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RECONCILIATION.
1061
or that which is derived from the source ? We might cite a concrete instance to illustrate our point, Jesus said, 'do unto others as you would be done by;' but long before him Confucius had made identically the same statement, and both the scriptures of the Hindus and the Parsis also insist upon its observance. Assuming that Confucius was not inspired, and that the Zend Avesta and the Vedas are not revealed books, but were compiled by men, Jesus can only be said to have imposed on the credulity of his disciples if he gave out the passage in question as a revelation. The question that now naturally presents itself with the full force of rhetoric is : How came those religions which are older than Christianity to know that which was only revealed to Jesus in the Holy Land ? Did they discover the truth for themselves, or was it revealed to them also ? But in the former case revelation becomes a pure farce; and in the latter, the claim about the Holy Bible being the only revealed Book in the world falls to the ground. *
* In the midst of all this clamour for a monopoly of revelation, it is refreshing to find such utterances as the following in the Holy Qur'an itself :
“ Every age hath its book of revelation........The Koran is not a new invented fiction ; but a confirmation of those scriptures which have been revealed before it.... There hath been no nation, but a preacher hath in past times been conversant among them.3...I swear by the instructive Koran, that thou art one of the messengers of God, sent to show the right way. .....Say, I believe in all the scriptures which God hath sent down 5...... We have heretofore raised up in every nation an apostle to admonish them, saying, Worship God, and avoid Taghut.'......Mankind was of one faith, and God sent prophets bearing good tidings, and denouncing threats, and sent down with them the scripture in truth'." 1 Chap. 13. 3 Chap. 35.
5 Chap. 42, Chap. 2. 2 Chap. 12. · Chap. 36.
Chap. 16.
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