promise respecting Ishmael, that he should dwell in the presence of all his
brethren"; the former, it is contended, was fulfilled in
Christianity, the latter, in Mohammedanism. There is no "responding
feature" here; Mohammedanism may be the accomplishment of a
prophecy, but that is a very different thing from the fulfilment of a promise.
Forster would make circumcision to "be equally at the root of both parts
of the original covenant, and to be the common bond of a certain spiritual
relation, —'to be a God unto thee and to thy seed after thee'; —and we can
only tell of the force of this application to Ishmael by an investigation of
RESULTS." This argument, however, proves a great deal too much, as it
would extend to the whole of Abraham's seed, including the children of Ketura,
—to whom no special spiritual blessing was accorded. "Isaac becomes the
father of the true faith; Ishmael, —of a spurious imitation of it." But
a "spurious imitation" is no fulfilment; and if Islam is actually
the fulfilment of the promise, it cannot be spurious, but must be acknowledged
a divine faith. The fabric is based upon a contradiction.