Is the Bible Corrupted as the Muslims Claim?

The Qur'an indicates that the scriptures of the Bible were acceptable at the time the Qur'an was given to Muhammad. The Qur'an indicates that Allah says, "O People of the Book! You have no grounds to stand on unless you stand by the Torah, the Gospel, and all of the Message that has come to you from the Lord." (Sura 5:71)

While certain Muslims claim that the Biblical text is corrupted, they do not seem to be able to identify exactly which passages are corrupt, they cannot produce any evidence of corruption, nor can they identify when those passages became corrupted.

You see, if they say passages were corrupted before the time of Muhammad, they contradict the Qur'an. For the Qur'an indicates: "Also before you, the messengers we sent were only men, to whom We granted the Revelation: If you do not know this, ask those, the people of the Remainder [of the Scripture, Taurat (Torah) and Injeel (Gospel)]."

Here Allah indicates that Muslims can safely inquire into the Scripture and receive a truthful answer.

On the other hand, if they say it was corrupted after the time of Muhammad, they show their ignorance about the ages of the manuscripts which form the basis of the text of the Bible. All the text of the Bible has been found on manuscripts dating before the time of Muhammad. And, every few years there seems to be a discovery of additional ancient fragments of the Biblical text.

So, my Muslim friends, if you claim the texts of the Bible are corrupted, you must indicate which texts are corrupt, show ancient manuscripts with the accurate text, and identify when and how they become corrupt. This will be difficult for you. Logic says you must accept the Biblical text as it currently is.

But, you must claim the Bible is corrupt because it contradicts the Qur'am in many places.

If the one True God gave both the books of the Bible and the Qur'am, then that God is confused and not to be trusted.

Of course, one example of the contradictions between the Qur'an and the Bible regards the death of Jesus.

The Qur'an clearly states: "And because they said (in boast): 'We killed the Messiah, Isa (Christ, Jesus) the son of Maryam (Mary), the messenger of Allah;' - But they did not kill him, nor crucified him, but so it was made to appear to them, and those who differ in this (matter) are full of doubts, with no (certain) knowledge; They follow nothing but idle talk, for sure they did not kill him:-" (Sura 4:157)

However, the Bible clearly contradicts this.

Scriptures from the Old Testament clearly predict the death of the Messiah and why he would die. Here is just one example for Isaiah 53:5-10

"But He was wounded for our transgressions; He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and with His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and He was afflicted, yet He opened not his mouth; He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter; and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He openeth not His mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment; and who shall declare His generation? For He was cut off out of the land of the living; for the transgression of My people was He stricken. And He made His grave with the wicked, and with the rich in His death, because He had done no violence, neither was any deceit in His mouth.
"Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him; He hath put Him to grief. When thou shalt make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand."

Jesus, himself, announced that he would die on a number of occasions. Here is one example from Matthew 17:22-23

While they were traveling together in Galilee, Jesus told them, "The Son of Man will be betrayed and handed over to people. They will kill him, but on the third day he will be brought back to life." Then the disciples became very sad.

When Jesus was being crucified there were witnesses present, including his mother and the disciple whom Jesus loved. Here is what happened while Jesus was on the cross as recorded in John 19:27-27

Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing there. He said to his mother, "Look, here’s your son!" Then he said to the disciple, "Look, here’s your mother!" From that time on she lived with that disciple in his home.

Jesus was seen by his followers, even when they did not expect to see him. Here is the incident when Mary from Magdala first saw Jesus after he was resurrected as recorded in John 20;11-17

Mary, however, stood there and cried as she looked at the tomb. As she cried, she bent over and looked inside. She saw two angels in white clothes. They were sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying. One angel was where Jesus’ head had been, and the other was where his feet had been. The angels asked her why she was crying. Mary told them, "They have removed my Lord, and I don’t know where they’ve put him."
After she said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there. However, she didn't know that it was Jesus. Jesus asked her, "Why are you crying? Who are you looking for?"
Mary thought it was the gardener speaking to her. So she said to him, "Sir, if you carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I’ll remove him."
Jesus said to her, "Mary!" Mary turned around and said to him in Hebrew, "Rabboni!" (This word means "teacher.") Jesus told her, "Don’t hold on to me. I have not yet gone to the Father. But go to my brothers and sisters and tell them, ‘I am going to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’"

These are accounts written down by actual eyewitnesses to the events.

Now, my Muslim friend, I know you want to be reasonable. So, is it better to believe eyewitnesses to the events or to believe something that contradicts the eyewitnesses accounts written hundreds of years later?

Please let me know what you really think.

I welcome your comments:

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