Aspects of Modern IslamAspects of Islam by Duncan Black MacdonaldReview by: Henry Preserved SmithThe American Journal of Theology, Vol. 15, No. 3 (Jul., 1911), pp. 482-484Published by: The University of Chicago PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3155247 .

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482 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF THEOLOGY

ASPECTS OF MODERN ISLAM'

Professor Macdonald is already favorably known to us by his studies of Mohammedanism. His earlier volumes are based on the literature; the one before us gives the results of a somewhat unusual intercourse with Moslems of today. The book is one of the Hartford-Lamson series designed to instruct candidates for the mission field concerning the religions with which they expect to come in contact. Of the volumes heretofore published in this series none is more illuminating and none is more timely than this one. The Mohammedan East is evidently just now entering on a new period of history. What part Christianity shall have in this new era depends much on the tact and intelligence of those who are called to bear the gospel to these peoples. Missions in Moslem lands have done much to elevate and clarify the ideas of the people, but it is a fact lamented by the missionaries themselves that while they have made many converts from the professedly Christian churches they have made scarcely any from the Moslem community. The severity of Moslem law may account for this in part. But it con- cerns us to inquire whether part of the blame may not be due to lack of information or lack of sympathy on the part of the missionaries. At this point there will no doubt be some incredulity. The East, it will be said, has long been known. Travelers have delighted to make us acquainted with its scenery, its government, its manners, and customs. We know it almost as well as we know our own country. In a sense this is true--there is information in abundance. But the trouble is that much of it is misinformation. A body of tradition has been built up about the oriental which Professor Macdonald does not hesitate to call a conspiracy of misinformation and which meets the foreigner at the threshold and dogs his steps even after he has been long in the land. This misinformation is most likely to have reference to matters of religion, and it is there of course that it is most fatal to the missionary's success. Imbued as we are with the modern spirit we do not appreciate the oriental scale of values. Discovering the Moslem's indifference to accuracy in matters of fact we accuse him of depravity, and reckon his religion a sham. The truth is that the very indifference to matters of fact may arise from the sincerity of his religion. To him the things of religion are the only things of importance-why should so much attention be given to merely mundane affairs ? We can easily demon-

'Aspects of Islam. By Duncan Black Macdonald, M.A., D.D., Professor of Semitic Languages in Hartford Theological Seminary. New York: Macmillan, I911. xv+375 pages.

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ASPECTS OF MODERN ISLAM 483

strate to him the superiority of our applied science, but we cannot move him thereby to acknowledge the validity of our religion. To him as to the early Christians God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the mighty.

This is one of the points convincingly brought out in the volume before us. And in line with it is the author's statement that the most successful way of approaching the oriental is through the religious experience which we call mysticism. Contrary to the usual impression he found the dervishes the most approachable of all the people with whom he talked. This is because true religion is emotional in its nature, and sympathy is a matter of the emotions. It follows that the preaching of a theology does not succeed in making converts. In the case of Mos- lems the difficulty arises from the similarity of their theology to our own. If the missionary discourses of the unity of God, of his power, of his sovereignty, of the impotence of the human will, of the universal- ity of sin, of the necessity of divine guidance, of the rewards of heaven, and the pains of hell, even of the excellence of the gospel, and of the mission of Jesus, the Moslem will assent to it all. He has known all these things from his youth. If he is urged to the life of prayer, to works of charity, to integrity and humility, he may even reply in all sincerity, "all these things have I kept." But this hearty assent to the doctrine does not imply that he should change his religion. He affirms the vanity of earthly things as heartily as we do, and he believes himself to have chosen that good part which shall not be taken from him.

If now we go farther and take a polemic attitude, we shall perhaps try to show him that his prophet was no true apostle of Allah. But in his experience the figure of Mohammed has the central place. All his life he has heard that Mohammed is the crown and seal of the long line of divinely inspired men. His religious affection has fastened upon this figure portrayed in legend as the perfect man. His endeavor to lead a life well pleasing to God has been constant in imitation of the life of the Prophet. To cast reflections on the character of Mohammed is to wound him in his tenderest affections. By inculcating the methods of historic research we may indeed shake this faith. But the higher criticism is not religion, and the result of such studies is more likely to induce a profound skepticism concerning all religion than to make a truly religious Christian out of a truly religious Moslem.

It is interesting to find that converts to Christianity are in some instances at least aware that there is in the new religion something lacking just in this matter of emotional experience. Professor Mac-

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484 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF THEOLOGY

donald tells of one man with whom he conversed who had accepted Christianity and who had been a dervish. He was asked whether if the specifically Moslem references could be left out of the religious exercise of the dervish (the zikr) he could still find spiritual profit in it. After some reflection he replied that he thought he could, and there seemed to be a shade of regret in his reply as though he wished there might be something of the kind in Christianity. The conclusion is that the missionary must have something more than a correct view of Christian dogma, and something more than a genuinely historic knowledge of the founder of Islam if he is to get into really sympathetic relations with these people. To show what this is, is one object of the book before us. Every one who is interested in heart-religion will read it with interest and profit.

HENRY PRESERVED SMrTI MEADVILLE THEOLOGICAL SCHOOL

MEADVILLE, PA.

BRIEF MENTION BIBLE

KENT, C. F. Biblical Geography and History. With Maps. New York: Scribner, 1911. xviii+296 pages. $i. 50 net.

No one should think of visiting Bible lands without reading carefully such a work as this. In his dash through the history of the Old and New Testaments the author sketches in the foreground both the ancient and modern topographical setting of the narrative. First-hand knowledge of the places gives reality and color and a vividness of description that can never be found in a work compiled from other books. To give clearness and locality to every place mentioned sixteen maps are inserted, based on the best modern authorities. If one wishes to go beyond the lids of this volume, a selected bibliography points the way.

POLLARD, ALFRED W. Records of the English Bible. The Documents Relating to the Translation and Publication of the Bible in English, 1525-1611. London and New York: Frowde, I911. xii+383 pages. 5s. net. The tercentenary of the translation of King James (or Authorized) Version has

opened the doors of our ignorance, and forced us to flee to such sources as are found in the Records of the English Bible. Pollard has done a piece of work in this volume that deserves the sincere gratitude of every student of the history of the English Bible. He has selected and published sixty-three source-records belonging to the period, 1525-1611. The stormy times of this period are seen in the decrees of kings and bishops, in the jealousies of churchmen and politicians, in the plottings and monopolies of printers and publishers, expressed in the unique English style of the sixteenth century. Now we shall be able better than ever to appreciate some of the ante- cedents of the Authorized Version, and also to understand the reasons for some of the strange things that were done by the civil and church authorities from the time of Tyndale down to King James.

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