Publisher's Synopsis
This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1912 edition. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER IV THE FIVE PILLARS OP ISLAM Introductory Note While Christianity and Islam hold many great and essential truths in common, the difference between them as systems is fundamental. Christ's conception of life was not Mohammed's conception of life. The attitude of Christians toward Jesus is not the attitude of Moslems toward their prophet. Of these points the present chapter furnishes abundant illustration. But the difference between the two religions is not only a difference between systems, it is a difference of atmosphere. In each case, moreover, the system creates the atmosphere. It is the belief of Christians that they may draw direct inspiration from the glorified Christ, or, as one school of theology would express it, from the Heavenly Father, of whom they may have the best knowledge only through the words and life of Jesus. Such a belief, stimulating personal loyalty from the beginning, has through the ages produced a moral atmosphere, at once warm and buoyant, in which idealism has never ceased to be a force. Chilled and relaxed the atmosphere may become during periods when the belief itself is distorted and obscured; the force of the ideal remains latent notwithstanding. Mohammed uttered noble words: he had lofty aspirations, but the record of his life can never draw his followers upward to the heights of the Christian ideal. Christendom has, during the course of its history, sunk to low depths of morality, but its standards have still remained terribly high. Religion does not claim to control an individual against his will, but every religion powerfully affects the community, which consists simply of individuals in the mass. In the best Christian lands to-day, lands in which the ideal flames the most brightly, flagrant...
