Has The Gospel (The Injil) Been Corrupted As Islam Teaches?

"For them are good tidings in the worldly life and in the Hereafter. No change is there in the words of Allah . That is what is the great attainment." - Surat Yanus (10:64)

"So woe to those who write the "scripture" with their own hands, then say, "This is from Allah ," in order to exchange it for a small price. Woe to them for what their hands have written and woe to them for what they earn." - Surat Al - Baqarah (2:79)

        

        The inscriptions above are from the Qur'an.  They are firmly believed by all Muslim men and women who follow Allah and his word.  Surat Yanus explains that the words that God has produced Himself are words that cannot be altered, changed, or distorted for any reason.  Why?  Because God is a powerful, Omnipotent Lord that controls all things.  If his ultimate imminence has divinely created a revelation from His own mouth, He did so for His own will and His own glory.  This is divine and remarkable, because as it stands in both Islam and Christian faith we both recognize this to be the truth.  The Lord has most certainly breathed His Word unto us from His throne, and He has done so for reasons pertaining to His will.  

        However, the next sentance which is also from the Qur'an has mentioned that the books of old; which include the Jewish Torah, The writings of David, and the New Testament Gospel (or Injil) have been distorted and corrupted.  They are books that are fundamentally untrustworthy, therefore making them invalid for any religious understanding.  Those who have written the scriptures for reasons other than God's will are to be punished accordingly by God Himself.  Hence the words "woe to those".

        I wanted to write this because there has been a misconception between the two religions; as which has been debated for a very very very long time.  First and foremost, I want to mention a simple fact:

THIS IS NOT A "WHO'S BOOK IS BETTER" ARGUMENT. 

        This is a logical and rational look at both Islam and Christian scripture.  We are people who are searching for the truth about the Everlasting Lord of the Universe.  In order to tell if the scriptures are in fact truth, we mustn't base our opinions on what other people tell us, past miracles, nor the popularity of the one whom wrote the scriptures, or the rapid spread of their message or movement.  

        Simply claiming to speak for God is not enough evidence to support the truth, as many people in history have done so and have proven their claim to be false in the most negative way.  A few example's of false leaders claiming to speak the truth are Charles Manson, who terrorized frightened Americans in the late 1960's convincing his followers to committ heinous murders in his name.  David Koresh whom claimed he was a prophet and that God chose him to father the child of Lois Roden, in which their child would be the "chosen one".  Instead, his cult belief led him to die along with 54 adults and 28 children in a mass suicide.
The words of man cannot be trusted, and therefore unless a claim can be "backed up" by empirical evidences, they are not sound. 

        Past Miracles are also not sound proof of evidences.  Miracles can be faked.  Many people in past history have used "miracles" to contradict other people's prophets.  One evidence of this is found within the Torah in the book of Exodus 7: 10-13:

"So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the Lord commanded. Aaron threw his staff down in front of Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a snake. Pharaoh then summoned wise men and sorcerers, and the Egyptian magicians also did the same things by their secret arts: Each one threw down his staff and it became a snake. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs. Yet Pharaoh’s heart became hard and he would not listen to them, just as the Lord had said."

         When Moses threw down his staff to produce a miracle, the miracle was repeated by the pharaoh's magicians.  Men are deceived easily unless there is a divine intervention from the Lord Himself.  Therefore, the reliance upon miracles that aren't solely backed up by positive proof from the Lord are not to be relied upon.  And casting a miracle with a "claim of prophesy" is just as unreliable, in fact even MORE unreliable.

        Lastly, the popularity of a person's message, or the rapid spread of a message cannot be called a "reliable basis" for proof of authentication.  In History, many mass movements have happened in many different religions, which were known to be wrong to the people of that religion.  Two great examples are the Crusades lead by Pope Urban II, in which authentic followers of Christ see today as an act far beyond the will of The Lord, and in congruent with the message of Jesus Christ; and the Muslim Jihadists attack on the World Trade Center on 9/11, of which a great majority of Muslims find this act to be intolerable of their beliefs and a shameful memory of those who have misinterpreted the Qur'an.  

       
The only thing that can be considered factual evidences of authentic proof would be the congruence of the messages read today with the previous messages of ancient History. 

          With this being said; we must consider some evidences to be factual.  One in which that both Islam and Christianity believe that God's words cannot be changed or altered:

"For them are good tidings in the worldly life and in the Hereafter. No change is there in the words of Allah . That is what is the great attainment." - Surat Yanus (10:64)

 And:

"Forever, O Lord, Your Word is settled in Heaven." Psalms 119:89

"My Word...goes forth from my mouth; It shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I have sent it." Isaiah 55:11

"Assuredly, I say to you, till Heaven and Earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled." Matthew 5:18 (Jesus Christ; Isa Al-Masih The Lord)

          By reading these scripture verses from both the Muslim Qur'an and The Christian Bible, we can ascertain that both Islam and Christianity believe anything that God wills to be written from His Words cannot be altered, changed, perverted, or corrupted.  Changing the very word of God Himself is like challenging God's authority.  It would be an insult to God and His authority, and would equally imply that God could not keep the promises He made in scripture.  This is something that both Islam and Christian believer's know is an impossibility, as God is omnipotent, and is capable of anything and everything; including things beyond human capabilities.  

        The books of The Torah, David's writings, the writings of the prophets of old and The Gospel of Isa Al-Masih are all compiled together in the book of the Bible.  The New Testament scriptures were compiled together with a strict code: They must be written by The Disciples of Isa Al Masih, or the desciples of His disciples.  If anyone else wrote anything, even if they were truth, the writings would be unaccaptable and invalid simply because the original manuscripts were most important in the providing of factual evidences based on reliable proof of authentication. 

        Now we have proven before that the Christian Bible is in fact historically accurate.  There is too much proof as to where its authenticity comes from.  The existence of 5,700 Greek manuscripts of the New Testament, 10,000 copies in Latin Vulgate, and another 10 to 15,000 copies in other versions including ancient papyri and other manuscripts written that date back to the 7th century make this a fact. There is also a severe lack of "proven" fraud and error on any new and old Testament author in a period of 3 thousand years. Enemies of Isa Al-Masih and Christians would have tried to accomplish the destruction of these evidences in the 3,000 year time frame, yet were not able to because God's word cannot be changed, altered, or destroyed. Also detailed archaeological data concerning the Bible including the Dead Sea Scrolls prove its accuracy.

        Now that we have seen some of the ways that God has in fact protected His words sent from the 7th century and before, we can assert that God is in full force doing many things to keep the validity of the Gospel protected, unharmed and untouched, just as both Islam and Christianity agree.  Keep in mind again, that changing His word is not only challenging His authority, but that it would be an insult to God's authority, and claim that He is incapable of protecting the very thing He swore to protect. 

        Now lets just imagine what would happen if the Gospels, Torah, and the Writings of David and the prophets of old were found in fact corrupted.  Considering the incredible amount of proof given to us today, which under close examination we can see for a fact that the Gospel today and the Gospel of the 7th century is in fact one and the same, in order for these scriptures to have actually been corrupted, it would have had to have been corrupted BEFORE the 7th century; which is before the time of Muhammed and his revelations.  Therefore, we can assert from these two things:

1) If God did in fact 'allow' His word that He promised to protect to be corrupted or changed in any way, then that means if the Qur'an was also God's word, and also "promised to be protected" by God; there would be no actual guarantee that God would keep His promise to protect the Qur'an, as He did not keep His promise to protect the books before the Qur'an. And a lack of guarantee means a lack of validity, and a lack of validity means the authenticity of both books are diminished and therefore unreliable.  

2) If the books of the Torah, The writings of David, the prophets of old and the Gospel were in fact corrupted BEFORE the time of Muhammed in the 7th century, then the following scriptures from the Qur'an would reveal a flaw: that The Qur'an of Muhammed's time puts faith in those corrupted scriptures.  

"If thou were in doubt as to what we have revealed unto thee, then ask those who have been reading the Book from before thee.  The truth hath indeed come to thee from the Lord: So be in no wise of those in doubt." Surat Yanus (10:94)

"Let the people of the Gospel judge by what God hath revealed therein.  If any do judge (by the light of) what Allah hath revealed, they are (no better than) those who rebel." Surat I - Māidah (5:47)

"We believe in a God, and what has been revelaed to us and what was revealed to Abraham...and in the books given to Moses, Jesus, and the Prophets, we make no distinction between one and the other." Surat Al - i'Imran 3:84

"Believe in Allah and His apostles, and the scripture which he sent to those before Him. Any who denieth God, His angels, His books, His apostles, and the Day of Judgement, has gone astray." Surat An - Nisa 4:136

"Those who deny God and his apostles and wish to separate God from His apostles saying "we believe in some but reject the others", are equally unbelievers." Surat An - Nisa 4:150-157

"Strongest among men in enmity to the believers wilt thou find the Jews and Pagans; and nearest among them in love to the believers wilt thou find those who say, "We are Christians": because amongst these are men devoted to learning and men who have renounced the world, and they are not arrogant."  Surat I - Māidah (5:82)

          Upon hearing this message, I simply ask the Muslim readers here to rely on these "books from before thee".  Know that they are in fact not corrupted and protected by the Lord God Himself.  The Gospels and Torah have much to teach about The way of Salvation and the story of Jesus Christ who is Isa Al-Masih the Lord.  My Muslim friends, The Christian followers of Isa Al-Masih, (NOT the fake Christians who do not understand the Gospel), love you and wish you to know more about the Lord!  I have done an enthusiastic study about this on your behalf, because I love you!

"So woe to those who write the "scripture" with their own hands, then say, "This is from Allah," in order to exchange it for a small price. Woe to them for what their hands have written and woe to them for what they earn." - Surat Al - Baqarah (2:79)

As-Salāmu Alaykum!

- a study by Christopher Waits