River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1882-11-23
THE KORAN.
A Book Full of PuerIle Tales and False
Teaching.

from the Nineteenth Century.l
Perhaps the chief distinctive mark to
be noted in comparing the Moslem's
Koran with the Christian Holy Bible is
That the Koran is believed to have no
human element at ALL Nor is it even
held to be a record of what Mohammed
said or did, for that is recorded in the
traditions. The Koran was a wholly
objective, not subjective, revelation.
1t was revealed to one man only. 1t
did not pass through many mems minds
during successive generations for nearly
1000 years like the Christian revela-
ton. The continuous subjectivity of
our sacred Scriptures protracted
through so long period, and the fact
of our acknowledging human element
in them. causes the Mussulman to place
them in the same category with his sun
nah, or tradition. According to his
view even our Gospels are not direct
revelation, but only "a record of Christ's
words and actions compiled by His
followers and handed down to others.
Though admitted to be inspired, the
inspiration is of very different kind
from that of the Koran. 1t is an i'm
parting of ideas, not of words. The
very words of the Koran, on the other
hand, and indeed the whole complete
work, not mere portion of it, descended
from God in a fixed and unalterable
form ON one particular night, called the
might of power" though happily for
Mohammed's purposes its descent was
arrested at the lowest of the seven
Cd
up, SO to speak, stored away in reserve,
portion after portion being delivered as
successive declarations of doctrine, law
or state policy became needed. Then
an audible voice communicated each
word in low tone to Mohammed, or,
as some say, whispered every sentence
into his ear. This accounts for the con-
slant repetition of the word SAY be-
fore each revelation. A very important
factor in the success of this wonderful
book, which, notwithstanding its un-
equal merit, utter want of system
and the adulteration of its sub
lime ideas by frequent admixt-
ure of puerile and false teaching,
is still reyered as a direct emanation
from God by about 150,000,000 of hui
man beings, was, WITHOUT uouOt, unlS
disjointed and fragmentary delivery. 1t
was never, in fact, either written or
composed like any other book 1t grew
like patchwork. little by little, piece
after piece, patch added to patch. Even
the Koran's warmest admirers must ad-
NIT that it has often the appearance of
being clumsily botched. The Koran's
own account of itself is that it de-
scended in succession of parcels.
Some of these parcels were delivered at
Mecca, some at Medina, during period
of twenty-three years, the angel Gabriel
being the supposed medium of delivery.
About ninety of the ia chapters, or
more than two-thirds of the whole, are
thought to have been the proportion
assignable to the Mecca period; and of
these the earlier portions, delivered at a
time when Mohammed really believed
himself to be stirred by divine inn
pulses, though spoken in plain prose,
are full of poetic fire. They are the
utterances of an enthusiast wrought up
by an intense consciousness of the truth
of his prophetic message, and often rise
to great sublimity.