Home > Module 1: The Bible vs. Tahrif
The Christian claim to truth rests not only on external manuscript evidence but on the internal unity of the Bible.
The Quran claim comes from ONE book by ONE man over 23 years. However, the Christian Bible consists of SIXTY-SIX canonical books written by over FORTY authors across 1,500 years.
Despite this diversity, the Christian Bible maintains a single, unfolding "Red Thread" of redemption that finds its climax in Jesus Christ.
Internal continuity is the way Jesus and the Apostles read the Hebrew Scriptures. They didn't see the Old Testament as a separate religion, but as a series of shadows that find their substance in Christ. Jesus confirms this:
Matthew 5:17:
"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them."
The Quran (and Muhammad) claim to follow also be a continuity as it calls upon the previous prophets found in the Old and New Testaments.
Surah 29:46: And do not argue with the People of the Scripture except in a way that is best... and say, 'We believe in that which has been revealed to us and revealed to you. And our God and your God is one...'"
Surah 2:136: "Say, 'We believe in Allah and what has been revealed to us and what was revealed to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob and the Descendants, and what was given to Moses and Jesus... We make no distinction between any of them...'"
We will see that it fails to establish ANY of what it claims and this has forced Muslims scholars to claim that the Bible must have been corrupted!
St. Augustine (354-430 CE) famously noted:
"The New Testament is in the Old concealed; the Old Testament is in the New revealed."
This is a direct challenge to the Islamic view of Jesus as a "reset" or a separate prophet. In Christianity, Jesus is not a departure from the Jewish Law but the telos (the goal or completion) of it.
Romans 10:4:
"For Christ is the end (telos) of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes."
This doesn't mean the law was "destroyed," but that it reached its intended destination in Jesus. He is the promised "seed", sacrifice and His blood will save from death.
The Seed (Genesis 3:15): Immediately after the Fall, God promises a "Seed" of the woman who will crush the serpent’s head.
The Sacrifice (Genesis 22): Abraham’s near-sacrifice of Isaac on Mount Moriah serves as a "type" or shadow of God the Father offering His Son on that same mountain range (Golgotha) centuries later.
The Passover (Exodus 12): The blood of the lamb that saved the Israelites from judgment is the blueprint for "The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29).
Islamic tradition often portrays previous prophets as merely teaching Tawhid (the oneness of God). However, the Old Testament prophets were highly specific about the nature, birth, suffering, and divinity of the coming Messiah.
| Prophecy Topic | Old Testament (Shadow) | New Testament (Substance) |
|---|---|---|
| The "Seed" of the Woman | Genesis 3:15 - Savior born of a woman to crush the serpent. | Galatians 4:4 - "God sent forth his Son, born of woman." |
| Born in Bethlehem | Micah 5:2 - Ruler from everlasting to be born in Bethlehem. | Matthew 2:1 - "Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea." |
| The Virgin Birth | Isaiah 7:14 - A virgin shall conceive and bear a son (Immanuel). | Luke 1:34-35 - Mary conceives by the Holy Spirit. |
| The Prophet like Moses | Deuteronomy 18:15 - God will raise a prophet like Moses from the brothers. | Acts 3:22-26 - Peter identifies Jesus as this Prophet. |
| The Suffering Servant | Isaiah 53:5 - Wounded for our sins; stripes heal us. | 1 Peter 2:24 - "By his wounds you have been healed." |
| Pierced Hands & Feet | Psalm 22:16 - "They have pierced my hands and my feet." | John 20:25-27 - Jesus shows the nail marks in His hands. |
| Sold for 30 Silver | Zechariah 11:12 - "They weighed out... thirty pieces of silver." | Matthew 26:15 - Judas is paid thirty pieces of silver. |
| Resurrection Promised | Psalm 16:10 - "Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see decay." | Acts 2:31-32 - Peter cites this as proof of the Resurrection. |
If Islam claims the Bible was "corrupted," it must explain how thousands of years of specific, interlocking prophecies remained intact to point perfectly to the very Jesus that Islam later sought to redefine.
If the "corrupters" wanted to hide the truth, they failed to remove the very foundations that prove Christ’s divinity and sacrifice. This is only a fraction of fulfilled prophecies. The Quran has no connection to compare. It is a cuckoo in the nest claiming to be Abrahamic while corrupting the truth of the Biblical Messiah.
Islamis scholars repeatedly claim that the Biblical text has been corrupted despite Allah saying in the Quran that no one can corrupt Allah's words.
Are Muslims to believe Allah and his Quran or Islamic scholars?
Surah 10:64:
"For them are good tidings in the worldly life and in the Hereafter. No change is there in the words of Allah. That is what is the great attainment."
The Bible itself AND the Quran agree that there is continuity in the Biblical text.
The NT writers constantly point backward to prove their message is not "new," but the intended conclusion of the "old."
Luke 24:44: "Then he said to them, 'These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.'"
John 5:46: "For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me."
Romans 1:1–2: "The gospel of God... which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures."
The Quran itself acknowledges that the Gospel (Injil) was given to confirm the Torah (Taurat) and that Jesus was the fulfillment of previous signs.
Surah 5:46: "And We sent, following in their footsteps, Jesus, the son of Mary, confirming that which came before him in the Torah; and We gave him the Gospel, in which was guidance and light and confirming that which preceded it of the Torah..."
Surah 61:6: "And when Jesus, the son of Mary, said, 'O children of Israel, indeed I am the messenger of Allah to you confirming what came before me of the Torah and bringing good tidings of a messenger to come after me...'"
After His resurrection, Jesus provided the ultimate lesson in internal continuity.
Luke 24:2:
"And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself."
Islam cannot have the Isa of the Quran without deleting the history of the Jesus of the Bible.
The unity of the Bible is a mathematical impossibility by chance. Forty different authors over 1,500 years wrote 66 books that tell ONE story.
As the Quran "confirms" the previous scriptures, it must confirm a book that is explicitly and exclusively about JESUS the CHRIST.
Muslim Objection:
Jesus said he didn't come to change the Law, but to fulfill it. That means we should still follow the Law of Moses like Muslims do.
Christian Response:
To 'fulfill' something means to complete its purpose. Once a contract is fulfilled, you are no longer bound by its terms because the goal has been reached. Jesus didn't just 'keep' the Law; he became the Law’s fulfillment. We don't sacrifice animals today because the 'Ultimate Sacrifice' was made. We don't follow dietary laws because Jesus declared all foods clean (Mark 7:19), showing that holiness is a matter of the heart, not the stomach.
Muslim Objection:
Prophecies in the Bible actually point to Muhammad, like the 'Prophet like Moses' in Deuteronomy 18.
Christian Response:
Deuteronomy 18:15 says this prophet would come 'from among your own brothers' (the Israelites). Muhammad was an Ishmaelite (Arab), not an Israelite. Furthermore, Moses spoke to God 'face to face' and performed miracles to ratify a covenant—marks that apply perfectly to Jesus, who claimed to be the very presence of God among His people.
NOTE: Peter explicitly applies this verse to Jesus in Acts 3:22.
Muslim Objection:
Jesus didn't fulfill ALL the prophecies (e.g., world peace)
Christian Response:
This is the concept of Two Comings. The OT predicts both a Suffering Servant (Isaiah 53) and a Conquering King (Psalm 2). Jesus fulfilled the "Suffering" prophecies in His first coming to solve the problem of sin; He will fulfill the "King" prophecies at His second coming—a return that even Muslims believe in (Isa's return).
Muslim Objection:
The NT writers 'manufactured' the stories to fit the prophecies."
Christian Response:
Skeptics and some polemicists claim the Apostles just wrote Jesus into the OT scripts.
However, the details of the fulfillment were often outside the Apostles' control. For example,
- They could not control the Roman soldiers casting lots for clothes (Psalm 22:18)
- Or the high priests deciding the exact price of 30 pieces of silver (Zechariah 11:12).
These were actions of His enemies, NOT His followers.