The Bible, the Qur’an, and the Word of God in Islam and Christianity

The Bible in Christianity and the Qur'an in Islam

The Bible is the most important text of Christianity, and the Qur’an is the most important text of Islam. Neither Muslims nor Christians possess originals of these texts, only copies. Possessing original manuscripts of something does not make it the Word of God. Likewise, possessing manmade copies does not mean it cannot be the Word of God. Muslims do not believe God handed a copy of the Qur’an to Muhammad. Christians do not believe that Jesus wrote down the New Testament and handed it to believers.

The Transmission of the Bible and the Qur'an

Christians and Muslims believe God’s Word is transmitted through means. Something can be God’s Word if it comes from the mouth of angels, from the mouth of prophets, the pens of prophets, copies of scribes, etc. God’s Word encompasses more than just hearing God’s voice directly or possessing something that was directly written down by Him.

Muhammad did not leave an official and unified version of the Qur’an. According to traditional Muslim accounts, the Qur’an was compiled by an editorial commission started by Uthman years after Muhammad’s death.

The Bible and Textual Criticism

The New Testament is contained in copies of what was originally written down by the followers of Jesus. These copies don’t all agree with one another. Christians possess 100% of what was written in thousands of fragments and manuscript copies, but with about 2% of the New Testament we need to make choices as to which reading was original and which was not. These are minor differences, and it must be understood that there are not any major Christian doctrines that are at stake. Deciding upon the 2% of the texts that are in question is a science called textual criticism.

Craig Blomberg, a New Testament scholar, wrote:

The consensus among textual critics is that in the modern critical editions of the Greek New Testament we have, either in the text itself or in the footnotes upwards of 97% of what the original authors wrote reconstructed beyond any reasonable doubt, and that no doctrine of the Christian faith depends solely on one or more textually uncertain passages” (The Historical Reliability of the Gospels [revised 2007], 333).

Muslims sometimes think the Christian scriptures are corrupted because of variants in the textual tradition. It is through this tradition that God has chosen to preserve His Word through – multiple copies of manuscripts. To be sure, people have tried to change and corrupt the New Testament. Multiple copies prevent this from happening.

In fact, the manuscripts are unanimous in affirming that Jesus died on the cross. Muslim apologists such as Ahmed Deedat, Shabir Ally, Jamal Badawi, or Zakir Naik will say the Bible contains contradictions. However, for those who are truly searching and studying the Bible, most of these objections are easily answered in resources such as Gleason Archer’s New International Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties.

The Main Issue Regarding the Claims of the Bible and the Qur'an

In order to prove the corruption of the New Testament scriptures, Muslims must show from manuscripts and history that somebody was successful in changing the New Testament so that it now teaches Jesus died on the cross. If Muslims are unable to produce such evidence, then Islam is living proof that people try to corrupt the Bible but are ultimately unsuccessful.

The Transmission of Scripture and the Qur’an