Quran & Bible
Critic:-
The logical contradiction in Islam as in Bahai'ism and Mormonism and others, is to accept the earlier revelations as from God and then add another book which clearly contradicts these earlier writings. It is logically untenable to overrule the absolute word of God, given earlier. Otherwise how can you say your 'new absolute' is any better than the 'old absolute' and can not be overruled likewise?.....etc
Comment:-
This article contains many misunderstandings.
There are no contradiction between the Quran and the earlier revelations. These exist only in the minds of some readers.
There is a contradiction :-
(1) between the Quran and the beliefs of Christians which also contradict their New Testament. All religions have teaching created by ordinary men which contradict the revealed scriptures.
But it is also necessary to consider three other points.
(2) Religion makes some progress. Christians would say that the teachings of Jesus are an advance on that of Moses - e.g. the Law came by Moses and grace came by Jesus. In the same way Islam is an advance on Christianity. It brings a greater truth.
(3) Some changes are made because the conditions of life have changed. This can be seen from the Sermon on the Mount. It is also seen in the fact that Christians have differnt practices from the Jews e.g. baptism and the sacrament of the bread and wine.Some things have been replaced by others. These differences in practices do not constitute differences in the goal which is what matters. This applies to the different practices of Muslims and Christians also.
(4) Each dispensation of Religion is formulated in a different way and has concepts which can be understood by the people among whom the prophet teaches. There is certainly a differnce between the OT and NT. and between them and the Quran. A difficulty exists for minds which have become habituated by a certain formulation only, and cannot, therefore, understand another - they have fixated on the letter rather than the spirit whih they ignore.
Critic:-
Now, what am I getting at? The problem with Islam is the following: > Islam claims that God is absolute and unchanging and so is the (central) nature of His revelation. His Word is absolute truth. Islam confirms that Moses and David and Jesus were true prophets of God and that their message, in the books of Torah, Zabur and Injil, are true revelation from God. Islam claims that Muhammad is also a true prophet of God and that the Qur'an is the Word of God.
But, anybody with a clear mind will see that the Qur'an is in major conflict with these earlier revelations [details will be supplied in further posts].
Comment:-
I have studied them. No. There is no contradiction. The contradiction exists because people interpret things differently, even in the same scripture.
Critic:-
That is yet another clash in the category "Islam and the problem of historical reality" Let me quickly summarize why this "solution" is creating more trouble than it supposedly solves.
1) The Qur'an DOES say, that these earlier books are from God. And it does NOT say anywhere in the Qur'an that they are textually corrupted. With the Muslim theory of the corruption of the Bible you are in contradiction to your own "Word of God".
2) God says in both, Bible and Qur'an that nobody can change His words. reference! from both! And it does not say, this holds for the Qur'an only. This is a general statement about words of God. The corruption theory again contradicts the Qur'an itself.
3) God is a God of truth. And He will (supposedly?) not deceive those who seek truth with an honest heart. Now, since Bible and Qur'an do contradict each other, we should assume that God would not allow all evidence for the corruption to disappear without trace. Otherwise He would be the author of confusion for the honest seekers.
Comment:-
The Quran tells us that some people have written text and falsely claimed that it is from God. Quran 2:79
TheTorah refers to the teaching of Moses and the Injil refers to the teaching of Jesus. These are the revelations from God.
However, the main criticism is misinterpretation, selectivity in what is accepted and forgetting part of the teaching. This is where the corruption lies. It is these things which the Quran rectifies. In so far as anyone can see that these misinterpretations do clash with the Quran, God has not allowe d evidence for corruption to disappear.
Critic:-
To sum it up very concisely. However you put it, the Qur'an is in trouble: Either the Bible is right, then the Qur'an is wrong [because of the contradictions].
Or the Bible is 'wrong', then the Qur'an is still wrong because it says, the Bible is God's Word and therefore right by definition.
Comment:-
Your argument makes a false assumption : that everything in a book must be false or it must be true or that it has the meaning you give it.
But we can reverse your argument as follows:-
Either the Quran is right and then the Bible is wrong (if there is a contradiction between them).
Or if the Quran is wrong then the Bible is still wrong (because when the Quran says the Bible is God's Word, this must be wrong.
You see how your logic will not work if you stick to literal interpretations and misunderstandings.
----------<O>----------