For centuries, even millenia, the Bible has been attacked, challenged and dismissed by many different people, yet it endures … uncorrupted and unchanged.
The story is told of how the famous philosopher and sceptic, Voltaire claimed that, ‘a hundred years from my death the Bible will be a museum piece.’ However, a hundred years after his death the French Bible Society set up its headquarters in Voltaire’s old home in Paris.
The fact that the Bible endures is plain to see. People are still interested to read what it has to say, and lives continue to be changed through reading it. It remains relevant, even though popular culture portrays the Bible as a fictional irrelevance.
At least my Muslim friends have a deeper respect for the Bible than the secular media. They understand that its origin is God and as a result is a book of significance. Unfortunately, the common view is that the original Word has become corrupted or deliberately changed. This view is the logical, the only conclusion when the Qu’ran is taken as the starting point – the foundation stone – for it is clear that the Bible does not agree with the Qu’ran in some fundamental points.
I want to challenge my Muslim friends that this position does not stand up to scrutiny. It is a story ‘built upon sand’ and I would ask you to join me to examine the evidence that the Bible is indeed uncorrupted and unchanged.
Part 3 – Is the charge of corruption consistent with the history of transmission?
Part 4 – Is the charge of corruption consistent with what we find in the Bible?