he would refer sceptics to Christian and Jewish doctrine for
confirmation of his own teaching. The fact that with no knowledge of
the Old or New Testament, he had proclaimed doctrines materially
similar and the fact that these Scriptures referred to himself, were
proofs of his inspired power, let doubters say what they would. A
closer acquaintance with these Scriptures showed him that the
divergencies which he stigmatised as falsifications denoted in reality
vast doctrinal differences.

In order to understand Muhammed's attitude towards Christianity, we
will examine in greater detail his view of this religion, the portions
of it which he accepted or which he rejected as unauthentic. In the
first place he must have regarded the Trinity as repugnant to reason:
he considered the Christian Trinity as consisting of God the Father,
Mary the Mother of God, and Jesus the Son of God. In the Qoran, God
says, "Hast thou, Jesus, said to men, Regard me and my mother as Gods
by the side of God?" Jesus replies, "I will say nothing but the truth.
I have but preached, Pray to God, who is my Lord and your Lord"
(5.116, f). Hence it has been inferred that Muhammed's knowledge of
Christianity was derived from some particular Christian sect, such as
the Tritheists or the Arab female sect of the Collyridians who
worshipped the Virgin Mary with exaggerated reverence and assigned
divine honours to her. It is also possible that we have here a
development of some Gnostic conception which regarded the Holy Ghost
as of feminine gender, as Semites would do;[A] instances of this
change are to be found in the well-known Hymn of the Soul in the Acts
of Thomas, in the Gospel to the Egyptians and elsewhere. I am
inclined, however, to think it more probable that Muhammed had heard
of Mariolatry and of the "mother of God," a title which then was a
highly popular catchword, and that the apotheosis of Jesus was known