The need to authenticate the biblical literature is at the forefront of Christian thought and concern as well and I have previously written two posts about this subject; one from a literary standpoint and the other with a view of historicity by which I use secondary (extra-biblical) sources to substantiate its claims.
In addition to the other points that I have already made in these blogs I think there are a few other factors that should be considered when questioning the integrity of the Bible such as the biblical warnings that God would judge anyone who would tamper or mishandle His word or sacred script, Deuteronomy 4:2, Revelation 22:18, along with the fact that it goes against the ethical standards of Christianity to deceive, lie or bear false witness. So when considering someones actions from a psychological and spiritual perspective it would be unthinkable that someone who was an authentic believer would dare to modify the text.
This whole conspiracy theory lacks credibility in another way as well as it doesn’t make sense for others to edit it and not remove the seemingly contradictions or paradoxical statements which might make the biblical text look unfavorable or suspect.
Also for two different religious groups namely the Jews as the guardians of the Old Testament or Tanakh and the Gentiles as the predominate holders of the New Testament, to change both of their scriptures seems unlikely especially as they share an identical or common text together. Even the discovery of the Dead Sea scrolls at Qumran, which predates the oldest Masoretic Text by about 1000 years, shows scriptural integrity.
Anyway I understand that it necessary for some opposing groups to make such claims about the corruption of the Bible otherwise they could not exist as a competitive worldview and therefore it seems reasonable for there be a motivation to having a biased approach towards the scriptural data as being predisposed to proving it wrong rather than right. After all this seems apparent when asking them about who corrupted the bible, when did they change it, and what exactly was changed. At this juncture there is no appropriate response for these allegations as lacking the evidence to adequately answer these three questions.
I don’t even think that a strong case can be made from the Quran on rejecting the biblical scriptures as they are confirmed as the word of God in Sura 2:87, 3:3, 4:163, 5:46-47, 5:68, 10:94.
Moreover the Koran seems to signify that God’s word can never be altered or changed 6:114-115, 6:34, 10:64.
So for the Quran to state that the Gospels, Torah, and Psalms are the “Word of God” which can’t be altered I believe my Muslims friends don’t have an authoritative argument from their holy and noble book to question the Bible. Furthermore to say that God’s word as revealed in the Torah, Psalms,and Gospels was changed would likewise potentially apply to the Quran itself if it really were God’s word.
Actually the Quran’s inference to the unalterability of God’s word seems reasonable enough as how could a sovereign and omnipotent God not be able to sustain His word at all times?
Lastly if the bible is correct as the Qur’an claims it to be at the time of Muhammad then this poses a problem for the Muslim who alleges that it has been changed as there is a collaboration of scriptural evidence combined with the sayings of the early church fathers that predate Islam thus authenticating the bible that we have today showing that it has not been significantly altered over the millennium. Thus from a Muslim perspective to say that the Bible has been corrupted is a rejection of Muhammad’s prophetic office as contradicting the claims of the Qur’an which support the inspiration, preservation, and authority of the christian scriptures.
Permission granted by David Woods for excerpts taken from the article on “ Muhammad and the Messiah” in the Christian Research Journal Vol.35/No.5/2012