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recent human authorities to the authority of Christ is not , however , peeuliiar to Catholics . Many members of the churches of England and of Scotland uot only bow to such authorities , but allege the uecessity of having such for determining the sense of the Scriptures , and directing the affairs of the church : and
even among the Dissenters , how often does the extravagant admiration of a favourite preacher raise him in the minds of his hearers into the place of an angel , and lead them , while they forget their allegiance to Jesus only , to submit their minds so learlily and willingly to his dictation , that to them he may be considered as bearing the relation of a pope !
Another expression , which we find in the ninth chapter , is the following : " Fight at all times against unbelievers , as they will fight against you . " Here Mohammed grounds his command upon the principle of self-defence
and retaliation , a principle opposed to the spirit and precepts of Jesus Christ , but in perfect conformity with the prevailing sentiments and habits of his professed disciples . I presume your readers must be so fully aware of this fact , that it would be a waste of words to cite
" proofs lelative to the periods when Mohammed himself took the field , and when his followers effected their most splendid conquests . But it may not be so generally present to their recollection , that in very recent times this principle has been avowed and acted on by Christians . I have made the above extracts from the
first English translation of the Koran . It was published A . D . 1649 , " newly Englished , " as the title states , " for the satisfaction of all that desire to look into the Turkish vanities . " A long apology was deemed necessary for venturing upon the publication of such a " Gallimaufry of Errors / ' and , accordingly , the learned
Alexander Ross , Chaplain to Charles I ., was employed to explain the reasons which made it proper that Christians should be acquainted with the contents of the Koran . This " needful caveat , " subjoined to the translation , after pouring out threats and revilings , exceeding in number and virulence all that Mr .
Madden and other Oriental travellers have written down from the mouths of Saracen infidels , gives the following , atnotm other reasons , for the study of the book : ' * 12 . The Turks are our neighbours , and their territories border upon the dominions of Christendom . There have been continual wars , and will be still between us . It concerneth every Chris-
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tian , who makes conscience of hit ways , to examine the cause , and to look into the grounds of this war , whether they be just or not , which cannot be known but by reading the Alkoran , in which we see the Mahometans to be the enemies of the cross of Christ in denying his death , and of his divinity also , in that they deny his godhead . We shall find so many passages in it repugnant to , and destructive of , Christian religion , that Christian princes
are bound to oppose the enemies thereof , after the example of those glorious emperors , Constant ! ne , who made war against the Heathen piinces Maxentius , Maximinus , and Licinins , of Theodosius the Elder against the tyrant Eugenius , the worshiper of Hercules , of Theodosius the Younger against the Saracens , of Honorius against the Goths , all enemies of Christ , by whose assistance they got notable victories and glorious triumphs . "
But , to come to still more modern times , let me request your readers to consider the spirit which has been manifested by our own countrymen , in regard to the contest just ended between the Turks and the Greeks . How much of the animosity against the former was grounded in religious motives ! The
English were exhorted to subscribe towards the expenses of carrying on the war , because it was ' the cause of the cross against the crescent ; ** and the call was repeated from no quarter more energetically than from persons conuected with the enlightened and orthodox University of Cambridge .
It has been , I believe , a very general principle with Mohammedans , to allow to unbelievers the choice of three alternatives , conversion , death , or the payment of tribute . But let Christians beware of citing these hard conditions as an accusation against the opposite party , unless they can shew that themselves have maintained a different principle . For my owu part , I am unable to discover that the real difference is iu favour
of the so-called Christians . Were I to leave London , and reside in a Mohammedan country , I should be required to pay tribute : last week I was compelled , under pain of imprisonment , to pay tribute to a church , the worship of which is in my opinion more objectionable than
that of the Mosque , lu any Mohammedan country the laws and government would grant me , I believe , full liberty to defend and promulgate my opinions : in Scotland I preached under exposure , according to the law of the land , to imprisonment and death ; and your readers
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I 2 S Miscellaneous Correspondence .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Feb. 2, 1831, page 128, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2594/page/56/
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