Quran and Bible Compared
Quran and Bible Compared
Shortly after Mohammed’s death, his verses remained written on stones, bones, leather, and hidden in the memories of his followers. Years passed and most of those, who claimed to remember all of the Qur'an by heart, were killed in battle. Some of the items on which verses were written were damaged or lost. So with great urgency experts shared what they remembered and gathered the verses recorded by others to produce the first Qur'ans. They were copied and distributed throughout the Islamic communities.
Muslims today are committed to the idea that there was one original Qur'an which was compiled without any mistakes, omissions or additions. Yet, Islamic history shows that perhaps four to seven different versions of the Qur'an emerged. One of Mohammed’s successors, Caliph Uthman, was shocked by this fact. He assigned a committee of three people to construct a standardized version of the Qur'an. Then Muslim leaders tried to burn all other versions of the Qur'an (Sahih Bukhari, Vol. 6, p. 479).
Attributes of the Qur'an
The physical characteristics of the Qur'an are interesting. It is a book that is somewhat shorter than the Christian New Testament. Its chapters were not arranged in the sequence that they were spoken, but by size with most of the largest chapters first and the shortest last. For this reason, it has no chronology of events or ideas.The Koran, published by Penguin Classics, attempts to correct this by rearranging the chapters according to when they might have been recited by Mohammed.
Following the train of thought within a chapter is a challenge. The subject within a chapter and even a verse may change to different topics with no transition. This is why a topical study, like the one in this book, is so important.
When Mohammed spoke the verses, he did not use the first person singular as in “I say that you must believe.” He spoke as if he were relaying a message from Allah, transmitted by an angel, who was supposed to have spoken in the first person plural: “We created the world and we command the people to believe in you (Mohammed) as a prophet,” for example. Muslims do not believe that the use of “we” for Allah is a contradiction of the oneness of Allah.
Mohammed spoke Arabic which is the language of the Qur'an. Even Muslims who do not understand the language are instructed to memorize the Qur'an in Arabic. They do this because they believe that the Qur'an stops being the true Qur'an when it is translated into another language losing the true meaning in the process.
Teachings of the Qur'an
A few themes repeat themselves often in the Qur'an. The foremost are the commands to believe in Allah’s oneness as opposed to idolatry and Mohammed’s validity as a prophet equal to Biblical prophets. In support of these beliefs, the Qur'an repeats the wonders of creation, the foolishness of idol worship, the terrors of Judgment Day and the alleged confirmation from the Bible.
The word “alleged” is used in reference to the Qur'an’s link with the Bible for a good reason. When the Jews and Christians of the time heard the Qur'an’s references to the Bible, they recognized two problems. They found many strange tales being portrayed as Biblical stories. One example is King Solomon communicating with ants and birds. This was one reason Mohammed lacked the support he expected from the other monotheistic faiths. The second was that the theology of the Qur'an contradicted the Bible. The Qur'an claimed to agree with the Gospel of Jesus Christ while denying the Trinity, the divinity of Christ, and salvation through the cross and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.
To persuade readers to believe and obey the teachings of the Qur'an, several incentives are reiterated in the text. Earthly rewards are extended such as victory in battle and the spoils of war which come from fighting for the cause of Islam. After death, there are promises of sensual pleasures in the Gardens of Paradise contrasted with the many horrors of hell.
There are five basic pillars of Islam which Muslims highlight as being taught by the Qur'an and their sacred history books called the Hadith. They include the confession that Allah is one and Mohammed is a prophet (Kalima), prayer facing Mecca five times each day (Salat), alms giving (Zakat), a month of fasting during the daylight hours practiced annually (Ramadan), and a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in a Muslim’s life (Hajj).
Comparison with the Bible is Vital
Any study of the Qur'an must include a comparison with the Bible because Muslims believe that Islam is built on the foundation of the Jewish and Christian Scriptures. The Qur'an Mohammed recited claimed to agree with and complete the Bible. Muslims believe Allah revealed the Law to Moses, Psalms to David, messages to many other prophets, the Gospel to Jesus and finally the Qur'an to Mohammed. The Bible had been so well established in the Arabian Peninsula that the Jews and Christians are referred to in the Qur'an as the “People of the Book” (which is the literal interpretation of the Greek word “Bible”).
For this reason, familiar Bible themes are prevalent in the Qur'an. Beliefs such as a single Deity, creation events, prophets, sin, righteousness, Satan, Judgment Day, heaven and hell are found throughout the text. Many familiar Biblical characters are referred to such as Noah, Abraham, Moses, Solomon and Jesus.
The reason the Qur'an needs the Biblical support is obvious. The Bible has a much richer credibility by means of its composition. The Qur'an was presented by one “prophet” during his lifetime. The Qur'an claims that the beauty of its poetry verifies its holiness yet it offers no specific predictions of future events. On the other hand, the Bible is a library of sixty-six books of inspired revelation written over a period of about 1,400 years by approximately forty different prophets and apostles, yet it reads as one story. The subject matter covers the creation in the first book to the Second Coming of Christ in the last book. The Bible also presents a consistent theology. Over the centuries its inspiration has been validated through the fulfillment of hundreds of specific prophecies, which have been and are still being fulfilled today with complete accuracy.
Reliability of the Bible
The Qur'an needs validation from the Bible, yet the two texts contradict one another on major issues such as the divinity of Christ. Muslims claim that the original Bible did not proclaim that “Jesus is Lord.” They claim that Christians and Jews have altered the Bible over the years to include such teachings. Christians believe that this accusation is not founded on credible evidence. They believe that a serious study of the reliability of the Bible must conclude that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are reliable.
The amount of ancient Biblical manuscript evidence is overwhelming. There are over 20,000 hand written ancient manuscripts of the New Testament in various languages with the oldest fragment being only about 25 years from the original copy of the Biblical text. In addition, there are ancient letters from the first Christian leaders who were trained by the apostles of Christ (Church Fathers) whose writings include well over 30,000 Scripture quotations. All of the Bible versions and every reference in the Church Father’s documents agree! The miracle is that only insignificant and minor differences are found between the manuscripts. The existence of these differences, in spelling or certain phrases or stories, is understandable when a text is copied and passed on for others to copy.
Differences or variants in the Bible are not hidden but footnoted in the English translations. No substantial difference has ever been found and no ancient copies of the Bible were burned because they read differently, yet, that is not true in the case of the Qur'an’s development. The amazing agreement between all these Bible texts is a testimony to the Christian scribes who took their task very seriously. They must have known the warning in the last chapter of the last book in the Bible that promises severe punishment for anyone who would intentionally add or subtract a word from the Holy Scriptures.
Jesus in the Bible and the Qur'an
The Bible and the Qur'an give two very different pictures of Jesus Christ. The Bible is a collection of many eyewitness accounts of the earthly ministry of Christ. This adds a great deal of credibility to what the New Testament says about Jesus. It was read by hundreds of people who knew of the events of Christ’s ministry because, in their day, it was recent history.
Christians believe that the Holy Spirit of God inspired all of the Bible prophets and apostles as they wrote. They all agree that in Jesus mankind beheld the very glory of God, the image of the invisible God and the person who was prophesied by the ancient Jewish prophet Isaiah to be Emmanuel which means “God with us” (Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 1:23). They wrote that in Jesus the fullness of God lived in the body of a real man (Colossians 2:9).
The apostles also tell of Jesus’ compassion for the children who were ignored as unimportant in that society, the sinful women who were despised, and the hated tax collectors who were ostracized. They tell of his power over sickness, demons, storms and even death itself. His exalted teachings on ethics remain the ideal for the world today. The sacrifice Jesus made on the cross and the victory he achieved in his resurrection are central to all the apostles inspired writings.
Christ’s apostles, eyewitnesses of Christ’s life, unanimously agree that belief in Jesus as the Son of God and only Savior of the world brings a new and eternal life to anyone who will receive him. The Bible records that the early church was made up of baptized Christians who peacefully spread this message with the love and power of Jesus working with and through them.
The Qur'an became an authorized text almost 700 years after Christ. It contradicts the eyewitness accounts of the apostles of Christ. The Qur'an does admit that Jesus was the long awaited Jewish Messiah, who was born of a virgin, did miracles and brought the Gospel, which means good news. The Qur'an, though, demotes Jesus from his divinity as the Son of God to equal status with Mohammed and the prophets of the Bible. The Qur'an says that the Jews did not kill Christ; it only appeared that they did. It says that Allah gathered him up. Most Muslims interpret that to mean that someone like Judas, the betrayer, was made to look like Jesus and died in his place while Jesus was secretly lifted out of the world.
If the Qur'an is correct, then Jesus Christ left behind a great and confusing mess, since the disciples of Jesus founded the church on the importance of the cross which would have actually been a deception caused by Allah. They all proclaimed that they saw him alive after his resurrection. Mohammed claimed to be the inspired one to correct this centuries old mistake. If true, then the many Christian martyrs, who were killed during more than three centuries of Roman persecution, died for nothing.
Copy and paste the verses of the Bible and Qu’ran. Then state your opinion on how they compare. Take some time to read around the verses to get context. Differences are referenced below like the example. State your opinion in red so it is easily distinguished.
|Bible |Qu’ran |
|Salvation |Salvation |
| "For by grace you have been saved, through faith, and that not |"O you who believe, let Me inform you of a trade that will save |
|of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone |you from painful retribution. Believe in God and His messenger |
|should boast." Eph.2:8-9 "If you confess with your mouth the |and strive in the cause of God with your money and your lives. |
|Lord Jesus (= God) and believe in your heart that God has raised |This is the best deal for you, if you only knew. In return, He |
|Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one |forgives your sins, and admits you into gardens with flowing |
|believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is |streams, with beautiful mansions in the gardens of Eden. This is |
|made unto salvation." Ro.10:9-10 |the greatest triumph." Quran 61:10-12 Salvation through good |
| |works |
| | |
|Jesus |Jesus |
|Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 1:23, John 3:16 |4:157 |
| | |
| | |
|Women |Women |
|Ephesians 5:25 |4:34 |
| | |
| | |
| | |
|Heaven |Heaven |
| Re.21:27-22:1-4 |Quran 7:42-43 |
| | |
| | |
| | |
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