Is the Bible Still the Word of God?

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 Shibboleth wrote:

�Sometimes a different objection is raised.

Some feel that the Bible was the Word of God, but it has been distorted

and corrupted by men so that now we can no longer trust it. Can this be true?<o:p></o:p>

<p ="Msonormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-indent: 0.2in;">^{<span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;"></span>}<span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">�Let us repeat a verse from the

Qur�an. But now we will discuss it from a different

angle. �After those prophets We sent forth Jesus, the son of Mary, confirming

the Torah already revealed, and gave him the Gospel, in which there is guidance

and light, corroborating that which was revealed before it in the Torah, a

guide and an admonition to the righteous. Therefore let the followers of the

Gospel judge in accordance with what Allah has revealed therein. Evil-doers are

those that do not base their judgements on Allah�s revelations.��Sura�5, Al-Ma�ida

[The Table], verses�46,�47.� (The Qur'an also accepts Jesus as the son of God,just as it does Adam)<o:p></o:p></span>

<p ="Msonormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-indent: 0.2in;">^{<span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;"></span>}<span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">�If, at the time these words were

written, the Bible had already been corrupted, how could believers in the

Gospel �judge in accordance with what Allah had revealed therein�? Thus

believers in the Qur�an accept that the Bible was uncorrupted at the time the

Qur�an was written (about one thousand three hundred years ago). On the other

hand, there exist manuscripts of the Bible written four hundred or five hundred

years before that time that are on public display in museums today. When

comparing our modern Bibles with these ancient manuscripts, it is easily seen

that there is no significant difference. The Bible is substantially the same.

Certainly, the Bible has not changed since those words were written in the

Qur�an saying that in the Gospel �there is guidance and light.�<o:p></o:p></span>

<p ="Msonormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-indent: 0.2in;">^{<span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;"></span>}<span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">�Thus, a person who believes in the

Qur�an will agree that the Bible has not been corrupted and that it is still

the Word of God. But even for people who do not believe in the Qur�an there is

abundant proof that the Bible has not been corrupted by men since its original

writing. What proof? Ancient manuscripts.<o:p></o:p>

<p ="Msonormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-indent: 0.2in;">^{<span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;"></span>}<span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">�Regarding the preserving of the

Greek Scriptures (Injil) until our day, a scientist pointed out: �The

interval then between the dates of original composition and the earliest extant

evidence becomes so small as to be in fact negligible, and the last foundation

for any doubt that the Scriptures have come down to us substantially as they

were written has now been removed.� (The Bible and Archaeology,

by Sir Frederic Kenyon) Sir Frederic Kenyon is here expressing the widely

accepted fact that we can read in the Greek Scriptures (Injil)

substantially what the original writers, under inspiration, put there. There

has been no gross distortion.<o:p></o:p></span>

<p ="Msonormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; text-indent: 0.2in;">^{<span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;"></span>}<span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">�Regarding the Hebrew Scriptures (Tevrat),

the external proof is equally strong that they have been preserved faithfully.

The ancient copyists of those scriptures were renowned for their accuracy.

Today there are seventeen hundred ancient manuscripts of the Hebrew Scriptures

of the Bible in existence, and comparison shows them to be substantially the

same. In 1947, some very ancient manuscripts were discovered in the region of

the <st1:place w:st="on">Dead Sea</st1:place>. They included some that were a

thousand years older than any hitherto extant. Yet a comparison of these

ancient manuscripts with our modern Bible shows little significant variation,

especially with regard to teaching and doctrine. After examining these newly

discovered ancient documents, Professor Millar Burrows said: �The general

reader and student of the Bible may be satisfied to note that nothing in all

this changes our understanding of the religious teachings of the Bible

.�.�. The essential truth and the will of God revealed in the Bible,

however, have been preserved unchanged through all the vicissitudes in the

transmission of the text.��The <st1:place w:st="on">Dead Sea</st1:place>

Scrolls, by Millar Burrows.<o:p></o:p></span>

^{}�Is this not reasonable? Should we

not expect that the Almighty God would be able to preserve his Word

uncorrupted? The Bible itself says: �The green grass has dried up, the blossom

has withered; but as for the word of our God, it will last to time

indefinite.��Isaiah 40:8.<o:p></o:p></span>

I believe that the Gospel mentioned in Al Maa'ida 5:46-47 is the true gospel. It is likely that the true gospel or the authentic gospel is the same as the Hebrew gospel or what Jerome called as "Matthei authenticum". The gospel was written in Hebrew, and it's different from the Canonical Matthew. It is stated in Bukhari that Waraqa ibn Naufal, the uncle of the Prophet Muhammad's wife, copied a gospel from Hebrew to Arabic, and it is very likely that the gospel that Waraqa had was the Hebrew Gospel or the authentic Matthew.

in short, in the time of Waraqa ibn Naufal, the original gospel still existed.

About the Torah, the current Torah is not written by Moses himself. Many biblical scholars say that the Torah was written by several different authors called J, E, P, and D. However, not every part of the Torah is written by those four. I believe that some parts of the Torah (like the Ten Commandments for instance) are actually from Moses himself. Those parts of the Torah that originally were from Moses himself are still preserved today.

I believe that some parts of the Bible (not all) are really inspired form God Almighty, and those parts are still intact (not corrupted).