Wednesday, April 20, 2011

The Qur'an and the Bible

The Qur'an states that there are no contradictions found within its pages.  "Will they not ponder on the Qur'an?  If it had been from other than God they would have found therein much contradiction and incongruity" (Al-Nisa', 4.82).  Fulfilled prophecy is the strongest indicator that a piece of writing comes directly from God.  Moses said in Deuteronomy 18:22, "If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the Lord does not take place or come true, that is a message the Lord has not spoken."

I was reading "More Than A Prophet" for a school assignment and this is what that text says about prophesies in the Qur'an: "The only significant prophecy in the Qur'an predicted a Roman victory over the Persians..., which would take place 'within a few bible-text-11288023193bA2t.jpgyears' after the Persians had initially captured Jerusalem.  This was an expected and predictable event that would not have surprised anyone who was familiar with the flow of current events.  The statement also was hedged by the ambiguous time frame 'within a few years'... One must be charitable to conclude that this was a prophesy fulfilled" (More Than A Prophet; 675-84 on the Kindle).

On the other hand, the Christian Bible has had no failed prophesies yet.  While some are still yet to come, more than 2,000 prophesies have already been fulfilled.  I'll share a list of fulfilled prophesies and the probabilities of each being fulfilled here.

Many Muslims say the Bible has been corrupted, so it is not worth studying, but the prophet Muhammad taught otherwise in the Qur'an.  Surah 29:46 says, "We believe in the Revelation which has come down to us and in that which has come down to you.  Our God and your God is one."   He also says in Surah 10:94, in reference to both Jews and Christians, "If you were in doubt as to what We have revealed unto you, then ask those who have been reading the Book from before you: the Truth has indeed come to you from your Lord: so be in no wise of those who doubt."  Even Muhammad believed the Bible to be true, and the Bible that was accepted while Muhammad was alive is the same Bible used today.

The Qur'an was originally meant to be a guardian or protector of the previous messages from God, not a replacement.  According to Surah 5:48, "To you We sent the Scripture in truth, confirming the scripture that came before it, and guarding it in safety."  Most can probably agree that the Qur'an and Bible are very different in terms of doctrine.  In fact, the Qur'an confirms very little about the theology in the "scriptures before it."

Most Muslims say the apostle Paul has corrupted the New Testament gospel.  They say he cannot be speaking the truth from God because he never met Him directly.  However, Paul claimed otherwise in Acts 9.  He met a resurrected Jesus on the road to Damascus.  There were witnesses around him to confirm such a story.  Also, Paul gave his entire life to sharing the gospel.  He was once an enemy of all Christians and of Jesus Christ, so what could cause such an abrupt turnaround in his belief system other than a direct encounter with the Lord?

Plus, the other disciples had met Jesus Christ while He was alive and still confirmed Paul's teachings.  "They would have to be genuine fools if they were duped so quickly by an incredibly different version of the gospel than the one entrusted to them by their master.  In fact, the mission of Jesus would be a failure if Paul were apostate, since Christ's message would have been erased just a few years after His mission was completed" (More than a Prophet; 1230-34).

Paul was one of the biggest reasons behind the widespread growth of Christianity in the years after Jesus died.  Without Paul, the gospel of Jesus Christ would have spread much slower than it did.  Paul was a tool of the Lord to help spread His message.  Paul did not create new and radical beliefs opposite of what Jesus taught.  He actually only confirmed Christ's teachings.  If you have truly read both the gospels and Paul's teachings, you will see that nothing Paul says ever contradicts the words of Jesus Christ.

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Do you agree? Disagree? Would you like to leave any other points? Feel free to share your opinions, so long as they are civil and respectful.  This is a piece from a paper I wrote for a school assignment.

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