Saturday, February 22, 2025

The Quran, the Bible and the Islamic Dilemma (text and video)

Link to video: https://youtu.be/nNAS0aaViM4

In Surah 29 verse 46, the Quran commands Muslims to say to Christians, 

“we believe in what has been revealed to us and in what has been revealed to you. Our God and your God is one and to him we submit.” 

Yet many Muslims say something very different to Christians. They say, ‘we don't believe in your book because it's been corrupted’, and ‘your God is a false God’. If Muslims are commanded to say that they believe in what has been revealed to us, why do they instead say that they don't believe in the Bible, the only revelation we have? And if they're commanded to say that our God and their God is one, why do they instead say that our God is a false God? 

According to the Bible, God is a Trinity, one in nature or essence, but three in person, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Son entered creation as Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus died on the cross for sins and rose from the dead. The Quran denies all of this, so a Muslim can't say that he believes in the Bible or that Allah and the God of the Bible are the same God. 

Muslims have to reject the Bible because the Bible contradicts the Quran. But Muslims have a problem here. The Quran declares that the Torah and the Gospel were revealed by Allah. Surah 3, verses 3 through 4: 

“He has revealed to you the book with truth, verifying that which is before it, and he revealed the Torah and the Gospel aforetime, a guidance for the people, and he sent the Quran.” 

So, Allah revealed the Torah and the Gospel as a guidance. But our Muslim friends tell us that Allah couldn't protect the Torah and the Gospel, and that both revelations were corrupted by men. 

What Allah sent to guide people ended up misguiding people, convincing Christians that God is a Trinity, and that Jesus died on the cross for sins. 

Of course, we should be puzzled when Muslims tell us that the Torah and the Gospel were changed because the Quran states that no one can change Allah's words. Surah 18, verse 27: 

“And recite what has been revealed to you of the book of your Lord. There is no one who can change His words, and you shall not find any refuge besides Him.”  

Here our Muslim friends might say this verse only means that no one can change the Quran. But the verse doesn't say that no one can change the Quran. It says that no one can change Allah's words. And the Torah and the Gospel according to the Quran are Allah's words. 

Despite Allah's clear declaration that no one can change His words, many Muslims assert that the Gospel was corrupted by the Apostle Paul or by later Christians. If the gospel is corrupted, we can only wonder why the Quran says that Christians still had the gospel during the time of Muhammad. Surah 7, verse 157: 

“Those who followed the Messenger, the unlettered prophet, whom they find mentioned in their own scriptures and the Torah and the Gospel, it is they who will prosper.” 

How could Christians find Muhammad mentioned in the Gospel when the Gospel was supposedly corrupted centuries earlier? Is Allah saying that we find Muhammad mentioned in our corrupted scriptures? 

But we don't find Muhammad mentioned in our scriptures at all, except as part of a general warning about false prophets who come to lead people away from the gospel. And if we did find Muhammad mentioned in our scriptures, how would we know that this wasn't one of the corrupted parts? And since our scriptures contradict Islam, why would Allah appeal to them as evidence for Islam?

But Allah goes much further than this. He commands Christians to judge by the Gospel. Surah 5, verse 47: 

“Let the people of the Gospel judge by what Allah hath revealed therein. If any do fail to judge by the light of what Allah hath revealed, they are no better than those who rebel.” 

Why does Allah command us to judge by a corrupt book? The only gospel we have contradicts Islam, so in order to obey Allah's command we would have to judge by the gospel and conclude that Islam is false. 

Allah continues along these same lines in Surah 5, verse 68: 

“Say, O people of the Book, you have no ground to stand upon unless you stand fast by the Torah, the Gospel, and all the revelation that has come to you from your Lord.” 

Why would Allah tell us that we have no ground to stand upon unless we stand upon a corrupt book? If the gospel has been corrupted, wouldn't allow just tell us to get rid of it and believe in the Quran? 

So, the Quran clearly maintains that the Gospel is authoritative for Christians, and this only makes sense if the author of the Quran believed that Christians have the word of God. 

But the Gospel wasn't just authoritative for Christians, it was also authoritative for Muhammad himself and therefore for Muslims. One day, Mohammed started having doubts about his revelations. In response to these doubts, Allah commanded Muhammad to go to the people of the Book, Jews and Christians for confirmation. Surah 10, verse 94: 

“But if you, O Mohammed, are in doubt as to what we have revealed to you, ask those who read the book before you. Certainly, the truth has come to you from your Lord. Therefore, you should not be of the disputers.” 

Muslims today act as if the Quran stands in judgment over the Bible. Since the Bible contradicts the Quran, Muslims assume that the Bible must be rejected. But in the Quran, it's exactly the opposite. The Bible stands in judgment over the Quran, and Muhammad himself could only confirm his revelations by checking to see if they line up with the scriptures of the people of the Book. 

Since Mohammed continued preaching Islam, he apparently never took this test very seriously. If he had gone to the people of the Book in search of confirmation, he would have been forced to reject the Quran, because the Quran puts Muslims in an inescapable dilemma. Either Christians have the inspired, preserved, authoritative Word of God, or we don't. Those are the only two possibilities. 

If we have the inspired, preserved, authoritative word of God, Islam is false because Islam contradicts what we have. If we don't have the inspired, preserved, authoritative word of God, Islam is false because the Quran affirms the inspiration, preservation and authority of our book. 

So, if the gospel is the word of God, Islam is false. If the gospel isn't the word of God, Islam is false. Either way, Islam is false

By affirming scriptures that contradict its core teachings, Islam self-destructs. Muslims who don't want to believe in a religion that self-destructs will therefore need to find a new religion. Let's encourage our Muslim friends to obey the gospel. As both of our religions command.