the infallibility of the torah and the gospel

842019 The Infallibility of the Torah and the Gospel

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullthe-infallibility-of-the-torah-and-the-gospel 123

THEINFALLIBILITY

OF THE TORAH

AND THE

GOSPEL

Iskander Jadeed

1 Introduction2

2 The Origin And Development Of TheBible2

3 The Testimony Of Inspiration4

4 The Testimony Of The Prophets And

Apostles 55 The Testimony Of Tradition Or

Apostolic Succession 6

6 The Testimony Of Ancient Copies 8

7 The Testimony Of Ancient Scrolls 9

8 The Testimony Of Archaeology10

9 The Testimony Of Islam 12

10 An Inevitable Question15

11 What Muslim Scholars Have To Say

On The Subject Of Corruption20

12 Quiz 22

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1 Introduction

Thousands of years ago God commanded

the Jews through Moses Do not add towhat I command you and do not subtractfrom it but keep the commands of theLord your God that I give you(Deuteronomy 42) This commandment isrepeated in the same book See that youdo all I command you do not add to it ortake away from it (Deuteronomy 1232)

Several centuries later Solomon testifiedEvery word of God is flawless he is ashield to those who take refuge in him Do

not add to his words or he will rebuke youand prove you a liar (Proverbs 3056)

At the end of the Bible we find this sternwarning I warn everyone who hear thewords of the prophecy of this book If anyone adds anything to them God willadd to him the plagues described in thisbook And if anyone takes words away

from this book of prophecy God will take

away from him his share in the tree of lifeand in the holy city which are described inthis book (Revelation 221819)

After such stern warnings would anybeliever in God His books and Hisapostles dare to distort Gods word andthereby lose his part in all spiritualblessings which God has prepared for Hisdevoted ones and the promises of salvation and eternal life which Godpromised to mankind As for unbelieversit is not in their power to distort the divinebooks since they would not be able toobtain the thousands of manuscriptsscattered all over the world in order toforge them

It is unfortunate that in the last days peopleshould stand up and accuse the innocentapostles of Christ of distorting the gospelwhich was entrusted to them thuscontradicting not only the Holy Scriptures

but also the Muslim Quran which testifiesto the apostles known for their integrityand honesty and calls them helpers of God (Sura Al Imran 352)

There are many proofs of the authenticityof the Bible and its freedom fromdistortion corruption and perversionThese we will explain in the followingpassages

2 The Origin And DevelopmentOf The Bible

God has carefully watched over theunfolding of His Book with all wisdomand sagacity Those who examine the OldTestament can see that the divineScriptures themselves reveal that it took shape in three periods on history

THE INFALLIBILITY OF THE TORAH AND THE GOSPEL

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First period Adam to Moses

The Sacred Scriptures inspired by Godinform us that God gave a command toAdam and that He brought animals andbirds to him to see what he would callthem (Genesis 215-19) But this passagedoes not say how God spoke to man in thebeginning Therefore most of us resort toconjecture and imagination when passing

judgement on sacred history forgettingthat millions of years separate us from theevents recorded in the first passages of thebook of Genesis

We are not sure when God began hisrevelations to mankind but the contents of the Bible help us to come to a conclusionEnoch mentioned in the fifth chapter of Genesis was according to Jude theapostle a prophet in the seventhgeneration after Adam The Bible says thatEnoch walked with God There in sodoubt that this prophet and some

information about the past and accordingto the genealogy of the Bible he knewAdam and spoke with him MethuselahEnochs son survived till the time of Noahand was righteous in his generation andwalked with God

Unquestionably Noah who preachedrighteousness and truth passed on thesacred news to the generations after theflood (2 Peter 25)

Shem Noahs son lived till the time of Abraham (Genesis 1021 and 111026)The Bible tells us that accounts of thesacred news were communicated toAbraham In Galatians 38 we read thefollowing The Scripture foresaw thatGod would justify the Gentiles by faithand announced the gospel in advance toAbraham All nations will be blesses

through you This verse assures us that

Abraham had clear information aboutprevious events and that he in his turnpassed on what he knew to his sons InGenesis 1819 we read I have chosenhim so that he will direct his children andhis household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just sothat the Lord will bring about for Abrahamwhat he has promised him It is evidentfrom this text that continuity of communication between Abraham and

Moses was not hard to achieveSecond period The generations of Moses

Beginning with the book of Exodus achronicle of events was recorded in detailin the holy Books in agreement with Godscommand to Moses to do so Therefore weread The Lord said to Moses Write thison a scroll as something to be rememberedand make sure that Joshua hears it

(Exodus 1714)In fact we know that He (Moses) took theBook of the Covenant and read it to thepeople (Exodus 247) and that at theLords command Moses recorded thestages in their journey (Numbers 331)We also read that After Moses finishedwriting in a book the words of this lawfrom beginning to end he gave thecommand to the Levites who carried theark of the covenant of the Lord Take this

Book of the Law and place it beside theark of the covenant of the Lord your GodThere it will remain as a witness againstyou (Deuteronomy 3124-26)

Third period Joshua to Malachi

God said to Joshua Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouthmeditate on it day and night so that you






may be careful to do everything written in

it (Joshua 18) And Joshua recordedthese words in the Book of the Law of God (Joshua 2426)

Samuel explained to the people theregulations of the kingship He wrote themdown on a scroll and deposited it beforethe Lord (1 Samuel 1025)

Towards the end of the era of kings duringthe reign of Josiah the king the reading of the Holy Scriptures by Shaphan the scribe

at the command of Hilkiah the High Priestcaused a revival (2 Kings 228-13)

Isaiah the prophet called upon his peopleto go back to the Word of God and reciteit affirming its infallibility He saidLook in the scroll of the Lord and readNone of these will be missing not one willlack her mate For it is his mouth that hasgiven the order and his Spirit will gatherthem together (Isaiah 3416)

The prophet Jeremiah was commanded byGod to place his prophecies on recordsaying Take a scroll and write on it allthe words I have spoken to you concerningIsrael Judah and all the other nations(Jeremiah 362)

The prophet Daniel testified to the HolyScriptures in his prophetic book when hesaid I Daniel understood from theScriptures according to the word of theLord given to Jeremiah the prophet that

the desolation of Jerusalem would lastseventy years (Daniel 92)

In the reign of Artaxerxes the king of Persia both Ezra and Nehemiah devotedthemselves to the law of Moses that theLord God gave to him The Bible saysFor Ezra had devoted himself to the studyand observance of the Law of the Lord

(Ezra 710) In the book of Nehemiah we

read All the people assembled as oneman in the square before the Water GateSo Ezra brought the Law before theassembly which was made up of men andwomen and all who were able tounderstand He read from it from daybreak till noon as he faced the square before theWater Gate (Nehemiah 81-3)

And the word of the Lord came again toZechariah This is what the LordAlmighty says Administer true justiceshow mercy and compassion to oneanother But they refused to payattention stubbornly they turned theirbacks and stopped up their ears Theymade their hearts as hard as flint andwould not listen to the law or to the wordsthat the Lord Almighty had sent by hisSpirit through the earlier prophets(Zechariah 78-12)

Malachi spoke of the Bible which he

called a scroll of remembrance in thefollowing words Then those who fearedthe Lord talked with each other and theLord listened and heard A scroll of remembrance was written in his presenceconcerning those who feared the Lord andhonoured his name (Malachi 316)

The foregoing make it obvious to us thatthe Lord God watched carefully over thedevelopment of His Holy Book throughoutthe generations inspiring His holy men to

write down their prophecies and teachingsfor the good of mankind And such aliving God after inspiring His laws wouldsee to it that these laws are preserved inaccordance with His will and promises

3 The Testimony Of Inspiration

1 Gods Testimony to the Permanence of






His Words

The Holy Bible contains a number of revelations and promises from Godthat His word will never pass away orbe changed Some of these are citedbelow

I will not take my love from him norwill I ever betray my faithfulness Iwill not violate my covenant or alterwhat my lips have uttered (Psalms893334)

I tell you the truth until heaven andearth disappear not the smallest letternot the least stroke of a pen will byany means disappear from the Lawuntil everything is accomplished(Matthew 518)

I tell you the truth this generationwill certainly not pass away until allthese things have happened Heavenand earth will pass away but my

words will never pass away (Matthew243435)

The Scripture cannot be broken(John 1035)

2 Gods Testimony to His Prophets

God said to the prophet Jeremiah Donot be afraid of them Now I haveput my words in your mouth(Jeremiah 189)

He spoke to the prophet Hosea sayingI spoke to the prophets gave themmany visions and told parables throughthem (Hosea 1210)

He spoke to the prophet Isaiah sayingAs for me this is my covenant withthem says the Lord My Spirit who ison you and my words that I have putin your mouth will not depart form

your mouth or from the mouth of your

children or from the mouth of theirdescendants from this time on andforever says the Lord (Isaiah 5921)

He spoke to the prophet Ezekiel asfollows Son of man stand up on yourfeet and I will speak with you I amsending you to the Israelites to arebellious nation be not afraid of them or their words Do not be afraidof what they say or terrified by themthough they are a rebellious houseOpen your mouth and eat what I giveyou (Ezekiel 21-8)

He spoke to the prophet Malachisaying And you will know that I havesent you this admonition so that mycovenant with Levi may continue saysthe Lord Almighty My covenant waswith him a covenant of life and peaceand I gave them to him this called forreverence and he revered me and stood

in awe of my name True instructionwas in his mouth and nothing false wasfound on his lips (Malachi 24-6)

And He also spoke to the prophet Butdid not my words and decrees which Icommanded my servants the prophetsovertake your forefathers Then theyrepented and said The Lord Almightyhas done to us what our ways andpractices deserve just as hedetermined to do (Zechariah 16)

4 The Testimony Of The ProphetsAnd Apostles

Gods prophets and apostles testified thatGod spoke to them and inspired them towrite their prophecies and teachings to bean eternal law for mankind We quotesome of their testimonies below






David said The Spirit of the Lord spoke

through me his word was on my tongue(2 Samuel 232)

Isaiah said Surely the people are grassThe grass withers and the flowers fall butthe word of our God stands forever(Isaiah 4078)

Look in the scroll of the Lord and readNone of these will be missing not one willlack her mate For it is his mouth that hasgiven the order and his Spirit will gather

them together (Isaiah 3416)

Jeremiah said The word of the Lordcame to me What do you see JeremiahI see the branch of an almond tree Ireplied The Lord said to me You haveseen correctly for I am watching to seethat my word is fulfilled (Jeremiah11112)

Ezekiel said At the end of seven days theword of the Lord came to me Son of man

I have made you a watchman for the houseof Israel so hear the word I speak and givethem warning from me (Ezekiel 31617)

The Lord Jesus told His disciples For itis not you who speak but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you(Matthew 1020)

The apostle Paul said We have notreceived the spirit of the world but theSpirit who is from God that we may

understand what God has freely given usThis is what we speak not in words taughtus by human wisdom but in words taughtby the Spirit expressing spiritual truth inspiritual words (1 Corinthians 21213)

The apostle Peter said For you have beenborn again not of perishable seed but of imperishable through the living andenduring word of God For All men are

like grass and all their glory is like the

flowers of the field the grass withers andthe flowers fall but the word of the Lordstands forever (1 Peter 123-25) Noprophecy of Scripture came about by theprophets own interpretation For prophecynever had its origin in the will of man butmen spoke from God as they were movedby the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 12021)

5 The Testimony Of Tradition OrApostolic Succession

History tells us that the religious scholarswho were contemporaries of the apostlesand those who succeeded them inministering to the church quoted from theBible especially from the Gospels in theirsermons and works because they wereconvinced that the books were divine andinspired by God and thereforeincorruptible We mention some below

Dionysius Bishop of Corinth who died in

the year 100 AD

Hermas who wrote a book in threevolumes containing many quotations fromthe New Testament

Ignatius appointed Bishop of Antioch 37years after Christs ascension

Polycarp the Martyr disciple of theapostle John and Bishop of Smyrna Hewas martyred in the year 166 AD Only

one of his writings survives a letter full of citations from the four gospels

In addition to the above there are alsochurch fathers of the second century ADwho quoted from the Bible to support theirteachings These include

Papias Bishop of the church in Hierapolisin Phrygia known as a gifted scholar






about the year 110 AD He met Polycarp

and wrote a commentary of six volumes onthe Bible He said that the gospels inGreek were circulating in the churchesand testified that Mark the writer of thegospel was a companion of Peter and thathis gospel was in circulation among theChristians

Justin the Martyr born in 89 AD was aheathen philosopher before his conversionbut his search after the truth led him toChristianity This celebrated thinker wrotemany books in defence of Christianity andbased his defence on the four gospels Inone of his books he mentions that hevisited the churches in Rome Alexandriaand Ephesus and noted that the Christiansworshipped by reading aloud from thegospels in their churches

Hegius who became prominent 30 yearsafter Justin His testimony has greatimportance as he travelled from Palestine

to Rome and met many bishops He relatesthat he saw Christians in every placeteaching one doctrine based on the lawthe prophets and the Lord Jesus Christ

Irenaeus of Greek origin from AsiaMinor was born in the year 140 AD Hewas a disciple of Polycarp who in turnwas a disciple of the apostle John Thecentre of his work was in Lyon where hewas ordained bishop succeeding Bonituswho was martyred in 177 AD He wrote an

epistle full of quotations from the gospelsIn one passage he says We have notreceived salvation from any other sourcethan from those who communicated thegospel to us which they preached and laterwrote by the will of God to be thefoundation and pillar of our faith For afterChrists resurrection from the dead Godendowed the apostles with the power of

the Holy Spirit and they came to know

everything about the gospel fully wellThey went to the ends of the (then known)world carrying to mankind the good newsof the grace of heavenly peace Everyoneof them carried Gods gospel

Matthew wrote his gospel to the Jewswhen Paul and Peter were in Romepreaching the gospel of peace andfounding the church here After theirdeparture Mark disciple and companionof Peter wrote his gospel which is thesubstance of Peters preaching Luke thephysician and companion of Paul wrotehis gospel in accordance with theteachings of Paul After this John thedisciple of Christ who leaned uponChrists breast wrote his Gospel while inEphesus

This eminent scholar added Theteachings which the apostles handed downspread throughout the world All who seek

after the truth find that every churchguards these teachings and considers themholy

He also said It is possible for us toremember those whom the apostlesappointed as leaders of these churches andthose who succeeded them up to thepresent day and thanks to thisuninterrupted chain of authority we havereceived the narratives found in the churchand the teachings of the truth as preached

by the gospels

Clement Bishop of Alexandria lived 16years after Irenaeus He testified that allthe churches believed in the four gospelsThis meticulous scholar cited the gospelsin his teachings and writings and said thefour gospels were authentic

Tertullian was born in 160 AD and died






about 220 AD This scholar wrote of the

apostles John and Matthew teach usfaith Luke and Mark their companionsrefresh and inspire us After enumeratingthe churches which Paul founded inCorinth Galatia Ephesus Philippi andThessalonica and the churches whichwere founded by John and the church of Rome founded by Peter and Paul he saidThe four gospels have been used by thechurch from the beginning He also saidWe Christians meet together to read the

Holy Scriptures and nourish our faith raiseour hopes and affirm our trust through theholy word

It follows from the foregoing that

1 The leaders of Christianity be theycontemporaries of the apostles orsuccessors all distinguished scholarswere citing the sparkling texts of theHoly Scriptures and quoting from themin their daily speech

2 Their reliance on the Holy Scripturesand their quotations from themillustrate their conviction that theywere the final authority in allcontroversial matters

3 They were reading the Holy Scripturesin their public worship and explainingthem

4 They wrote commentaries on the HolyScriptures in several volumesaffirming the harmony of the

evangelists records as inspired by theHoly Spirit

5 All Christians since the beginningbelieved in the Holy Scripturesirrespective of their nationality creed

6 The Testimony Of AncientCopies

Among the treasures which the Christians

preserve there exist ancient manuscriptsthe history of which dates back manygenerations before the advent of IslamThese include the following

The Alexandrian Codex named after thecity in which it was written It holds firstrank among the three manuscripts It waspresented to King Charles I of England byCyril Lucar patriarch of Constantinople inthe year 1628 AD Cyril had brought itwith him from Alexandria of which hehad formerly been patriarch It is written inGreek and contains all the books of theBible both the Old and New TestamentsOn the first page in the margin a noteindicates that the whole book was copiedby the hand of a noble Egyptian ladynamed Taqla about the year 325 ADPatriarch Cyril commented on thismarginal note with his own hand that thisdate was correct in his opinion Themanuscript was written in plain standard

writing on parchment with each leaf divided into two columns each columnconsisting of fifty lines It is till on displayin the British Museum in London

The Codex Vaticanus so named becauseit is kept in the Vatican library It iswritten on a very beautiful parchment insmall plain standard script There are threecolumns in each page each consisting of 42 lines The codex includes all the booksof the Bible in Greek language Scholarsbelieve it was written about the year 300AD

The Codex Sinaiticus rivals the VaticanCodex in antiquity and is possibly a littleolder It is of great importance incomparing texts It was named the SinaiCodex owing to its discovery on MountSinai by the German scholar Tischendorf






in the monastery of St Catherine in the

year 1844 It is written in a large plainstandard script on vellum with fourcolumns to each page and shows evidenceof great age It was presented by thediscoverer to Tsar Alexander of Russiaand remained in Russia until the Bolshevik revolution when it was sold to the BritishMuseum in London where it is still kept

The Ephraem Codex is kept in theNational Library of Paris and contains allthe books of the Bible in Greek language

It is written on parchment in fine scriptwithout spacing or signs The first letter oneach page is bigger than the rest It wasprobably written about 450 AD

All these ancient manuscripts give ananswer to the claim of the Quran that theHoly Scriptures are corrupted and showthat they are authentic for they werewritten before the Quran The copies inour hands today do not differ in any wayfrom the ancient copies

7 The Testimony Of AncientScrolls

1 The Qumran Scrolls

Among the treasures found in theQumran caves in Palestine in 1947 isa complete manuscript of the book of Isaiah the prophet written in Hebrewon vellum as a scroll This type of

writing and vocabulary indicate that itwas written in the second century BCScholars who have examined it saythat its text is not different from whatwe use today

A copy of the books Leviticus JobPsalms and Habakkuk was also foundin the Qumran caves the text of whichare in accord with the same books we

use today Alongside these writings

was found a list of the books of theOld Testament containing all the bookswe now have except the book of Esther

2 The Arsoinoe Scrolls

In the year 1877 there was found atArsoinoe located south of Cairo alarge number of documents written onpapyrus buried in the sand amongthem a copy of the gospel of John

which does not differ from that currentamong us today

3 The Sinai Scrolls

Recently there was discovered a copyof the four gospels in the Syriaclanguage in the monastery of StCatherine in Sinai It dates back earlierthan the fifth century AD It is a copyof a translation made by Christians inthe second century AD and its textdoes not differ from our currentversion of the gospels

Excavations and the discovery of ancientscrolls have therefore confirmed theauthenticity of the Bible in a remarkableway It is remarkable that the divine book could agree with history in such detail Weanticipate that other discoveries will stillbe made Scholars are working hard onexcavations and everything points to thefact that there is no ground left to stand on

for the critic or the objector to the NewTestament and its traditional datingUndoubtedly such agreements betweenthese discoveries and texts of the Biblepresent the strongest proof for theauthenticity of divine inspiration and theintegrity of those who recorded it

The archaeologist Dr Albright says Byright of the discoveries at Qumran we can






be sure that the New Testament is the

same today as when it was first written andcontains the teachings of Christ and Hisdisciples The date of writing goes back tothe period between the years 25 and 80AD

8 The Testimony Of Archaeology

From ancient times the Holy Scriptureshave been subjected to the attacks of atheists and infidels because Gods word

was incompatible with their thoughtsMany of them tried to find in the ancientremains and inscriptions somethingconflicting with the Holy Scriptures butdiscoveries proved disappointing to themInscriptions discovered by archaeologistsin Palestine and Mesopotamia confirmedwhat is recorded in the Bible to an extentthat many atheists turned believersbecause the ancient inscriptions whichhave been discovered have testified to thegenuineness of the biblical texts

It was common belief amongarchaeologists that writing was not used inPalestine before the year 540 BC whichmeant that Moses and other men of theOld Testament did not themselves writethe books ascribed to them Scepticsclaimed that the writers of the Torah hadgrossly exaggerated in the events andextent of culture in the Near East in viewof discrepancies between their books and

the findings of ancient historians

However modern discoveries have refutedthese theories totally as they haveconfirmed the authenticity of the divinebooks in their records of civilisation inEgypt Babylon and Syria and confirmedwhat is said about Sennacherib TiglathPileser Nebuchadnezzar and others

We rejoice that these discoveries have

offered us the opportunity of seeing tabletson which are inscribed the letters whichwere used by Moses and Joshua IsaiahSamuel and others and that we are assuredthat writing was known at the time of Abraham Moses Job and Nehemiah as inour days

We are happy that the words of Christ thatstones will speak have been fulfilled inour generation Indeed they have spokenthrough inscriptions engraved on themrecording most of the important eventsmentioned in the Bible

1 The Story of Creation

The Babylonian and Assyrianinscriptions contain writings about thestory of creation and they agree withwhat is written in the Bible except fora few verbal discrepancies The Biblesays God made two great lights - thegreater light to govern the day and the

lesser light to govern the night He alsomade the stars (Genesis 116) TheBabylonian inscriptions say Godmade the nebulae and the stars TheBible says God made animals andcreeping things according to theirkinds (Genesis 124) and theBabylonian inscriptions say the godscreated these animals The Bible saysGod formed man from dust of theground (Genesis 27) while the

Babylonian version reads The godMardoch created man from flesh andbones

2 Monotheism and Polytheism

The Bible says that people backslidforsook the living God and worshippedmany gods and that the prophetssought to turn them back to worship






the only God whereas sceptical

scholars claimed that man from thebeginning was polytheistic Thistheory prevailed amongst most peopleuntil Dr Herbert an archaeologist andprofessor of Assyrian studies at OxfordUniversity repudiated it This scholarsaid that monotheism in the Semiticand Sumerian religions existed beforepolytheism

Modern discoveries have refuted thebelief common in some circles of learning which claims thatmonotheism in the Jewish religion wasunknown before the prophets preachedit in the 7th and 8th centuries BCMany of the inspirations affirm thatMoses taught the unity of God beforethe Hebrews entered the land of Canaan

3 The Story of the Flood

Archaeology has given us a superb

story of the flood from the Babylonianinscriptions which agrees with what iswritten in the book of Genesis Bothrecords mention that the flood cameaccording to divine plan and bothrelate that the hero of the story warnedof the coming of calamity upon theworld and that after giving duewarning he built an ark for himself and his family then took animals withhim into the ark two of every kind

male and female for the preservationof the species When the floodsubsided the ark rested on the top of amountain and the hero sent out birds tosee if the flood had subsided When theflood was over he offered sacrifice toGod who answered and promised himsafety

4 Ur of the Chaldees

Prior to excavations in Mesopotamia

biblical scholars had no knowledge of the extent of culture and civilisationthat existed there It was evident thatthis wilderness was once a paradisewith flowing rivers and a metropolis of a remarkably civilised nationExcavations there confirmed that in thedistant past there had come a companyof Sumerians to that spot who settledthere and established a splendidcivilisation As for their religion these

Sumerians were polytheists Eachfamily had its own idol whichexplains the behaviour of Rachel whenshe stole the gods of her father Labanbefore the flight with her husbandJacob (Genesis 3127-35)

These excavations also confirm thatAbraham was not a mere sheikh of aBedouin tribe who dwelled in tentsbut rather that he belonged to a nationwith a magnificent civilisation living

in Haran This agrees entirely with thetext of the Bible in Genesis 1128-31When we consider Abrahams long

journey we find that the father of thefaithful passed by Dothan Bethel andShechem which are cities mentionedin the Bible Moreover ruinsdiscovered in Palestine point to theauthenticity of what the Bible has tosay about the region lying to the southof the Dead Sea where Abraham spent

a period of time this had flourishedand was thickly populated inAbrahams days

5 The Story of Joseph

Joseph was the victim of a cruel trick on the part of his brothers He was soldto an Egyptian caravan but because hewas innocent and upright God worked








Jews and the rabbis and the priests by

such of Allahs Scriptures as was entrustedto them and thereunto they are witnesses(Sura Al-Maida 344)

And we caused Jesus son of Mary tofollow in their footsteps confirming thatwhich was revealed before him in theTorah and We bestowed on him theGospel wherein is guidance and a lightconfirming that which was revealed beforeit in the Torah a guidance and anadmonition unto those who ward off evil(Sura Al-Maida 546)

And unto you we have revealed theScriptures with the truth confirmingwhatever Scripture was before it andwatcher over it So judge between them bythat which Allah has revealed therein(Sura Al-Maida 548)

In the first verse the Quran testifies to theauthenticity of the Torah that it is the rightguidance against error and a light to revealmatters by which the prophets shall judgein accordance with such of Gods Book aswas entrusted to them and to the trust of which they were witnesses In the secondverse is a statement that Christ confirmedthe Torah to be true and that His gospelwhich is guidance light and admonitionconfirmed that which preceded it in theHoly Books In the third text the Quranaffirms that it was revealed to Muhammadconfirming whatever scripture came before

it and that he was a guardian of itenjoined to judge by what God hadrevealed in it in support of the Torah andthe Gospel

In endorsing the Torah and Gospel theQuran goes on to exhort their adherents tocarry out the teaching therein and in thisrespect says Say O People of the

Scriptures You have no (guidance) till

you observe the Torah and the Gospel andthat which was revealed unto you fromyour Lord (Sura Al-Maida 568)

The Quran also exhorts the believers of the Gospel to uphold the judgementcontained in their book and describedthose who neglect this as iniquitous Itsays Let the people of the Gospel judgeby what God has revealed therein Whoso

judges not by that which God has revealedsuch are licentious (Sura Al-Maida 547)

O you who believe Believe in God andHis messengers and the Scripture whichHe revealed aforetime Whoso disbelievesin God and His angels and His scripturesand His messengers and the Last Day heverily has wandered far astray (SuraAl-Nisa 4136)

From the foregoing it has become clearthat

1 The Quran exhorts the People of theBook to carry out the commands of theTorah and the Gospel This is animplicit admission of their authenticityand integrity as they both fortify thebeliever in salvation which is inrighteousness and contain adequateinstruction for conduct

2 The Quran commands all believersincluding Muslims to believe in theQuran and the Book which was

revealed prior to it ie the Torah andGospel This is a clear call to Muslimsto accept and believe in the Torah andGospel and is in keeping with thefollowing Quranic verse Those arethey unto whom We gave the Scriptureand command and prophethood But if these disbelieve therein then indeedWe shall entrust it to a people who will






not be disbelievers therein Those are

they whom God guides so follow theirguidance (Sura Al-Anam 68990)

The Quran recognises the competence of the Bible to rightly assess things in thespiritual realm when it says toMuhammad How come they unto you for

judgement when they have the Torahwherein is contained the commandment of God Yet even after that they turn awaySuch (folk) are not believers (SuraAl-Maida 543) This verse shows that

those who uphold the commandments of the Bible have no need to resort to anyother book to be judged by Whereas thosewho turn away from the Divine Bookafter knowing the truth contained thereinare described as unbelievers

Say (unto them O Muhammad) Thenbring a scripture from Allah that givesclearer guidance than those two (that) Imay follow it if you are truthful (SuraAl-Qasas 2849) This verse instructsMuhammad on what to say to those whoreject his message as they rejected that of Moses before him ie to bring a scripturefrom God giving clearer guidance than theBible and Quran

And we sent not (as our messengers)before you other than men whom Weinspired Ask the followers of theRemembrance if you know not (SuraAl-Nahl 643) The Jalalan commentary

says that The followers of theRemembrance are those learned in theTorah and Gospel If you do not knowthat they do and you are to believe themmore than the believers of Muhammad(Jalalan page 357)

In fact this verse is a clear testimony thatthe apostles of God and his prophets whowrote The Remembrance did so by

inspiration of the Holy Spirit Alongside

other verses we cited this verse affirmsthat the Quran considers our Bible asguidance a light a remembrance thecommand of God and His inspiration Godcommanded the Muslims to ask us aboutthat which they do not know Is this not aclear admission from the Quran that ourholy books are authentic and thereforeuncorrupted

They agree with the testimony of theapostles of Christ as to the authenticity of the Bible and its inspiration The devotedapostle Paul said All scripture is inspiredby God and is useful for teachingrebuking correcting and training inrighteousness so that the man of God maybe thoroughly equipped for every goodwork (2 Timothy 31617)

This is why Christians accept the OldTestament which was completed about theyear 400 BC The Jews divided it into

three parts1 The Torah consisting of five books

written by Moses ie GenesisExodus Leviticus Numbers andDeuteronomy which from thebeginning have been consideredsacred respected and revered becausethey contain the Ten Commandmentsof God and His promises to man

2 The Prophets subdivided into twosections The books of Joshua Judges

Samuel Jeremiah Ezekiel HoseaJoel Amos Obadiah Jonah MicahNahum Habakkuk ZephaniahHaggai Zechariah and Malachi on theother

3 The Writings consisting of thePsalms Proverbs Job Daniel EzraNehemiah Chronicles Song of Solomon Ruth Lamentations of






Jeremiah Ecclesiastes and Esther

With regard to the books of the NewTestament scholars are unanimous thatthey were written and compiled whilemany of Christs followers who had heardHim and seen Him were still alive TheNew Testament consists of the fourGospels the Acts of the Apostles theletters of Paul the letters of Peter theletters of James John and Jude and thebook of Revelation

This is a summary of the contents of theBible inspired by God through His saintsGod has guarded it with the greatest careHe chose faithful men to write down Hisrevelations and likewise to translate theminto the languages of the world There isno doubt that its circulation today inapproximately one thousand and fourhundred languages and dialects provesthat God has been watchful over His wordand guards it forever

Indeed nations will come and golanguages will die out and the world willchange but the precious Bible will liveforever because it contains the message of God for every man and woman boy andgirl at all times and in all places I meanthe message of salvation through JesusChrist which is for all be they black orwhite and of all races and languagesThere is living power in Gods Bookwhich gives power to all who accept Jesus

Christ as saviour by faith to become thechildren of God

10 An Inevitable Question

Having covered the foregoing points wefeel entitled to ask those who claim thatthe Bible has been corrupted for scientificand historical proof as to the period when

such corruption took place

If they say it happened before Christ weput it to them that Christ had testified tothe authenticity of the Holy Scriptures inthe following instances

1 By citing prophecies therein whichspeak of Him One example is theprophecy of Isaiah which Christquoted in the synagogue at Nazarethand which says The Spirit of theSovereign Lord is on me because the

Lord has anointed me to preach goodnews to the poor He has sent me tobind up the broken-hearted toproclaim freedom for the captives andrelease for the prisoners to proclaimthe year of the Lords favour and theday of vengeance of our God tocomfort all who mourn (Isaiah6112) Luke the writer of the Gospeltells us that after Christ had read thisprophecy concerning Himself He toldHis listeners Today this scripture isfulfilled in your hearing (Luke 4 21)

2 By exhorting the Jews to read the HolyScriptures and increase their learningthereof when He said You diligentlystudy the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal lifeThese are the Scriptures that testifyabout me (John 539)

3 By reproving the Sadducees for theirignorance of the Holy Scriptures when

he told them Are you not in errorbecause you do not know theScriptures or the power of God(Mark 1224)

4 By using Holy Scriptures as a weaponagainst the temptations of the devilWe read that Christ warded off thedevils temptations in the wilderness of Jordan by quoting Bible texts To the








null and void

There is also another fact which those whoclaim corruption cannot dismiss Sincethe dawn of Christianity the books of theOld Testament have existed amongst Jewsand Christians in the same language inwhich holy men of God wrote Scholarshave carried out careful comparisons of copies preserved by both sides and foundthat they are in full agreement

Moreover we are entitles to ask those who

claim corruption When did suchcorruption of the Gospel take place Wasit before or after the Quran If they saybefore the Quran then the Quran placesthem in a dilemma because it commandsMuhammad to seek help from those whoread the Bible in order to eliminate anydoubts when it says And if you(Muhammad) are in doubt concerning thatwhich we reveal unto you then questionwhose who read the Scripture (that was)

before you (Sura Yunus 1094)Since God is omniscient it is not inkeeping with His majesty to referMuhammad to those who read a corruptedbook in order to eliminate any doubts

In testifying to the authenticity of theBible the Quran goes on And unto youhave We revealed the Scripture with thetruth confirming whatever Scripture wasbefore it and a watcher over it (Sura

Al-Maida 548) A watcher is a guardand a guard is one who protects the booksof God and its divine laws and truths

If the alleged corruption took place afterthe Quran then anyone claimingcorruption is saying that the Quran hasfailed in its function as a guard In otherwords if the Torah and Gospel have beencorrupted after the Quran such a claim is

a clear indictment of the people of the

Quran for the neglect of the mostimportant duty which the Quran wasgiven They should have at least kept oneor more copies of the Torah and Gospelbefore they were corrupted becauseguardianship necessitates the existence of something to be guarded

The Christians have done this When theysaw in the Torah prophecies about Christtheir Lord they made themselvesguardians thereof and did their utmost topropagate them in the world to an extentthat translations are available in 1400languages today Why have the Muslimsnot done the same seeing they believe thatthe Torah and Gospel contain propheciesand evidences about Muhammad

The following are some verses on theincorruptibility of Gods Word

bull Lo Even We reveal the Reminderand Lo We truly are its Guardian

(Sura Al-Hijr 159)bull There is none to alter the Words of

Allah (Sura Al-Anam 634)

bull There is no changing of the Word of Allah (Sura Yunus 1064)

bull It is the law of Allah which has takencourse aforetime You will not find anypower to change the law of Allah(Sura Al-Fath 4823)

bull Perfected is the Word of your Lord in

truth and justice There in nothing thatcan change His words He is theHearer the Knower (Sura Al-Anam6115)

bull And recite that which has beenrevealed unto you of the Scripture of your Lord There is none who canchange His words and you will find norefuge beside Him (Sura Al-Kahf






1827)

The above collection of texts containspromises from God that no one can changehis Word for He revealed it and Heguarded it

Having covered this ground we feel weought to ask this question If a group of Muslims who observe the Quran in detailwanted to go the people of the Book to ask about some theological matters and meton their way a group of those who claim

corruption and said to them We are onour way to the People of the Book as theQuran bids us to ask about some matterswould those who claim corruption daresay to them Do not go because theirbook is corrupted If by chance theydared to say so what would be theposition of those believers Would theybelieve those who claim corruption orwould they believe the Quran which saysAsk the People of the Book if you do not

know

This first question leads us to anotherHow would those who believe in thecorruption-theory fare if sceptics whofed them with the idea of the corruptionof the Torah and Gospel hurled the sameaccusation against the Quran and claimedit too was corrupted What would they sayand with what weapon would they facesuch sceptics after they have discarded theonly weapon which God put into their

hands ie His promise that He upholdsand guards His Holy Books from alldistortion and corruption

There is a third question What attitudewould the average Muslim who acceptsthe claim of the corruptionists take in theface of the following words of the QuranAlif Lam Mim This is the Scripture of

which there is no doubt a guidance unto

those who ward off (evil) who believe theunseen and establish worship and spendof what We bestowed upon them and whobelieve in that which is revealed unto you(Muhammad) and that which was revealedbefore you and are certain of theHereafter These depend on guidance fromtheir Lord These are the successful (SuraAl-Baqara 21-5) Say (O Muslims) Webelieve in Allah and that which is revealedunto us and that which was revealed unto

Abraham and Ishmael and Isaac andJacob and the tribes and that whichMoses and Jesus received and that whichthe prophets received from their Lord Wemakes no distinction between any of themand unto Him we have surrendered (SuraAl-Baqara 2136)

How come that the Quran commandsthose who believed in what was revealedin it that they should make no distinctionbetween their Quran and Books which

where before it if the latter has beencorrupted and changed Would not such aclaim of corruption be an indictment onthe righteousness of God His truth andintegrity

Take the truth from history All who readhistory have learned that the Christiansfrom the early apostolic era to thebeginning of the fourth century ADsuffered persecution and torture at thehands of the heathen and the Jews Theybore it with endurance which astonishedthe whole world especially theirpersecutors This endurance sprang fromtheir faith in the Holy Gospel and theirdevotion to its divine principles

History tells us that they faced martyrdomwith joy out of love for Christ and inobedience to His command to them to be






faithful unto death Many of them

brought on themselves the worst forms of persecution because they refused to denyChrist or reject His Gospel preferring anykind of death to temporary enjoyment of life

Open the records of Christianity and youwill find mention of masses of witnesseswho were tortured and would not acceptdeliverance because they looked forwardto a better resurrection Can anyonebelieve that the Christians who made suchgreat sacrifices and endured suffering forthe principles of the Gospel would ventureto corrupt their Gospel

Would the Christians allow anyone nomatter what his position to change asingle word of the Gospel of God whenthey had that apostolic command whichways But even if we or an angel fromheaven should preach a gospel other thanthe one we preached to you let him be

eternally condemned (Galatians 18)I would like to ask everyone who claimscorruption what is the incentive of Christians to corrupt their Bible Wouldsuch an incentive be more preferable tothem than their eternal life Their Lordand Redeemer whom they worshippedwith their spirit and blood and witheverything they held precious had sealedhis covenant with them by a warning tothem through His faithful apostle John

which says I warn everyone who hearsthe words of the prophecy of this book If anyone adds anything to them God willadd to him the plagues described in thisbook And if anyone takes words awayfrom this book of prophecy God will takeaway from him his share in the tree of lifein the holy city which are described in thisbook (Revelations 221819)

If however the corruptionists claim that

corruption took place after the Qurantheir allegations are rendered untenable bythe following facts

1 Christianity had spread throughoutmany lands such as Anatolia ArabiaNorth Africa Persia India ItalyFrance Spain England and GermanyIs it logical to suppose that Christiansin all these for off lands could one daymeet in one place and agree on thealternation of their Gospel

2 Those who had embraced Christianityin the above lands did not speak onelanguage but many The Bible wascirculating in their different languageswhich makes any agreement to falsifyHoly Scriptures an impossibilityespecially as these people wereignorant of one anothers language

3 In the fourth century AD Christianswere divided according to theirdifferent dogmas Everyone sought tosupport their ideas with texts from theBible There were many discussionsabout interpretation and councils metto discuss doctrinal differences One of the most important of these was theCouncil of Nicaea which ended withthe condemnation of the heresy of Arius and his followers

Against this background therefore theclaim that Christians conspired to alter the

Gospel cannot stand We are thus clearlyentitled to pose a question to those whoclaim corruption and ask them tomention the time and place where suchcorruption took place and theperpetrators thereof and how it was thatthey reached agreement

The world has never lacked honesthistorians who preserved writing










sought Gods approval and was told

Yes let them be purified and let thempurify their clothes and observe a fastThey did so and Moses took them toMount Tur When the mist coveredthem Moses commanded and they fellprostrate God then spoke to Mosesand they heard his words of commandand prohibition and understood whatthey heard Moses then returned withthe party to the Israelites When theycame to them a group of them

distorted what they were commanded(by God)

We see from the foregoing that someof the Jewish men of learning twistedthe meaning of the words they heardafter they had understood them but theothers stood to what they heard(Al-Tabari Vol1 p334)

bull And of the Jews Listeners for thesake of falsehood listeners on behalf of other folk who come to youchanging words from their context(Sura Al-Maida 541)

Al Jalalans commentary explains thisverse as follows This verse was saidabout a party of the Khaibar Jews whodid not want to impose the stoningsentence for adultery on two of theirmarried folk They sent a delegationfrom Quraidha to question Muhammadabout the judgement concerning the

two as contained in the Torah such asthe verse on stoning The distortionof which they were accused is that theKhaibar Jews told the delegation theysent out If Muhammad gives a verdictof lashing accept it but if he gives averdict of stoning beware of accepting it (Jalalan 150)

The following question may be appropriate

here Who was it among the Jews whocorrupted the Torah and in what eraAl-Razi says it was particularly thecontemporaries of Muhammad who did soBut he observes in volume three of hiscommentary to the Quran that corruptionmeant casting vain doubts reading into thetext and misrepresenting the true meaningof words by false renderings and resortingto verbal tricks as was done by hereticsthroughout the ages with texts which

conflicted with their particular views

We are by no means defending theintegrity of the Jews But we do wish tomake it known that the Jews did not dareto alter the text of the Torah and this wasnot implied in the accusations of theQuran Then there is something else wemust point to here and that is that theQuran never accuses Christians of distorting the Gospel

In any case we put it to anyone who claimscorruption of the Bible in its text oralleges that the true text of the Book is notavailable that such an allegation iscontradictory to the plain contents of theQuran which testifies that the Bible isauthentic and beyond falsehood We haveestablished that it is one of the Quransmain objectives to confirm the Bible

Indeed no one who believes in God andHis Books and Messengers dares to

attribute to God glory be to His name thefact that He sent the Quran to authenticatea forged and distorted Book as for as thedoctrines contained in it are concerned

12 Quiz

Dear reader Now that you have read thisbooklet we invite you to test your






knowledge by answering the following

questions You can copy and paste thefollowing questions into the contact formand can write the answer below eachquestion

1 What is the content of the prophecythat appears at the end of the Bible

2 What did Noah preach and in whichage

3 Starting with which book were theevents of the Bible recorded

accurately4 To what did Ezra and Nehemiah

devote themselves in the days of Artaxerxes the King of Persia

5 Mention one of the many testimoniesof God to the fact that his revelationnever passes away

6 Mention one of the many testimoniesof God to his prophets

7 Mention one of the testimonies of the

prophets and apostles that God spoketo them

8 How many very old copies of thewhole Bible does the Christian churchpossess and what are their names

9 How many very old manuscripts of theBible were discovered up till now

10 Mention one of the manuscripts of theBible and its date

11 The science of archaeology has a

valuable testimony to the Bible Whatdo you think it is

12 Mention a verse from Quran testifyingto the accuracy of the Bible

13 Into how many parts is the OldTestament of the Bible divided

14 How many books does the NewTestament contain

15 Mention a Quranic verse negating the

corruption of the Bible16 To what result did the Muslim scholar

of India come

Please use our Email-Form to contact us

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Switzerland

wwwthe-good-waycomidcontact






1 Introduction

Thousands of years ago God commanded

the Jews through Moses Do not add towhat I command you and do not subtractfrom it but keep the commands of theLord your God that I give you(Deuteronomy 42) This commandment isrepeated in the same book See that youdo all I command you do not add to it ortake away from it (Deuteronomy 1232)

Several centuries later Solomon testifiedEvery word of God is flawless he is ashield to those who take refuge in him Do

not add to his words or he will rebuke youand prove you a liar (Proverbs 3056)

At the end of the Bible we find this sternwarning I warn everyone who hear thewords of the prophecy of this book If anyone adds anything to them God willadd to him the plagues described in thisbook And if anyone takes words away

from this book of prophecy God will take

away from him his share in the tree of lifeand in the holy city which are described inthis book (Revelation 221819)

After such stern warnings would anybeliever in God His books and Hisapostles dare to distort Gods word andthereby lose his part in all spiritualblessings which God has prepared for Hisdevoted ones and the promises of salvation and eternal life which Godpromised to mankind As for unbelieversit is not in their power to distort the divinebooks since they would not be able toobtain the thousands of manuscriptsscattered all over the world in order toforge them

It is unfortunate that in the last days peopleshould stand up and accuse the innocentapostles of Christ of distorting the gospelwhich was entrusted to them thuscontradicting not only the Holy Scriptures

but also the Muslim Quran which testifiesto the apostles known for their integrityand honesty and calls them helpers of God (Sura Al Imran 352)

There are many proofs of the authenticityof the Bible and its freedom fromdistortion corruption and perversionThese we will explain in the followingpassages

2 The Origin And DevelopmentOf The Bible

God has carefully watched over theunfolding of His Book with all wisdomand sagacity Those who examine the OldTestament can see that the divineScriptures themselves reveal that it took shape in three periods on history


















































His Words









































the year 100 AD

























by the gospels













































3 The Sinai Scrolls


























































































































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12 Quiz




























of India come


or write to

The Good Way

PO BOX 66

CH-8486 Rikon

Switzerland



















































His Words









































the year 100 AD

























by the gospels













































3 The Sinai Scrolls


























































































































null and void

























1827)




know





















































12 Quiz




























of India come


or write to

The Good Way

PO BOX 66

CH-8486 Rikon

Switzerland
























the year 100 AD

























by the gospels













































3 The Sinai Scrolls


























































































































null and void

























1827)




know





















































12 Quiz




























of India come


or write to

The Good Way

PO BOX 66

CH-8486 Rikon

Switzerland




















by the gospels













































3 The Sinai Scrolls


























































































































null and void

























1827)




know





















































12 Quiz




























of India come


or write to

The Good Way

PO BOX 66

CH-8486 Rikon

Switzerland












































3 The Sinai Scrolls


























































































































null and void

























1827)




know





















































12 Quiz




























of India come


or write to

The Good Way

PO BOX 66

CH-8486 Rikon

Switzerland























































































































null and void

























1827)




know





















































12 Quiz




























of India come


or write to

The Good Way

PO BOX 66

CH-8486 Rikon

Switzerland







1827)




know





















































12 Quiz




























of India come


or write to

The Good Way

PO BOX 66

CH-8486 Rikon

Switzerland












































12 Quiz




























of India come


or write to

The Good Way

PO BOX 66

CH-8486 Rikon

Switzerland




























of India come


or write to

The Good Way

PO BOX 66

CH-8486 Rikon

Switzerland





the infallibility of the torah and the gospel

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