This is a VERY important post about what Islam's holy book the Quran and it's prophet Muhammad have to say about key teachings found in the Gospels and the Old Testament Books of Moses - particularly relating to the Bible's source, inspiration, validity, and accuracy of historical transmission down through the centuries. And what you'll learn in the video linked immediately below might completely shock you! I'd advise you to read over this entire page before watching the video linked below!
As I've related before, when I was a young guy, I began to have serious doubts about the Christian teachings I had absorbed through my parents and church as a child. And that set me on a fanatic quest to find out whether any credible evidence existed to believe ANY of it. And a lot of this website includes things I've learned along the way. As for the topic of Islam and Christianity - this is an invitation to join me in a search for truth behind these two faiths, as each proclaim a different God / god, with the Quran insisting Allah is the source for both. But modern Muslims insist the Gospels and the Books of the Law eventually became corrupted by Christians and Jews. As for Muslims reading this - whether you are merely a cultural (non-practicing) Muslim or a devout follower of Allah, please take a hard look at the evidences provided - especially concerning what you may have been taught about the Bible vs. what the Quran actually has to say about it. I believe in what Jesus taught us - which is to love ALL people - and I strive to do that with people of ALL backgrounds and faiths, be they Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Jehovah Witness, or Mormon - or even atheist or agnostic. So, this post is NOT in ANY way anti-Muslim - but hopefully will provide an insightful look at its teachings and the evidences that follow.
Philip
In THIS excellent, linked video , apologist David Wood provides a most-illuminating look at ALL of the key passages found in the Quran that reference and comment on the New Testament Gospels and the Torah (Books of Moses / Law and the Prophets, found in the Old Testament). And perhaps the most-shocking aspect of what he reveals is that the modern Muslim attacks and assertions of the Bible's supposed corruptions of Allah's supposed original messages through Muhammad are NOT found in the QURAN! WHAT???!!! This should raise several questions - the first being, WHY would the Quran support the integrity, source and inspiration behind the Bible (Torah, Gospels) - even though it undoubtedly contradicts many key teachings found within them? The other obvious question: Why do modern Islam and Muslims assert the Gospels and Torah to have been corrupted by Jews and Christians, when the Quran itself makes NO such claims? Now, this is a separate issue from the clear teachings of hate and doing violence against unbelievers (ALL NON-MUSLIMS) that are ALSO found (especially) in Muhammad's later teachings.
The Quran mentions the Gospel in 12 verses: Quran 3:3, 48, 65; 5:46, 47, 66, 68, 110; 7:157; 9:111; 48:29; and 57:27. Note that the verses in RED strongly affirm the integrity of the Gospels and Torah books, as opposed to the standard Islamic narrative we see today from Muslims about the Gospels and the Old Testament (as they widely assert Christians and Jews corrupted its original contents). Of course, the Bible's integrity stands on its own, as it is God-given and inspired, and has ever since God's prophets, Jesus and apostles originally revealed it. Thus, the Bible needs NO validation from ANY outside source! In fact, WHENEVER you read of a source outside of the Bible claiming ANY aspect of it to be in error or false, then not only is it false, but also know that it is propaganda strategically designed to sow doubts in the Scripture God gave through Jesus and His prophets (See Galatians 1:8)!
And, as you will see further below, there was a pro-Allah / Islam spiritual agenda behind affirming the Gospels and the Law as being definitive and reliable - because Mohammad also asserted they came, not from the Christian God, but from Allah himself. And because the sinister spiritual force behind the revelations given to Muhammad desired to encourage belief in the revelations he had received, it also asserted that Allah was the source of the Gospels and The Books of the Laws of Moses. And note also that Muhammad's teachings came after six centuries of Christianity had already passed, by which both the Old and New Testaments were widely believed across the world! So, it could not have been credibly claimed that Allah simultaneously gave these prior books, but that they were also corrupt at the time he supposedly gave them - BECAUSE THEIR CONTENTS ARE VERY WELL DOCUMENTED! And thus, as historical, manuscript, and scholarly sources have made it crystal clear, the contents of the Gospels and the Books of Moses have survived into the present age with astonishing accuracy, providing ZERO credibility to claims that either group of Scriptural texts have been corrupted. This is particularly an absurd statement as it relates to the Gospels (see below for evidence!)
According to MODERN ISLAMIC TEACHINGS, Allah gave different revelations to different groups of people, but the were ALL corrupted - except the Quran. It is asserted that Christians received the Gospel through Jesus and the Torah through Moses, but that both groups later corrupted it. Further, it is claimed that the Gospel is not reliable or authoritative, and that Christians must now judge by the Quran, and NOT by the Gospel.
But, in the Quran, Allah repeatedly - confirms the inspiration of the Gospel, preservation and inspiration, the authority of the Gospel, that we are to obey the Gospel. Not one word criticizes the text of the Gospel! And despite the Quran's many contradictions of what the Bible teaches, it's interesting that all its texts related by Muhammad actually SUPPORT the translated / transmitted integrity of the Books of Moses and the New Testament Gospels, down through time - despite what Muslims today teach about their supposed corruptions. The linked video above makes this quite clear. But there is likely a sinister motive for Muhammad not attacking it, as he strived to gain acceptance to the deceptions inherent in his false teachings (see below).
So, are TODAY'S New Testament and Gospels accurate to it's original writings?
HAVE the Gospels of the New Testament been corrupted across time?
Daniel B. Wallace, PhD, is Senior Research Professor of New Testament Studies at Dallas Theological Seminary and known worldwide as a "scholar's scholar" and one of academia's most-knowledgeable experts on New Testament documents, translations, languages, and ancient manuscripts - See THIS VIDEO to see what he has to say about the integrity of the New Testament documents of today vs. when they were first written.
Have the Old Testament translations of today been accurately preserved across time and per it's original form?
The Dead Sea Scrolls date to before the time of Jesus, and thus they have proven the accuracy of the Old Testament books written centuries before His birth into the world. In fact, Jesus and the New Testament Apostles so prolifically quote the Old Testament - of which they had been memorizing since childhood - that one can assemble virtually the entire OT from just the New Testament quotes of it! Unquestionably, we know EXACTLY all that was in the Gospels and Books of the Law referenced by Muhammad during the 600s AD!
See what the late, great theologian Norman Geisler had to say about the accuracy and integrity of the Old and New Testaments' modern translations - HERE!
ALL about Muhammad, the prophet of Islam!
Who was Muhammad, when did he live and what did he teach?
Muhammad, the prophet and founder of Islam, was also a political and military leader. He was born in Mecca and lived from 570 – 632 AD. He was son of the son of a Quraysh tribal leader, whose group controlled Mecca before Islam. When Muhammad was 40 (610 AD), while in a mountain cave where he often prayed, he said He was visited by the angel Gabriel, whom he said conveyed his first revelation from Allah. About three years later he began proclaim himself a prophet of Allah and began preaching his "revelations, asserting the command to completely submit to Allah and Islamic teachings.
Why did Muhammad's teachings NOT attack the validity of the New Testament or it's inspiration by God? As the Quranic teachings of Muhammad's were designed to gain belief in a different god (Allah), as well as to accept his teachings, not only was he deceived himself, but he was being demonically used to spread acceptance of a false faith (although he had embraced it as true). And so, when Muhammad first began to preach, his following was quite small. And the most tried-and-true method of getting people to accept any great deception has always been to attach it to a previously and widely accepted truth. Thus, Muhammad's falsely claiming the God of the Old Testament Torah (Books of Moses) and the New Testament to have previously been given by Allah were a strategy to gain acceptance of radically different teachings that deny much of the teachings of the New Testament (see below).
Muhammad made many claims in his teachings about Jesus and characters and events found in the Bible that are different and contradictory to what Scripture teaches. The Quran denies Jesus' crucifixion, resurrection, and His claims to be God - ALL of which are central to the teachings of the New Testament and Christianity. What did the Apostle Paul say about such denials? "12 Now if Christ is preached, that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised; 14 and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain, your faith also is in vain. 15 Moreover, we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, then not even Christ has been raised; 17 and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. (1 Corinthians 15)
Comparing Muhammad to the Old Testament prophets of the Bible
Despite his claims to the contrary, it's also interesting that Muhammad couldn't have personally have known ANY details about the events of the New Testament, as his teachings as a prophet of Allah were given SIX CENTURIES after they actually occurred. So, as opposed to the long line of prophets of God in the Bible (beginning with Abraham in Genesis) widely recognized as such, through their many miracles and fulfilled prophecies. Yet, Muhammad never was able to produce any such miraculous validations by God - and this is validated per his own words found in the Quran - See HERE:
It's interesting to note that Muhammad was merely a SELF-proclaimed as a prophet he never provided any supernatural validations that the god of Islam (Allah) had actually sent him. He never did ANY miracles or provided clearly fulfilled prophecies as did the Old Testament prophets of God. Nor did he ever give any specific or detailed prophecies that can definitely be shown to have been fulfilled at future points in history - as many Old Testament prophets clearly did. And without such validations from Allah that he is the true god, or that Muhammad was his prophet, his followers had to blindly trust that what he said about his revelations from Allah were true. Many were forced through conquest and coercion into submitting to Islamic teachings.