon, and other great cities show us that the prophecies regarding them have
been fulfilled. Long before Alexander's time, Daniel prophesied of his overthrow of Media
and Persia (Dan. viii. 3-27) and of the division of the Macedonian Empire after
Alexander's death. And history proves that all these predictions, as well as those about
the spread of Christianity, the persecutions of Christians, the rise of false prophets,
the growth of infidelity in the latter days, have received fulfilment. But as no one
except the All-Wise God knows and can foretell the far distant future, it is clear that He
has spoken unto men in the Holy Scriptures which contain these marvellous predictions.
8. The miracles wrought by Christ and His Apostles furnish another proof of this. Of
these the greatest is the Resurrection of Christ, which proved
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