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Can We Trust the Bible?

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Can We Trust the Bible? Islam & the Gospel: Can We Trust the Bible? Think About It— Why do you trust the Bible? Talk About It— Tahrif—the Islamic doctrine that the original revelation of the Jewish and Christian scriptures (the Old and New Testaments) have been corrupted. Tabdil/Taghyr—A change to the text of the Bible resulting in a corrupted manuscript tradition. Tawrat—Jewish Torah (first five books of the Old Testament). Zabur—The original psalms of David. Injil—The original Gospels, as revealed to and recorded by Jesus. The Islamic Charge Against the Christian Scriptures 1. The Bible has been changed at the level of the text’s meaning (tahrif al-mana). These changes occur by intentional misrepresentation of the text’s meaning, but might also occur through the addition of additional material, such as that of non- inspired books (White, 175). There is among them a section who distort the Book with their tongues: (as they read) you would think it is a part of the Book, but it is no part of the Book; and they say ‘That is from God,’ but it is not from God . (3.78) 2. The Bible has been changed at the level of the actual text (tahrif al-nass). Can ye (O ye men of faith) entertain the hope that they will believe in you?—seeing that a party of them heard the word of God, and perverted it knowingly after they understood it (2.75; also, 5.13; 41). 3. The textual variants in the New Testament reveal intentional corruptions so profound that the original text is impossible to discern. (See the Adnan Rashid vs. James White debate.) 4. The Qur’an, by contrast with the Christian Bible, was directly revealed by Allah to Muhammad through the angel Gabriel. The Christian Response to the Islamic Case Against the Scriptures Responses from the manuscript tradition of the New Testament— 1. The freely transmitted text of the New Testament provides greater certainty that we have the original text. The New Testament textual tradition includes 5,700 manuscripts, or 24,000, when counting the ancient versions. These contain 400,000 variants, 99% having no bearing on translation (e.g. the “movable nu”.) Viable, meaningful variants number only 1,500-2,000, spanning 2 million pages of text transcribed over 1,500 years, and that prior to printing (James White, debate with Adnan Rashid). The more manuscripts you have, the more confidence you have that you have the original, but the more variants you also have (White, debate). 2. The freely transmitted text of the New Testament also allows us to document the “tenacity” of the original text. (i.e. Readings don’t just disappear!) . individual texts and text types tended to survive stubbornly, because an indomitable stubbornness is one of the basic characteristics of New Testament textual history: once a variant or a new reading enters the tradition it refuses to disappear, persisting (if only in a few manuscripts) and perpetuating itself through the centuries . (Kurt & Barbara Aland, 56). 2 3. Different authors writing in different places at different times means that no external authority ever redacted the text. Responses from the manuscript tradition of the Qur’an— 1. The controlled transmission process of the Qur’an results in more conformity to a single reading, but less confidence that we have the original text. 2. Sahih al-Bukhari (6.61.509) gives the history behind the first mus’haf (manuscript). 3. Sahih al-Bukhari (6.61.510) then give the history behind the authoritative Uthmanic project that began in 650. This controlled project destroyed the majority of the manuscript evidence lessening the certainty that we have the text from Muhammad’s day. 4. Even after the completion of the project new material continued to be found (33.23) and additional manuscripts continued to exist, as in the case of Hajjaj, who refused to give up his manuscript to Uthman (cited from al-Kindi in White, 270). 5. The losses at Yamama, the haphazard nature of Uthman’s collection, Uthman’s failure to collect and destroy all manuscript, as well as Hadith writings lamenting the loss of original material (Sunan Ibn Majah, 1944), all cause us to question whether we have the full manuscript of the Qur’an from the time of Muhammad. Questions that need to be asked 1. As the Qur’an affirms the inviolability of Allah’s revelation, why would Allah allow the Jewish and Christian Scriptures to be corrupted (15.9; 6.114; 85.21-22)? It is He Who sent down to thee (step by step) in truth, the Book, confirming what went before it; and He sent down the Law (of Moses) and the Gospel (of Jesus) before this, as a guide to mankind, and He sent down the Criterion (of judgment between right and wrong) (3.3-4). 3 It was We who revealed the Law (to Moses): therein was guidance and light . (5.44) And in their footsteps We sent Jesus the son of Mary, confirming the Law that had come before him: We sent him the Gospel; therein was guidance and light . (5.46) 2. Since Jesus is a prophet to be believed by Muslims (4.171; 5.78) and Christians of Muhammad’s day were obligated to accept the New Testament, why should we regard the New Testament (let alone the Old Testament) as corrupt? 3. Where does the Qur’an actually say that the text has been altered? Many of the texts cited refer to additional material, not the corruption of existing material (2.78-79). 4. The Qur’an indicates that Jews and Christians had access to their respective Scriptures at the time of Muhammad, since they were held accountable to judge themselves by their revelations (2.75; 5.42-48; 5.65-68; 10.94). How then could these Scriptures have been corrupt, or non-existent, by this time? 5. Why would Allah refer Muhammad to a corrupt text (10.94)? 6. Since Muhammad (allegedly) stands in the tradition of the prophets, how would the Old and New Testaments reliably testify to his coming if they were corrupt? 7. If the New Testament was changed, where are the “missing links” in the manuscript tradition? Do you think that evidence, argumentation and data really change peoples’ hearts? What real benefit might familiarity with the manuscript traditions have in the business of heart change? 4 Sources— Aland, Kurt and Barbara Aland. The Text of the New Testament, trans. Erroll F. Rhodes, 2nd. ed. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1989. Geisler, Norman L. and Abdul Saleeb. Answering Islam., 2nd ed. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2002. The Qur’an: Text Translation and Commentary. Translation and commentary by Abdullah Yusaf Ali. Elmhurst: NY, 2012. White, James R. What Every Christian Needs to Know About the Qur’an. Bloomington, MN: Bethany House, 2013. White, James R. and Adnan Rashid debate. Accessed on April 10, 2014 at https:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlGZdiSnuxU and https:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2VIboXzlfM 5.
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