Invitation to Ahmadiyyat — Page 222
222 The answer to the third question is that his teaching was not in keeping with the trends of his age. Had his teachings conformed with the current tendencies, it could be said that his success was not a result of Divine help but because what he taught conformed to the prevalent thinking and people readily accepted them. Current tendencies can be of two kinds. They are either the tendencies of the majority or, even if they are not, they conform to the new discoveries. The first kind are easily propagated. The second kind may face opposition in the begin - ning, but since they conform with new discoveries, they find currency later on as that knowledge spreads. The teachings of the Promised Messiah as were contrary to both. They were neither in keeping with current tendencies nor in accord with the thought that was gaining momentum under the influence of modern secular knowledge. He had to battle against traditionalists as well as modern thinkers. While the for - mer labelled him a heretic, the latter saw him as narrow-minded and conservative. On the one hand, he vociferously countered the beliefs of the traditionalists on matters such as the life of Jesus, their faith in false and superstitious tales, their misconceptions about angels and abrogation of parts of the Quran, their erro - neous beliefs about Heaven and Hell, and their fundamentalist mindset; on the other hand, he stressed the importance of reli - gious teachings, such as the prohibition of usury, the existence of angels, the efficacy of prayer, the truth of Heaven and Hell, and the validity of revelation and miracles. The result was that he agreed with neither the conservatives nor the modernists. Therefore, it would be wrong to assume that he gained popularity because he