The Bible has been corrupted
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Claim: The Bible has been corrupted and is not the original revelation
Why it’s false:
Textual criticism (Christian, Jewish, secular, and even many Muslim scholars) affirms the remarkable stability of the biblical manuscripts.
- The New Testament is the best-attested text of the ancient world.
- The Dead Sea Scrolls show the Old Testament text was stable centuries before Christ. The “tahrif” concept in early Islam originally meant misinterpretation, not textual corruption.
What logic shows
If Christians had the power to rewrite their Scriptures, they would have deleted all the embarrassing parts: Peter’s denial, the apostles’ failures, the disciples misunderstanding Jesus. Ancient forgeries clean up heroes — the Bible does the opposite.
Christians and Jews were spread across continents with no centralized authority. A coordinated “corruption” of millions of copies in dozens of languages is logistically impossible. This claim requires a conspiracy bigger than the Roman Empire.
If Christians “changed their Scriptures,” Muslims must show when, where, and by whom, and explain how Jews and Christians across continents all changed the same verses identically. There is no historical evidence of this.
If the Bible was corrupted then the Quran is false for saying that the Bible is the trustworthy unchangeable word of Allah, and it also means that Allah is a liar and not competent enough to protect it.
What history shows
The New Testament has 5,000+ Greek manuscripts, far more than any ancient text. If corruption happened, Muslims must show when, where, and by whom. No such evidence exists.
The Dead Sea Scrolls match the Old Testament we have today, proving its stability 1,000 years before Islam. The Qur’an says God gave Moses and Jesus true Scripture, confirming that what we have now is the same true scripture as 2300 years ago.
Muslims trust far fewer and far later manuscripts for early Islamic history than Christians have for the Bible. If the Bible with tens of thousands of manuscripts can’t be trusted, then the Quran with only dozens of manuscripts can definitely not be trusted.
We have extant complete Bibles that are 200 years older than Islam itself. Since nothing has changed between the Bible before Islam and the Bible today, we can be sure it’s the same Bible as what Allah told Muhammad and his followers to consult if they were in doubt. (Qur’an 10:94)
What Islam teaches
Islam says God’s word cannot be changed (Qur’an 6:115). Dawah says the Bible was changed. Both can’t be true. Either God preserved His previous revelations, or He didn’t. The Islamic accusation contradicts the Qur’an’s own theology.
If the Bible is corrupted, why does the Qur’an command Muslims to ask Christians about the Scriptures (Qur’an 10:94)? It makes no sense for God to send Muslims to corrupted books for guidance.
If the Bible was corrupted before Muhammad, then the Qur’an is wrong for calling Christians and Jews the “People of the Book” and affirming the Torah and Gospel still existed. If it was corrupted after Muhammad, Muslims must show who changed millions of copies. They can’t.
The islamic dilemma
The Quran affirms the Bible
The Quran affirms the inspiration, preservation, and authority of the Bible in Surah 2:4,41,89,91,97,101,111;3:3-4,23,81,93,184;4:47;5:44,48,66,68;6:91-92;10:37,94;12:111;16:43;20:133;21:7,48,105;26:196;28:48-49;35:25,31;37:37;40:53;46:12,30;87:18-19
The Qur’an repeatedly affirms the Bible as God’s Word. It calls Jews and Christians “People of the Book” and says God gave the Tawrah and Injil (Torah & Gospel). If these books were corrupted, the Qur’an is wrong for praising them.
The Qur’an says no one can change God’s words (Qur’an 6:115; 18:27). If the Bible is God’s word—as the Qur’an claims—then Muslims can’t say it was corrupted without contradicting their own scripture.
The Qur’an tells Muhammad to consult the Scriptures that came before him if he doubts (Qur’an 10:94). Why would God send him to “corrupted” books? This only makes sense if the Bible was reliable.
The Qur’an says Christians should judge by the Gospel (Qur’an 5:47). That command is meaningless if the Gospel was already lost or corrupted. The Qur’an treats it as present and authoritative.
The Quran and Bible contradict one another
But the Qur’an contradicts the Bible on crucial doctrines: Jesus was crucified vs. Qur’an 4:157 denying it Jesus as Son of God vs. Qur’an 112:3 Salvation by Christ’s atonement vs. Qur’an 4:171 Two contradictory revelations cannot both be true.
The Bible contradicts the Qur’an’s theology: Jesus is eternally divine (John 1:1), died for sins (1 Cor 15:3), and rose bodily. Therefore, if the Bible is true, the Qur’an’s message must be false.
The Bible teaches that if any person or angel comes with a different message, that one is accursed. (Galatians 1:8) Muhammad came with a different message brought by an angel. Hence the Bible calls Muhammad accursed.
The dilemma
If the Bible is correct about Jesus’ death, deity, and resurrection, then Islam is false because the Qur’an denies all three. If the Bible is wrong, then the Qur’an is false for affirming and endorsing a “corrupted” book.
Islam depends on the Bible being true enough to validate Muhammad—and false enough to contradict Christian doctrine. But if it’s true, Islam collapses. If it’s false, the Qur’an collapses. There is no escape.
If the Bible is true then the Qur’an contradicts it which means the Qur’an is false. If the Bible is false then the Qur’an affirms it as authoritative and commands obedience to a false book, which means the Qur’an is false. Either way, Islam refutes itself.