Discussion Jumpstarter
Study leader reference - not a definitive answer
Question 1
The speaker claims Islam originally treated the Torah and Gospel as “authentic and authoritative,” pointing to Quran passages that tell “the people of the Gospel” to judge by what Allah revealed; what does that argument assume about the state of the Bible in the early 600s, and what would it force you to conclude about today’s common Muslim claim of biblical corruption?
Another way to ask: If the Quran treats the Torah and Gospel as trustworthy, what does that assume about the Bible’s condition in the early 600s? What does that mean for the common Muslim claim today that the Bible was later corrupted?
Discussion Jumpstarter
Direct Answer
Based on the speaker’s argument, those Quran commands assume the Torah and Gospel were still reliable and uncorrupted in the early 600s. That would force the conclusion that the later Muslim claim of corruption is a doctrinal move that arises because the Quran contradicts what the Bible says about Jesus.
- He quotes the Quran: “He has revealed this book…confirming the earlier books…he revealed the Torah and the Gospel.”
- He highlights commands like: “Let the people of the Gospel judge by what Allah has revealed in the Gospel,” and says this “makes absolutely no sense if they believed…[it] were corrupted.”
- He states: “So clearly, at the time of the writing… the Torah and the Gospel were the uncorrupted word of God.”
- He then describes a shift: “as time unfolded, Muhammad’s relationship with the Jews began to turn sour…we actually also see taking place in the Quran.”
- He ties the corruption claim to conflict texts: the Quran denies crucifixion, while “100% of the Christian Scriptures…say that Jesus was crucified,” so Muslims “have to say that the Bible has been corrupted.”