Is the Holy Bible truly corrupted as commonly
claimed by the Muslims?
Thorough understanding of the background of the origin of
the Holy Bible is essential before arriving at the conclusion.
The Holy Bible contains a
collection of 66 books. The 39 Old Testament books
were written over a period of 1,000 years between 1450 B.C. and 430 B.C.
by 31 different authors. The 27 New Testament books were written in the
span of 56 years between around 49 A.D. and 95 A.D. There are at
least 9 authors for New Testament books. So the manuscripts of the Holy Bible were written by 40 different authors
beginning with Genesis in 1450 B.C. and the last Book of revelation was written
around 95 AD. Some Christians believe that the Book of Revelation
has concluded the prophecy. It means after God has manifested Himself and spoke
to mankind through his begotten Son Jesus Christ, He would no longer
employ the agency of prophets or angels to bring the revelation to mankind.
Quran, however, was chiefly written by 4 companions of Muhammad: Masud, Salim,
Mu'adh, and Ubai (Bukhari 6:521, 526) between 610 and 632 AD during
a span of 22 years only. But Uthman is the one who
standardized the Quran. Incredibly, this man had rival texts of the Quran burned
about 19 years after Muhammad's death (Bukhari 6:510).
In logic as well as in the Court of law, "historical
precedent" means that the burden of proof rests on those who set
forth new theories and not on those whose ideas have already been
verified. The old tests the new. The already established authority judges
any new claims to authority. Since Islam came along many centuries after
Christianity, Islam has the burden of proof and not Christianity.
The Bible being a longer established authority, tests and
judges the Qur'an. When the Bible and The Qur'an contradict each
other, the Bible must logically be given first place as the older
authority. The Qur'an is seemingly in error until it proves itself.
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Holy Bible
Christians consider the Holy Bible as the "Word of
God." But Christians do not mean exactly the same thing as Muslims
when they use this term. Believers in the historic orthodox Christian
faith believe that the Bible is "inspired" by God, and believe
that the original manuscripts of the Bible are without error
("inerrant" or "infallible.") But they also accept the
view that the Bible has come to us from human writers whose unique
personalities and literary styles are evident. Christians also acknowledge
that the Bible of today, while extremely faithful to the original texts,
is subject to slight variances.
Muslims have been taught that the Bible has been grossly corrupted.
Many non-Muslims wonder about this possibility as well. Therefore, it is
appropriate to submit the Bible to rigorous scholarly testing. This is a
vital exercise because the Christian faith rests on the reliability of the
Bible. Let us just touch on a few points.
Yusuf Ali, the famous modern translator and commentator of the Quran,
has said that the earliest date for an Old Testament manuscript is 916 AD.
This is quite wrong. In 1947 there was a discovery of ancient biblical and
non-biblical manuscripts now known as the Dead Sea Scrolls. These
manuscripts contain portions of or complete copies of every Old Testament
book except Esther. They have been reliably carbon-dating from 250 BC
to 68 AD.
In addition to the Dead Sea Scrolls, there are other manuscripts of the
Old Testament that date before Christ. Yet it is the remarkably extensive
discovery in the Dead Sea Scrolls that confirms that the modern day Old
Testament has been unchanged since at least before the time of Christ.
The Dead Sea discovery verifies that today we are in the possession
of the Old Testament that Jesus read and used. And Jesus himself
testified as to the correct books of the Old Testament and to their
accuracy. (Here are just a few of many examples: Matthew 5:17-18, 12:40,
13:14-15, 19:3-9, 23:35, Luke 16:31, 24:44, John 5:46-47, 10:35.) Jesus'
testimony is an important substantiation that the Old Testament was
consistently preserved up to his time. Absent any contrary evidence, the
belief that the Old Testament has been reliably preserved is warranted.
While we do not have the original New Testament manuscripts
("autographs"), we do have over 25,000 ancient copies of
New Testament manuscripts, or pieces thereof. Careful analysis by scholars
can compare the various manuscripts and reproduce the originals with great
precision. Only about 40 lines of text in the New Testament are in doubt,
and these do not affect any Christian doctrine.
Since there are numerous extant New Testament manuscripts from
hundreds of years before Muhammad which agree with the modern Bible,
the Muslim charge that the modern Bible has been changed is a baseless
claim. Thus, the Bible (Old and New Testaments) being read during
Muhammad's time and hundreds of years prior is the same Bible we
have today.
There is no longer any real doubt that the New Testament is what it
claims to be - a reliable record of Jesus and his apostles written by
eye-witnesses and interviewers of eyewitnesses of Jesus. Many scholars
are convinced that the entire New Testament was written between 40 and
70 AD. The possible exception to this are some of the writings of
John, who lived to be a very old man, and may have been written as late as
the 95's AD. (The final section of the Geisler/Saleeb book
listed is recommended as good summary.)
In addition to the manuscript evidence itself, we have quotations from
the New Testament from the early church fathers (from 97 AD to 325 AD).
These quotations allow reconstructing all but eleven verses of the modern
New Testament - even without any manuscripts themselves! This is
significant to Muslims, since these attestations are around 515 years
before the so-called revelations to Muhammad (610 AD).
Let us ascertain as
whether the claim that Bible is corrupted, has any quranic origin or it
has been misunderstood eversince the Quran was written. As Quran was
written over 515 years after the manuscripts of the Bible were
written, Christianity has already spreaded far and wide throughout the
world starting from Jerusalem. As the historian Luke wrote in Acts 1:8
that Jesus said "But ye shall receive power, after that the
Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in
Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost
part of the earth." When the early Christians
spreaded the Gospel, it is common for them to bring along the Bible
translated in the language understood by the people. Thus the Bible has
already spreaded beyond Jerusalem, Judaea and Samaria before Quran was
revealed. To destroy all the Bible in other countries is quite impossible
if only certain "party of the people" of the Book intended to
corrupt the Scripture and claimed it as an original version.
"For the
testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." (Revelations 19:10). So
prophecies of the prophets are testifying about Jesus the Son of God. The
Lord God gives stern warnings about altering or corrupting His Word which
the Scribes knew better than any modern translators:
|
Revelation 22:18-19,
For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy
of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God
shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any
man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy,
God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the
holy city, and from the things which are written in this book. |
|
Proverbs 30:5-6, Every
word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in
him. Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou
be found a liar. |
|
Psalms 119:89, Forever,
O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven. |
|
Matthews 24:35, Heaven
and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. |
The
Book of Revelation has sealed all prophetic messages and revelations. No
man can add or substract any prophecy from the Bible. Quran which was
written over 515 years later than the Bible and claimed to supersede
earlier revelations of the Bible cannot pass the first test of the
Scripture in Revelation 22:18-19.
Now let us
examine these 12 quranic verses as whether or not it says the Bible is
corrupted or otherwise:
-
Surah/Chapter 002 -
Al-Baqarah Verse 75. "Have ye any hope that they will be true to you when a PARTY of them used to listen to the Word
of Allah, then used to change it, after they had understood it
knowingly?"
Comments: It is only a
party of them who is alleged to change the word of Allah. This verse may
be referring to the 3 Jewish tribes on Medina. It does not have any impact
to bring any change to the Textus Receptus which KJV is based upon.
-
Surah/Chapter 002 -
Al-Baqarah Verse 101. "And when there cometh unto them a messenger from Allah, confirming
that which they possess, a PARTY
of those who have received the Scripture fling the Scripture of Allah
behind their backs as if they knew not,"
Comments: Again it is
only a party of them who is alleged to throw the Scripture of Allah behind
their backs and neither referring to another party who will keep the word
of Allah truthfully. It does not mention all of them who have received the
Scripture fling the Scripture as if they knew not.
-
Surah/Chapter 002 -
Al-Baqarah Verse 146. "Those unto whom We gave the Scripture recognize (this revelation) as
they recognize their sons. But lo! a PARTY
of them knowingly conceal the truth."
Comments: Here again
it is a party of them and not all of them conceal the truth.
-
Surah/Chapter 003 -
Al-Imrân Verse 69. "A PARTY of the people of the
Scripture long to make you go astray; and they make none to go astray
except themselves, but they perceive not."
Comments: Here again
it is a party of people and not all of the people of the Scripture long to
make you go astray. The other party may long for them to walk in the path
of righteousness and truth
-
Surah/Chapter 003 -
Al-Imrân Verse 72. "And a PARTY of the People of
the Scripture say: Believe in that which hath been revealed, unto
those who believe at the opening of the day, and disbelieve at the end
thereof, in order that they may return;"
Comments: Here again
it is only a party of people of the Scripture say and not all of the
people of the Scripture
-
Surah/Chapter 003 -
Al-Imrân Verse 78. "And Lo! there is a PARTY of
them who distort the Scripture with their tongues, that ye may think
that what they say is from the Scripture, when it is not from the
Scripture. And they say: It is from Allah, when it is not from Allah;
and they speak a lie concerning Allah knowingly."
Comments: Here it is
again only a party of them who distort the Scripture with their tongues
and not altering the word of the Scripture. The scribes may have
misinterpreted the scripture or speak lies but no evidence of altering the
Scripture - the Textus Receptus remains intact.
-
Surah/Chapter 003 -
Al-Imrân Verse 100. "O ye who believe! If ye obey a PARTY
of those who have received the Scripture they will make you
disbelievers after your belief."
Comments: Here there
is no mention of the corruption of the Bible
-
Surah/Chapter 004 -
An-Nisâ Verse 113. "But for the grace of Allah upon thee (Muhammad), and His mercy, a PARTY of them had resolved to mislead thee,
but they will mislead only themselves and they will hurt thee not at
all. Allah revealeth unto thee the Scripture and wisdom, and teacheth
thee that which thou knewest not. The grace of Allah toward thee hath
been infinite."
Comments: Here it
mentions that a party of them and not all of people of the Scripture
intended to mislead thee
-
Surah/Chapter 061 -
As-Saff Verse 14. "O ye who believe! Be Allah's helpers, even as Jesus son of Mary
said unto the disciples: Who are my helpers for Allah? They said: We
are Allah's helpers. And a PARTY of
the Children of Israel believed, while a PARTY disbelieved.
Then We strengthened those who believed against their foe, and they
became the uppermost."
Comments: This verse clearly differentiate that there are 2
parties of the children of Israel. Likewise, there is always another
party that remains truthful to the word and in deed.
-
Surah/ Chapter 10 -
Yunus Verse 94 "And
if thou art in doubt concerning that which We reveal unto thee, then
question those who read the Scripture (that was) before thee.
Verily the Truth from thy Lord hath come unto thee. So be not thou of
the waverers."
Comments: Here Quran advises Muhammad to seek Christians if there
is in doubt concerning what has been revealed it.
-
Surah/ Chapter 3 - Al-
imran Verse 3 "He hath revealed unto thee (Muhammad) the Scripture with truth, confirming that which was (revealed) before
it, even as He revealed the Torah and the Gospel."
Comments: Quran says
it is confirming that what was revealed before it. What we
understand by the word "confirming" is different from
"correcting" or "reproving" the Scripture. So the
Scripture is in truth and Quran confirming it.
-
Surah/ Chapter 10 -
Yunus Verse 37
And this Quran is not such as could ever be
invented in despite of Allah; but it is a confirmation of that
which was before it and an exposition of that which is decreed for
mankind. Therein is no doubt from the Lord of the Worlds.
Comments:
We have another verse that Quran is a confirmation of that which was
before it. Thus based on the Quran, it does not say the Bible is corrupted
but rather the disbelievers say so.
Yusuf Ali also said that the New Testament we have today is not the
same as in Muhammad's time. Absolutely wrong. The accumulation of evidence
proves that the case is really closed in this matter. The New Testament
has been reliably preserved throughout the ages.
A final charge by Muslims is that the Apostle Paul changed the message
of Jesus. There is absolutely no evidence for this claim. Besides, there
are simply too many well-attested ancient manuscripts for this to be even
remotely possible. Further, Paul's message was both checked and approved
by the original apostles (Galatians 1-2, 2 Peter 3:15-16)!
The significant fact is that the Quran itself has a high view of
Scripture. While this will be a bit tedious for our non-Muslim
readers, we think it is important to document that the Quran does indeed
support the Bible in these key areas (information from the Campbell book
on the list below):
-
These passages show that the Torah was true at the time
of Jesus: Suras 3:48-50, 5:49, 5:113, 19:12, 61:6, 66:12.
-
These passages show that the Torah and the Gospel were
true and unchanged at the time of Muhammad: Suras 2:91, 3:3,
4:162-163, 5:51, 6:154-157, 9:111, 10:37, 12:111, 34:31, 35:31,
40:69-70, 46:12, 46:29-30.
-
There are 24 passages in the Quran where Muhammad
actually quotes or appeals to the Torah and/or the Gospel.
-
55 other verses say that the Torah or the Gospel are
good. Some of these include Suras 3:187, 4:47, and 5:46-48.
-
No one has ever brought forth a copy of the Torah or
Gospel that differs from the one we have now.
-
Sura 10:94 specifically says, "If thou wert in doubt
As to what We have revealed Unto thee, then ask those Who have been
reading The Book [the Bible] from before thee: The Truth hath
indeed come To them from thy Lord: So be in no wise Of those in
doubt."
-
Sura 5:48 says that God guarded the Bible in safety, so
either the Quran is wrong or Muslims who say that the Bible is
corrupted are wrong!
So, there is no basis in reason for the Muslim, especially, to deny the
accuracy of the Bible!
The logic is quite simple and unavoidable. The Quran says that the
Bible was true at the time of Muhammad. The manuscript evidence
unequivocally verifies that the Bible we have today is the same as the one
in Muhammad's time (and before).
Let us examine the evidence why the Bible can be trusted. There are
four important approaches to considering the evidence for the reliability
of the Bible based on "MAPS":
1. Manuscript Evidence. The evidence supports the view that all
of the New Testament was written by eye-witnesses or other
contemporaries of Jesus, and that it has been reliably preserved.
There are no abrogations or destruction of manuscripts as there are in
Islam.
2. Archeological Evidence. Over 25,000 sites have been
discovered that pertain to the Bible. As Nelson Glueck, renowned
Jewish archeologist said, "It may be stated categorically that no
archeological discovery has ever controverted a biblical
reference." This is really an amazing testimony for the Bible.
3. Prophetic Evidence. Some 2000 biblical prophecies have
already been fulfilled, including over 300 about Jesus-with no
prophetic failures. The probability of just 16 predictions being
fulfilled without an error is 1 in 10 to the 45th power. For 2000
predictions to be correct without a failure is an inconceivable
probability number. There is nothing at all like this in any other
holy book.
4. Statistical Evidence. The Bible contains 66 books, written
by 40 different writers, over 1500 years, on 3
different continents, in 3 different languages, on thousands of
different subjects-with no errors or contradictions. (Norman Geisler
in his book written with Abdul Saleeb discusses this, and emphasizes
that from his 40 years of studying the Bible he has concluded that
every so-called error or contradiction is a red herring.) Yet
there is one beautiful central theme in the Bible: God's redemption of
mankind from sin won for the whole world by the life, death, and
resurrection of Jesus Christ. So, regarding the Bible, there are
multiple reliable witnesses, many of whom did not know each other,
whose stories can be corroborated. This compares to the Quran, which
was revealed by one very violent man who, according to Islamic sources
was bewitched (Bukhari 4:400, 4:490, 8:400), and in which are found
numerous confirmed errors and contradictions.
These facts, and much more supports the Christian view that the Bible
is indeed from God. For more on this topic, see the website http://www.gospelcom.net/faithfacts/quest_main.html
and the final section of the Geisler/Saleeb book list.
The only apparent reason why Muslims claim that the Bible has
changed is that there is so much contradiction versus the Quran.
There is no evidential basis for the claim that the Bible is
anything other than reliable. If the Bible is true - God of the
Bible is not Allah, Muhammad was the prophet of Allah a different
supreme being, and the Quran is the Word
of Allah and not of God.
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The Quran
Muslims are taught that the Quran is perfectly preserved, word-by-word,
syllable-by-syllable, and letter-for-letter. Indeed, the Quran is the
actual, literal (and pre-existent) word of Allah. Muslims think so highly of
the Quran, that it is a sacred Book and one could say that they adore it.
In this sense, all Muslims are fundamentalists. It has been said that the
closest comparison to it in Christianity is Christ himself.
However, let us consider the evidence to see if this assumption is
valid. The history of the Quran is most interesting. For the benefit of
our readers, we will liberally document essential points from reliable
Muslims sources.
Muhammad claimed to begin having revelations from God when he was 40
years old. It is generally believed that Muhammad was illiterate,
which Muslims think is a testimony to the miracle of Quran.
People memorized things Muhammad said or they wrote them down on palm
leaves, rocks, and bones (Bukhari 6:509). Bukhari also records that Muhammad
allowed some variation regarding the recitation of the Quran (Bukhari
3:593, 601, 4:442, 6:514, and 9:640).
The following situation between Muhammad and his associate Abdollah
b. Abi Sarh, recorded in Islamic hadiths, should be interesting to our
Muslim readers (source: the Geisler/Saleeb http://www.gospelcom.net/faithfacts/
book on the list below, page 157):
"On a number of occasions he had, with the Prophet's
consent, changed the closing words of verses. For example,
when the Prophet has said, 'And God is mighty and wise' ('aziz,
hakim), 'Abdollah b. Abi Sarh suggested writing down 'knowing
and wise' ('alim, hakim), and the Prophet answered that
there was no objection. Having observed a succession of changes of
this type, 'Abdollah renounced Islam on the ground that the
revelations, if from God, could not be changed at the prompting
of a scribe such as himself. After his apostasy he went to
Mecca and joined the Qorayshites."
Sarh was later killed. Did he know too much? Geisler/Saleeb
http://www.gospelcom.net/faithfacts/
(page 157) relate yet another item of interest: "It is also an
accepted fact in Sunni tradition that on a few occasions Quranic
revelations were prompted by the suggestions of Muhammad's loyal follower,
Umar b. al-Khattab."
There was no organized manuscript of the Quran prior to
Muhammad's death (Bukhari 6:509). Shortly after his death, it was noticed
that some of the people who had memorized parts of the Quran were being killed
in battle. Some verses did not survive as the people who remembered
them died or verses were otherwise lost (Bukhari 4:62, 6:509-11, 527,
550, 552).
There were (at least) four people that were companions of Muhammad
who compiled the Quran: Masud, Salim, Mu'adh, and Ubai (Bukhari
6:521, 526). Even though these men were all authorized by Muhammad himself
and each version was widely accepted, these versions were not identical (Bukhari
6:468, and 6:527).
It was another man named Uthman who standardized the Quran.
Incredibly, this man had rival texts of the Quran burned about 19
years after Muhammad's death (Bukhari 6:510).
The question must be asked, why did he do so unless the other copies
were different? In fact, a few copies survived the burning and they
vary somewhat from the Uthman manuscript. It is also clear that Uthman
edited and selected Suras for his version. Uthman's copy did not
contain several Suras collected by Ubai, who was one of the
four authorized compilers. Further, it may surprise some Muslims that none
of the original Uthman copies is in existence today. The earliest one
in existence is from the second century after Muhammad.
Contrary to popular belief, not all Muslims accept the same version of
the Quran. While some accept the Uthman version, others accept the tradition
of Masud, who was one of the four authorized compilers. This
version has 150 variations in the second Sura alone compared to the Uthman
text. Arthur Jeffrey's collection of variants between Uthman's text
and the Masud text takes 92 pages in his book Materials for the
History of the Text of the Quran (Bill, Leiden, 1937). (Search for
articles on http://www.answering-islam.org
or see the Geisler/Saleeb http://www.gospelcom.net/faithfacts/
book p. 192).
An interesting aspect of the Quran is that there were verses in
the original version of Muhammad's Quran that have been abrogated, that
is, eliminated from the text. In fact, the Quran itself justifies this
practice (Suras 2:105-106, 13:39, 16:101, 22:52)! Bukhari also recognizes
this (3:170, 4:57, 4:69, 4:299, 5:416, 5:421, 6:8). This practice is
unique among world religions. Some Shiite Muslims say that up to 25% of
the Quran was removed for political reasons. In our studies, we have not
seen evidence to suggest that the practice was that extensive, but there
is absolutely no doubt that abrogation did occur.
One famous aspect of the Quran is the so-called "Satanic
Verses." Sura 53:19-20 says, "Have ye thought upon al-Lat
and al-Uzza and Manat, the third, the other?"
According to Bukhari, these three are known to be goddesses of the
Quraish tribe. In fact, these three were daughters of pre-Islamic Allah.
These are names of pagan goddesses and have no heavenly origin. It is
particularly significant because Muhammad was speaking in the name of
Allah for casting thought on pagan idols! For more on this including
evidences from Muslim scholars, see http://answering-islam.org
and then search for "Satanic Verses."
Muslims claim that the literary style of the Quran is evidence for its
divine inspiration. But if that is a valid argument, they would have to
accept that the writings of Homer and Shakespeare as divinely
inspired as well. But even Muslim sources recognize that the Quran is not
always as eloquent as is claimed. The Iranian Shiite scholar Ali Dashti
contends that the Quran contains numerous grammatical problems. He says,
"The Quran contains sentences which are incomplete and not fully
intelligible without the aid of commentaries..." (Geisler/Saleeb http://www.gospelcom.net/faithfacts/
page 187-190).
Even if Quran of today were a carbon copy of the one originally
dictated by Muhammad, it does not logically follow that it is from God.
Irrespective of the quality of today's copy, the internal and external
inconsistencies in the Quran disqualify it as being from God.
We have already pointed out some of the mistakes in the Quran. The
Quran itself says that if a book is found to have discrepancies, it could
not be from Allah (Sura 4:82). In fact, there are many internal
contradictions in the Quran. Here is a sample:
|
The Quran teaches that on the one hand "no
change there can be in the Words of God" (Sura 10:64, also
6:34). Yet the Quran itself teaches the doctrine of abrogation ( Sura
2:106). |
|
The Quran claims that humans are responsible for
their own choices (Sura 18:24). Yet it also claims that God sealed
the fate of all in advance (Suras 10:99-100, 17:13). |
|
The Quran says emphatically, "Let there be no
compulsion in religion" (Sura 2:256). Yet in other places it
urges Muslims to "Fight those who believe not" (Sura
9:29). |
|
Sura 7:143 says that Moses was the first to believe.
Sura 6:14 says Abraham was the first to believe. |
|
Suras 7:54, 10:3, and 11:7 say the earth was created
in six days, but Sura 41:9-12 says it was created in eight
days. |
|
In an apparent contradiction, the Quran denies the
divinity of Christ, yet acknowledges that Jesus was born of the
Virgin Mary (Suras 3:37-45, 19:16-28, 66:12). The hadiths further
acknowledge that Jesus was not touched by sin (Bukhari
4:506). An obvious question is: How could Jesus not be divine
if he was born of a virgin and was free of sin? |
Here is just a sample of external contradictions in the
Quran:
|
The Quran presents as a scientific fact that the sun
sets in a "muddy spring" (Sura 18:86). However, it
has been proven scientifically that this is not true. |
|
A famous passage in the Quran says that human beings
are formed from a clot of blood (Sura 23:14). This, of
course, is an inaccurate description of an embryo. |
|
A Samaritan could not have molded the golden calf in
Moses' time (Sura 20:85-87, 95-97) because Samaritans did not live
in Moses' time. |
There are several things found in the Quran concerning Christian
theology that are quite plainly wrong. Sura 5:116 says that Christians
believe that Mary is God. Sura 9:30 says that Jews believe that Ezra was
the Son of God. These statements are incorrect. There is no evidence that
Christians and Jews ever believed these things. What seems to be the most
likely explanation why things like this are in the Quran is that there was
no Arabic translation of the Bible in the time of Muhammad. Muhammad
picked up bits and pieces of Christian and Jewish theology from hearsay or
was simply mistaken about it.
There are dozens of contradictions and inaccurate statements in the
Quran. For further documentation, go to http://answering-islam.de/search.html
and search for "contradictions."
Summary
The Dead Sea Scrolls also contain what many scholars believe are
fragments of New Testament books, including Mark, Acts, Romans, 1
Timothy, 2 Peter, and James. The fragments are small enough that some
skeptics (who perhaps hope not to find the Bible reliable) are unwilling
to accept them. But the importance of the discovery is that it adds to
already existing evidence that the New Testament was written in the
first century. The modern Bible agrees with the earliest manuscripts,
so we have an unbroken chain from very early in the Christian era.
Muslims who say the Bible is
corrupted are either mistaken themselves, or else the Quran is
misunderstood.
Since Muslims cannot accept that the Quran is wrong, the Bible must be
accepted as reliable and true. And thus it is logically consistent for the
Muslim to accept the Bible and therefore its doctrine of the deity of
Christ.
In summary, neither the Bible nor the Quran that we have today is
identical to the originals. But both have been substantially preserved.
There is no evidence that any important doctrine of either Christianity or
Islam has been altered from the originals. The science of textual
criticism, which is very exacting, has enable Christians to be sure of the
true text of the Bible.
Invitation
Speaking especially to our Muslim readers, we invite you to consider
the Christian faith. The Christian faith offers assurance of salvation. It
also offers love and intimacy with God. Consider especially the person of
Jesus - his beauty and gentleness. May your hopes and dreams be fulfilled.
If you want to be a Christian, take a step of faith and say this prayer
which leads to the gate of eternal life:
“Dear God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
I believe that all men fall short of your glory. I acknowledge that
I am a sinner and humbly come before your throne to seek your forgiveness
for my sins. I hereby renounce any false beliefs. I declare that there is
only one true God, Jehovah
who is eternal and co-exists as the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. I confess with my mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord and believe in my
heart that He is the Son of God. Jesus Christ (Messiah), I surrender my
life totally to your lordship and accept you as my Master and Savior from
this day forth. I plead your precious blood shed at Calvary, to atone my
sins and cleanse me from all unrighteousness so that I may be acceptable in your
sight. Create in me a new heart so that I may truly do your will and
bring glory to your Holy name. In the name of Jesus of Nazareth, I pray. Amen.”
God is gracious and will accept you as His children if you have
sincerely said the above prayer. You are now a Christian and can look for
a Church nearest to you in your area and fellowship with other believers
so that your faith may be strengthened.
Other References
Is the New Testament Accurate? See this link
http://www.conroechurch.com/Articles/Islam/Islam_BibleAcc.html
Is Allah not the same GOD of the Bible?
101 Biblical Contradictions Cleared
Is Jesus the Son of God?
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