206 Jesus, Prophei ofIslam
After he had been in England for ten weeks, Emlyn returned to
Dublin in order to collect and bring his family back to England.
Before he could do so, he was arrested, in 1703, and charged with
being a heretic. It had beendiscovered that he was responsible for
publishing a book on Unitarianism entitled An Humble Inquiryinto
theScripture AccountofJesus Christ, and this provided the prosecu
tion with all the evidence that they needed. The entire book is based
fundamentally on the text in John 14: 28 in which Jesus is reported
as saying, 'The Father is Greater than 1.' Emlyn sought to establish
that Jesus was a mediator between man and God. Thus, in a subtle
way, he indicated that Jesus was indeed separate from God - and,
in so doing, he demolished the concept of the Trinity.
On account of the difficulty feIt by his opponents in wording
the indictment against him, Emlyn's trial was deferred for a few
months, which he spent in prison. When the trial finally com
menced, a'gentlemen of the long robe' informed him that he would
not be permitted to defend himself, but that it was designed 'to
run him down like a wolf without law or game.' 47 It is accordingly
not surprising that Emlyn was convicted and found guilty of 'writ
ing and publishing an infamous and scandalous bible declaring
that Jesus Christ is not the 5upreme God.' 48 Emlyn was given the
choice of being imprisoned for one year, or of paying a fine of one
thousand pounds. He was to remain in prison until the fine was
paid.
In the appeals against conviction and sentence which followed,
Emlyn was dragged from court to court and paraded as a heretic
before the public. This disgraceful treatment was described by his
captors as a display of mercy - for ifhe had been in Spain or France,
it was pointed out, he would have been bumed alive by the Inqui
sition. After a great deal of pressure had been exerted on the gov
ernment, the fine was reduced to seventy pounds. It was paid and
Emlyn left prison and Ireland. An eminent priest, when comment
ing on the treatment meted out to heretics, declared that, 'the en
lightening faculty of a dungeon and fine is very convincing.' 49
Emlyn thus joined the distinguished saints who dared deny the
doctrine of Trinity and affirm the faith in One and only One Cod,
In the Divine revelation of the Qur'an, the whole matter is made
clear. God is supreme and there is no one like Him. No one else is
mentioned as God. Unfortunately, it is not 50 in the Bible. Emlyn
therefore tried to c1earup this confusion in his writings.
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