Overcoming (Muslim) Objections: The Bible Has Been Corrupted

 When spending any amount of time talking with Muslims about faith, the topic always comes up, “But the Bible has been corrupted!” We can use the Qur’an and the Muslim worldview in a way which points to Jesus and the Bible, the true authority! The Qur’an states 348 times to follow the signs. Show them in the perfect Word of God all signs point to Jesus!

[This is a guest post from a friend who follows Jesus and does a lot of work with Muslim people, and who prefers to remain nameless.]

Has The Bible Been Corrupted?

When spending any amount of time talking with Muslims about faith, the topic always comes up, “But the Bible has been corrupted!” This is the most common objection to the Christian faith from Muslim’s, and there are several ways one can respond.

Building Cultural Bridges

As Christians, we should always seek to build bridges, so they can come and see the truth of God in a way which builds off of what they already know. I certainly would never suggest a person use the Qur’an in a way which assumes it holds authority, but we can use the Qur’an and their worldview in a way which points to Jesus and the Bible, the true authority!

Those who are from a Muslim culture will generally see the world through an honor/shame lense. This is, generally, a much more collective way of seeing things than what we tend to understand in the west.

Each person belongs to a group, a family, a body. Their duty is not to themselves, rather, to the group they belong, and to God. We should always seek to approach Muslims in a way they understand. Saying something along the lines of, “God forbid!” will bring their attention to focusing on Him for a moment, and not what is inside ourselves.

Can God’s Word Be Changed?

We cannot leave it there, however. We, as humans, do not have authority over God to change His word. We are not more powerful than He is, for He is God. It is shameful to suggest we could ever corrupt His writings. This is something they cannot deny.

After all, the Qur’an does say, “And certainly were messengers denied before you, but they were patient over denial, and they were harmed until Our victory came to them. And none can alter the words of Allah. And there has certainly come to you some information about the messengers.” (Surah 6:34).

Has the Truth Been Lost in Translation?

They will still object. Certainly the original works were not corrupted, but what about all of these translations? In conservative Christianity, we believe the Word of God, in its original autographs, is inspired by God.

So we actually do not differ from this belief. We have one Bible, The Old Testament written in Hebrew and part in Aramaic, the New Testament written in Greek. We still have many old manuscripts from before Muhammad ever uttered the words in Surah 6.

As I am writing, I am sitting the the library at the Moody Bible Institute with a Hebrew Torah Scroll behind me. I have brought people into the library and showed it to them to really drive this point home.

As for the prevalence of translations: The Bible, much like the Qur’an is difficult to interpret.

So there are many translations to help people understand, much like the Qur’an. I have an Qur’an app I will show Muslims which has hundreds of translations on it. It cost me a couple dollars but has been well worth it, considering how often I bring it out to talk about the Qur’an with Muslims. They most common response I get is, “Oh.” And from this point we can move forward.

The Most Important Thing: We Want Them to Read the Bible

The most important thing to note is, If we stop at convincing Muslims the Bible is God’s uncorrupted Word, we have failed. We want them to actually read it!

So use this moment to invite them to study the prophets with you. The Bible is truly perfect in all of it’s ways. If God has called them, they will see it very clearly.

Help them to understand what The Bible (and the Qur’an) means when Jesus is called the Messiah. Go through the garden account when God first promises a Messiah, and the prophets the Muslims will know: Abraham, Moses, David, Jonah, and John the Baptist.

The Qur’an states 348 times to follow the signs. Show them in the perfect Word of God all signs point to Jesus!