informs us that some of the 'Ali Ilahis deny that the Qur'an is the original one that was sent down on Muhammad, as Muslims in general say it was, but that these sectaries affirm that the Qur'an which now exists is the composition of Abu Bakr, 'Umar, and 'Uthman. It is quite true that all scholars believe that these statements are wrong, but yet no one can deny that they have been made and maintained with certain arguments by some Muslims. For our present purpose it is sufficient to point out that these questions about the asserted additions to or omissions from the text of the Qur’an affect the salvation of every Muslim, if Islam is God's way of salvation. On the other hand, the questions that have been raised about the text of the Bible not only do not affect the salvation of a single Christian, but they do not even render doubtful one of the least important of the doctrines of the Christian faith.

Another argument brought against the Bible by some Muslims is that certain books which were once part of it have been lost; for instance, the Book of Jashar (Joshua x. 13) and the Book of the Wars of the Lord (Num. xxi. 14). But these were never part of the Bible, just as the books ascribed in the Qur'an to Abraham and others were never parts of the Qur'an.¹

It has been said that the Roman Catholic Bible contains books which are omitted from that of the Protestants. In answer to this it should be known that in the New Testament all Christians receive the same Canonical Books. To the Old Testament the Roman Catholics have added certain books which were not accepted by the early Christian Church, which were never in the Jewish Canon of Scripture, and which do not exist in the Hebrew language. We Protestants receive the

Hebrew Canonical Books of the Old Testament as they were received and confirmed and handed down to us by the Lord Jesus Christ and His Apostles. But even if the additional books received by the Roman Catholics and the Greek Church be admitted, their admission will not alter a single doctrine of the Christian faith. There are differences of doctrine between these Churches and the Protestant Churches, but these are not based upon different Scriptures, just as the existence of so many sects among Muslims is not due to differences in the Qur'an which is in circulation among them all.

We have already spoken about the ancient MSS. of the Old Testament and of the New in their original languages, and about the ancient Versions of the Bible in different tongues which are no longer spoken among men. But besides all this we must briefly point out the evidence which early Christian writers give upon the subject with which this chapter deals. We have books written by some hundreds of these men, some in Greek, others in Latin, Syriac, Coptic, and Armenian, beginning in the first century and continuing up to Muhammad's time and later. The earliest non-Canonical Christian writing which remains is Clement of Rome's Epistle to the Corinthians (A.D. 93-95); then come Ignatius's seven Letters (A.D. 109-116) and one by Polycarp (about A.D. 110): then the Epistle wrongly ascribed to Barnabas (A.D. l00-130). All these wrote in Greek, and we still have these letters. After them come great numbers of writers in the other languages which we have mentioned. All whose works in whole or in part have survived bear witness to the fact that the faith of the Christians of their own times was the same as is contained in the Bible which we now have. Moreover, in the works of these authors are found quotations from the Holy Scriptures. These sometimes give merely the general sense, sometimes they quote the actual words of the verses found in the Old Testament and the New.