may both be divided into faith and practice. Muhammadanism has had from early times a definite system of practice into the details of which we need not enter. Certain forms of worship, certain religious observances, certain definite duties, were laid down by Muhammad as incumbent on the believer; and the Muhammadan finds it difficult to imagine that there can be any religion which has no hard and fast system of practice similar to his own. To demand where one can find the definite system of practice which Jesus taught, and to argue that because there is no such system of practice common to the whole body of Christians, that therefore they must have departed from the true faith of Jesus, is again to argue from a priori grounds. As a matter of fact, investigation will show that the teaching of Jesus consisted in the inculcation of certain general principles, and the making of certain definite claims as to the relation in which He himself stood towards God, on the one hand, and towards man on the other. And as it is no part of the investigation to attempt to show that Jesus did or did not teach this or that definite system of theological belief, so, on the other hand, it is not its part to try to show that Jesus did or did not organize this or that form of Church government, or prescribe this or that form of ritual or ceremonial practice.

As a matter of fact, while inculcating principles of belief, which have led, and will always lead,

those who seek to do His will, into a close and true knowledge of God, he left his followers perfect intellectual freedom to develop these principles to their natural conclusion, and form should they please to do so, any system of theological doctrine which they felt was the logical result of these principles. And in the same way, He left His followers freedom to organize themselves under such system of Church government as seemed to them, under the guidance of His Spirit, best calculated to forward those ends for which they were united—the building up of the individual in a life of holy faith and practice, and the maintenance of the common body of believers in the principles of faith and love to God and man which He had taught. Thus too, He left them absolute freedom in the practice of the Faith, not laying down any definite ritual or ceremonial which they were to follow, but insisting that each and all should yield himself to the guidance of His Spirit; and in their yielding the will to Him. He claimed that the disciple would be led into a true and full knowledge of the duties which were incumbent upon him.

Thus we see that the object of the investigation which we ask the Muhammadan inquirer to make, must not be an attempt to show that such and such a system was taught by Jesus, but must be an attempt to reach a true estimate of who and what He claimed to be, and what attitude He