If the Quran means that Jesus received a single, distinct book called the Gospel, it appears to misunderstand the nature of Christian scriptures, as no such singular book exists in historical Christianity. This would suggest an error in the Quran’s depiction of the Gospel. And that Islam is false since the Quran is false.
If the Quran is correct and Jesus did receive an original, singular Gospel, then the current Christian Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) must not be that original revelation.
However, this raises another issue: the Quran seems to endorse the Gospel that Christians have (e.g., Surah 5:47 says, "Let the people of the Gospel judge by what Allah has revealed therein"), which would imply the four Gospels are valid—contradicting the idea that they aren’t the true Injil.
If the gospels aren’t the injil, what is and where can we find it? Allah said to judge by the injil for Christians but then allowed it to disappear?
P1: The Quran describes the Injil as a singular divine revelation given to Jesus (Surah 3:3, 5:46), implying it is a distinct message or book revealed directly to him.
P2: Historical Christianity has no record of a single book or revelation called the “Injil” given to Jesus. Instead, the Christian Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John) are four separate texts written by Jesus’ followers decades after his life (circa 30–70 AD).
P3: The Quran instructs Christians to judge by the Gospel they possess (Surah 5:47: “Let the people of the Gospel judge by what Allah has revealed therein”), suggesting that the Gospels held by Christians in the 7th century were authoritative.
P4: If the Quran’s Injil refers to a singular revelation distinct from the four Gospels, then the four Gospels cannot be the true Injil, and no historical evidence supports the existence of a separate Injil text given to Jesus.
P5: If the four Gospels are not the Injil, and the true Injil is lost or nonexistent, then the Quran’s command to judge by the Injil (Surah 5:47) is incoherent, as it instructs Christians to follow an unavailable text.
P6: Some Muslims argue the four Gospels were corrupted, but the Quran does not explicitly claim this, and Surah 5:47 implies the Gospels held by Christians were valid. If the Gospels were corrupted, the Quran should clarify this to avoid misleading its audience.
P7: The Quran claims to be a perfectly preserved divine revelation (Surah 15:9). Any error or incoherence in its portrayal of the Injil undermines this claim.
C: The Quran’s portrayal of the Injil creates a dilemma:
If one maintains that the Injil was a singular revelation distinct from the four Gospels, the system collapses on historical and logical grounds.
The Vanishing Act: This theory suggests that the "true" Gospel disappeared entirely, leaving no historical trace, only to be replaced by four "corrupted" biographies.
The Incoherence of the Command: If the true Injil was lost or replaced by the 7th century, Allah’s command in Surah 5:47 for Christians to "judge by it" is nonsensical. It is a divine command to follow a text that does not exist.
Result: The Qur’an issues an impossible command, suggesting it is either unaware of history or logically inconsistent.
If one argues that the four Gospels are the Injil mentioned in the Qur’an, the Qur’an’s own description of the book becomes factually incorrect.
Misunderstanding Authorship: The Qur’an claims the Injil was given to Jesus. Historical Christianity and manuscript evidence prove the Gospels were written by apostles and their companions decades after Jesus.
The Corruption Paradox: Many Islamic apologists claim the four Gospels were corrupted (tahrif). However, the Qur’an never explicitly makes this claim about the text Christians held in the 7th century; in fact, it affirms its authority. If they were already corrupted, the Qur’an misled its audience by telling them to judge by a corrupted text.
Result: The Qur’an displays a fundamental misunderstanding of the nature, authorship, and composition of the Christian scriptures it claims to confirm.
The "Gospel Dilemma" presents a structural failure in the Qur’anic narrative. It cannot affirm the authority of the Christian Gospel while simultaneously mischaracterizing what that Gospel is.
If the Injil is a singular book given to Jesus, the Qur’an is historically baseless.
If the Injil refers to the four Gospels, the Qur’an is factually mistaken about their origin.
In either scenario, the claim of the Qur’an to be a "Guardian" (Muhaymin) over previous scriptures and an infallible revelation is effectively dismantled.