says, 'Be', and it is; but here, the words he uses imply that in some way which apparently he never sought to understand, though he acknowledges it to be a fact, the Holy Spirit was the direct cause of the birth of Jesus. What the words imply is that the Spirit here spoken of is a creative Spirit, and cannot, therefore, be other than divine, for there cannot be two creators.

So, again, we come, but this time by another path, to the same conclusion which we formerly reached, that the words of the Qur'an imply that God is Spirit, and that it is the Divine Spirit itself which is spoken of as 'the Spirit'.

4. The last passage which we desire to quote in this connexion uses words which carry us a step — a long step — farther. 'O ye people of the Book! overstep not bounds in your religion; and of God, speak only truth. The Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, is only an apostle of God, and His Word which He conveyed into Mary, and a Spirit proceeding from Himself. Believe therefore in God and His apostles, and say not, "Three"; (there is a Trinity) — Forbear — it will be better for you. God is only one God! Far be it from His glory that He should have a son!' ¹

We have already seen that this passage, when correctly viewed, cannot be regarded as being an objection to the true Christian doctrine of the Trinity (page 12), and now we must endeavour to understand what it really implies as to the nature of the son of Mary. We have used the word implies rather than the word means,

for it is clear that Muhammad used words the true purport of which he did not comprehend. Let us note again the tradition already referred to. '(It is related) on the authority of Abu Buraida, that the prophet passed away without knowing what the Spirit is.'

The words which we desire to consider in particular are, 'The Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary, is only an apostle of God, and His Word which He conveyed into Mary, and a Spirit proceeding from Himself.'

These words are now, and since Muslim interpretation of the Qur'an became fixed have always been, understood as meaning that Jesus was a man and nothing more; but it is difficult to see why the latter part of the verse was added, 'and His Word which He conveyed into Mary, and a Spirit proceeding from Himself', unless they were intended to state something additional or in modification of the previous clause — 'an apostle of God'. It must be noted that the word 'only' does not in the original text apply to the first part of the sentence alone. It refers to the whole sentence. There is in the Arabic no contrast between 'an apostle of God' and 'His Word which He conveyed into Mary, and a Spirit proceeding from Himself', and the whole explanation as to who Jesus is must be considered as one statement.

Jesus was man. The full and complete humanity of Jesus was asserted in opposition to any teaching that his humanity was only apparent, that is, that the body of Jesus was a phantom, or appearance, the medium only, whereby some spiritual being manifested itself to mankind. Yet Muhammad had heard, and had apparently