and that Jesus was brought before him to be tried. How can you deny the contradiction here?

C. There is no contradiction whatever, as you will see by referring to Luke iii. 1. The Herod who died in Jesus' infancy was Herod the Great. He ruled over the whole of Palestine, though subject to the Romans, who supported him on the throne. On his death the country was divided into four parts; hence Herod Antipas, his son, who ruled over Galilee (Luke iii. 1), is generally called "Herod the Tetrarch" (Matt. xiv. 1). It was Herod the Tetrarch before whom Christ was tried, as is clear from the very chapter of St. Luke which you quote (Luke xxiii. 6, 7: "Galilee . . . Herod's jurisdiction," cf. Luke iii. 1). This same Herod is spoken of in Acts iv. 27. Another Herod, known as Herod Agrippa, is mentioned in Acts xii. 1, 23. All this is confirmed by the Jewish historian Josephus; and the Roman historian Tacitus (Hist. Lib. v. 9) tells us that after Herod the Great's death his dominions were divided among his sons. It should not seem strange to a Muslim that several people should bear the same name, especially when a father's name is transmitted to a son or a grandson. What would you think of a man who confounded together the various Turkish sultans who bore the name Murad? This objection of yours is easily answered, because we happen to have exact knowledge of the circumstances. It is fair to infer therefore that other objections would vanish as completely if we

had as full acquaintance with the details in each case. The difficulty rises from our limited knowledge.

50. M. How can you assert that your Bible is free from interpolation when in the last chapter of Deuteronomy we find an account of the death and burial of Moses, which certainly cannot have been written by him?

C. The Jews hold that it was written by Joshua, Moses' successor. Whether this chapter is considered part of Deuteronomy or of Joshua does not make any real difference, as the chapter does not claim to be from the hand of Moses ¹.

51. M. Your Bible is defective, since certain books mentioned in it, e.g. the book of Jashar and many of the works written by Solomon, are no longer extant.

C. These were never included in the Bible, hence their loss in no way affects the question.

52. M. The Gospel acknowledges its own defectiveness (John xx. 30; xxi. 25).

C. Not at all. These verses show that certain things were not written in the Gospel. They cannot therefore have ever formed part of the written Gospel to which your Qur'an bears testimony, and hence cannot be said to have been taken away from it. Moreover, John xx. 31 shows that what