To support their theses, these critics revised the dating of the books of the Bible, claiming, for instance, that the Law of Moses was actually written by Ezra, who lived some 900 years after Moses. This was based on the assumption that writing was unknown at the time of Moses. Now we know that long before Abraham (500 years before Moses), writing was common practice.
Some critics also claim that after the death of Jesus – His ascension to heaven they would discard as an impossibility and by that token a myth – Paul came and hi-jacked Christianity. It is claimed that he censored the Gospel to match his theology. But contemporary records show very clearly that there was never a doctrinal controversy between Paul and the other Apostles of Jesus. He did, in fact, consult with them.
While we are ready to acknowledge the occasional copy error, we are more than sure that these in no way influence or distort the message and content of God’s Word. Actually, we consider it a miracle that the biblical manuscripts, which have been copied by hand over periods of up to 3 000 years, are so remarkably accurate.
It is astonishing to us that many Muslims use these liberal arguments to propagate the thesis of the falsification of the Gospels, while they refuse to apply a much needed text critique to their own scriptures. They completely ignore the fact that although the Qur’an is of a considerably younger date, it has similar, if not more, complex problems. I am aware of the magnitude of this statement, but it cannot be more offensive to you than many Islamic statements concerning the Bible are to us. In short, I suggest we will have to play by the same rules. Muslin doctors who propagate that the Bible was corrupted also overlook the fact that most eminent Muslim theologians like at-Tabari (died AD 855), al-Bukhari (died AD 870), as well as al-Ghazzali (died AD 1111) believed in the authenticity of the (Greek) Gospel text. And that is the very message the Qur’an promotes:
Recent Comments