Koran.--The Mohammedans believe that divine revelations were given to Adam, Seth, Enoch, Abraham, Moses, David, Jesus, and Mohammed, and that each successive revelation in a measure superseded the preceding one. The books given to Adam, Seth, Enoch, and Abraham have been lost. The Pentateuch, the Psalms, and the Four Gospels are accepted by them, but the interpolations and corruptions of Jews and Christians, they claim, have greatly impaired their value. The Koran is with them the book of books--God's last and best revelation to man. It was written in rays of light on a tablet before the throne of God. A copy bound in white silk and bedecked with gems was carried by Gabriel to the lowest heaven, where from time to time, during a period of twenty years, portions of it were transmitted to Mohammed until the whole was given to the world. The book is divided into 114 chapters. It is elegant in style, and, like most other Bibles, contains, along with a great deal that is fabulous and puerile, some admirable moral teachings. Sunna.--The Sunna is a large work containing many thousand legends of Mohammed. It is a sacred book, but of less authority than the Koran. Sacred Books of the Jews. Torah.--The Book of the Law, now commonly called the Pentateuch, is the most sacred of all Jewish books. Jews as well as Christians believe that it was written by Moses and dictated by God. It was not divided into five books as we have it. In the oldest Hebrew manuscripts the entire work forms but one book. It was subsequently divided into parshiyoth, or chapters, and these into sedarim, or sections. Nebiim.--The Law and the Prophets were the chief authorities of the Jews. The books of the Prophets, called Nebiim, were believed by the orthodox Jews to be divinely inspired, but were esteemed of less importance than the Torah. Cethubim.--This collection of writings comprised the hymns, poems, and other books now known as the Hagiographa. Talmud.--The Talmud, while not regarded as a divine revelation, like the Law and the Prophets, is in some respects the most important of Jewish works. It is almost a library in itself, and constitutes a vast storehouse of information pertaining to Jewish history and theology. Sacred Book of Christians. Holy Bible.--The Christian Bible consists of two collections of small books, one called the Old Testament, the other the New Testament. The Old Testament comprises the Torah, Nebiim, and Cethubim of the Jews. It is divided into 39 books (including the Apocryphal books accepted by the Greek and Roman Catholic churches, about 50). The New Testament is a collection of 27 early Christian writings, which originally appeared in the various churches of Asia, Africa and Europe.