The commercial. (Union City, Tenn.) 190?-193?, 1914-05-01

uplift ef his people. 1t must be &C
knowledged. however, that while hi:
religion and its manner of propagation
has been scourge and curse to the
world at large, it possessed enough
virtue, taken from the Bible, to be an
enlightenment and uplift to the Arabs
but Mohammed's chief aim in its origi-
nation and propagation, it appears to
me, was to satisfy his own pride, ambi-
ton and carnality. The good that there
is in Mohammedism came from the
Bible, through Jew and an unscrupu-
Ious Christian, Mohammed's secret ac-
completes in his religious fraud, and not
from Mohammed or through him, by
the angel Gabriel, as ne would have us
believe. God does sometimes turn even
evil men and evil designs to a good or
partially good account.
At the age OF thirty-eight it became
the custom OF Mohammed to repair each
day to the cave OF Hera near Mecca,
under the pretense OF spending the day
in fasting, meditation and prayer. And
here, he claimed, the angel Gabriel
came down to him from time 10 time,
delivering to him the divine message
from God as contained in the Koran,
which book itself was first, upon GER
tain night, conveyed down from the
seventh heaven to the first. or lowest
and thence brought piecemeal to him by
Gabriel, who first saluted him aloud
thus: 20 Mohammed, thou art the
apostle OF God and / am the angel
Gabriel" Mohammed was perfectly
illiterate, being unable to read at all,
but after the angel commanded him two
or three times to read, strange to say,
he read the divine message with sur
prising fluency. Now from the con-
tents OF the Koran with its sensual
heaven, its fiat denial OF the divinity OF
Christ, its condemnation OF Christianity,
it is absolutely certain that it was not
inspired OF God; neither do the facts
justify us in believing that Mohammed
was under any delusion about it, and so !
believed that it was inspired. He knew
that much Of it was furnished him by
his secret confederates and others from
he Bible, though often badly distorted
md interspersed with fables OF his own
invention. 1t was mainly, / am per-
'uaded, williul fraud, most impiously
making God the author OF it. Does
history furnish us with anything more
lespicable? Its only analogy that !
snow Of is Joseph Smiths pretended
hiding OF the book OF Mormons, printed
N buried plates Of gold, which, accord
ng to him sometime in the past, had
to the Israelites; but which
ook, in reality, was spawned from the !
'ible and an old romance.
Mohammed's method OF propagating
is religion was characterized by fraud,
and even murder. So soon as
Q had gained a few hundred adherents, ,
e began to extend his religion with the i,
word, not, however, without some ,
revocation and perhaps political, not !;
loral, justification. He captured one
rabian town after another, killing
lany who resisted, assassinating his
orst or more influential enemies, con-
lering the rest and reducing them to
,ndition OF slavery and compelling
lem to accept his religious practice and
,ctrine. Charlemagne, it is true, COM
,llef the Saxons to accept Christianity !
the point Of the sword, but he had no I
lthority from Christ for so doing. =
lis Mohammed was not above rapine
id robbery. He captured several load !"
caravans OF camels in his wild forays, :"
en- through blood, and taking the :
oils divided them between himself and =
lowers his share being fifth. But =
/ all this, he added a few lines in his =
oran showing God commanded or in =
rsed it--indeed, was a partner in it. }. :.
II at the battle OF Beder, where Mo- I"
mined captured large and well
arded caravan, he claimed that God =
sisted him with four thousand angels. -
as ever rapine and murder crowned !.
tn such towering impiety and BIAS
envy? -
II is true that Mohammed command 10
charity and sometimes performed 1t. nc
t to rob and murder nonbelieyers, 10
! play charity with his own people, iol
,bably to gain favor, is kind Of se'
'us beneyolence OF which we have but bu
! examples. 70
rhis Mohammed, by special favor Of US
4, even took d trip to Heaven one