Claim 6 of 12 · Case 10 · Islam
The Qur’an praises the Torah and the Gospel as reliable guidance, yet the Bible it praises contradicts the Qur’an, which creates a genuine dilemma.
One claim from the free evidence repository at apologetics.pro.
This is a logical argument built on checkable premises, so the responses are laid out below as evidence. The Qur’an calls the earlier scriptures revelation from God and even tells people to judge by them, yet those scriptures teach the crucifixion, the divinity of Christ, and the Father and Son relationship, all of which the Qur’an denies. If the Bible was reliable, Islam has a problem; if it was corrupt, then the Qur’an erred by endorsing it.
Backed by 3 pieces of evidence
The Qur’an endorses the earlier scriptures
This establishes the first premise of the argument from the Qur’an itself. If the Qur’an points people to earlier scripture as a reliable guide, then the contents of that scripture become a test the Qur’an has to pass.
The response that the corruption was only of meaning
Stated fairly, this is the best way out of the dilemma. The response is that the Qur’an speaks as if accessible scripture could be trusted in the seventh century, and the manuscripts from that era and earlier already contain the disputed doctrines, so there is no point at which an uncorrupted, Islam friendly version existed to appeal to.
The response that the corruption came later
This is the other main escape, and the response is simply the physical evidence. The manuscripts that predate Islam already teach what the Qur’an denies, so a later, secret corruption has no trail. This is why the dilemma is a real one rather than a rhetorical trick, though it is honest to admit its force depends on how tahrif is defined.