C. G. Pfander, D. D

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.{Dabistdn-i Mazâhib, p. 220)

informs us that some of the 'All Il&hls deny that the Qur'dn is the original one that was sent down on Mu­hammad, as Muslims in general say it was, but that these sectaries affirm that the Qur'Sn which now exists is the composition of Abd Baler, 'Umar, and 'Uthm£n. It is quite true that all scholars believe that these statements are wrong, but yet no one can deny that they have been made and maintained with certain arguments by some Muslims. For our present purpose it is sufficient to point out that these questions about the asserted additions to or omissions from the text of the Qur'dn affect the salvation of every Muslim, if Isl&m is God's way of salvation. On the other hand, the questions that have been raised about the text of the Bible not only do not affect the salvation of a single Christian, but they do not even render doubtful one of the least important of the doctrines of the Christian faith.

Another argument brought against the Bible by some Muslims is that certain books which were once part of it have been lost; for instance, the Book of Jashar (Joshua x. 13) and the Book of the Wars of the Lord (Num. xxi. 14). But these were never part of the Bible, just as the books ascribed in the Qur'&n to Abraham and others were never parts of the Qur'in.¹

It has been said that the Roman Catholic Bible con­tains books which are omitted from that of the Protes­tants. In answer to this it should be known that in the New Testament all Christians receive the same Canon­ical Books. To the Old Testament the Roman Catho­lics have added certain books which were not accepted by the early Christian Church, which were never in the Jewish Canon of Scripture, and which do not exist in the Hebrew language. We Protestants receive the

Hebrew Canonical Books of the Old Testament as they were received and confirmed and handed down to us by the Lord Jesus Christ and His Apostles. But even if the additional books received by the Roman Catholics and the Greek Church be admitted, their admission will not alter a single doctrine of the Christian faith. There are differences of doctrine between these Churches and the Protestant Churches, but these are not based upon different Scriptures, just as the existence of so many sects among Muslims is not due to differences in the Qur'án which is in circulation among them all.

We have already spoken about the ancient MSS. of the Old Testament and of the New in their original languages, and about the ancient Versions of the Bible in different tongues which are no longer spoken among men. But besides all this we must briefly point out the evidence which early Christian writers give upon the subject with which this chapter deals. We. have books written by some hundreds of these men, some in Greek, others in Latin, Syriac, Coptic, and Armenian, beginning in the first century and continuing up to Muhammad's time and later. The earliest non- Canonical Christian writing which remains is Clement of Rome's Epistle to the Corinthians (a.d. 93-95); then come Ignatius's seven Letters (a.d. 109-116) and one by Polycarp (about a.d. 11 o) : then the Epistle wrongly ascribed to Barnabas (a.d. 100-130). All these wrote in Greek, and we still have these letters. After them come great numbers of writers in the other languages which we have mentioned. All whose works in whole or in part have survived bear witness to the fact that the faith of the Christians of their own times was the same as is contained in the Bible which we now have. Moreover, in the works of these authors are found quotations from the Holy Scriptures. These sometimes give merely the general sense, sometimes they quote the actual words of the verses found in the Old Testament and the New.

This is another proof that the Bible has never at any time been corrupted, whether before or after theHijrah, and that no other books have ever been substituted for the genuine books of the Old Testament and the New.

If a body of wicked and godless men in Muhammad's time or later had wished to corrupt, change, or falsify the Holy Scriptures, they would have found it an absolutely impossible undertaking. They would have had to obtain and falsify all Biblical MSS. in the original Hebrew and Greek, wherever these might be. This would entail travelling over a large part of Europe, Asia, and Africa, visiting every Church and Synagogue, every library, every Christian or Jewish house of any importance. But it would have been necessary to find and alter all copies of the Versions of the Bible too. These were in Latin, Greek, Coptic, Gothic, Syriac, /3£thiopic, Armenian, Georgian, &c. Then a visit would have had to be paid to the Samaritans, and permission gained to tamper with their ancient and carefully treasured MSS. of the Taurdt and their later version of it into their own tongue. The J ews would have had to corrupt their Aramaic Targums. Then the forgers would have had to find every Christian book written in the languages already mentioned, in order to falsify the quotations from the Sacred Scrip­tures which it might contain. If a single book in any of these languages escaped falsification, all their trouble would be in vain. Then it would be necessary to get all Jews and Christians to forget what they had learnt of the Bible, and to falsify the tablets of their memories too. No man of understanding will fancy that all this was possible : still less will he believe that men would be able to prevail on the whole Jewish and Christian world to agree to such a crime¹ in order that thev might here be oppressed by Muslims and hereafter might justly suffer from God's wrath.

Let us imagine, if we can, a body of Muslims in our own day, or even before the invention of printing and lithography, determining to falsify every copy of the Qur'án and all the religious books of the whole Islámic world. How absurd does such an idea seem! Yet the Qur'án is not translated into so many tongues as the Bible was in Muhammad's time. Even if every copy of the Qur'án were lost or corrupted, its text might easily be reproduced from the quotations in the works of the Commentators, and even in such books as Ibn Hishám's Strain r Rasúl, in Kátibu'l Wáqidi's Kit&bul Maghazi, Futühush Shám, Futúhu'l Misr, Futúhu'l 'Ajam, in. the Histories of At Tabari and Ibn Athlr, and in other ancient books. No one can conceive of the possibility of corrupting all these, even though they are all in one and the same language. How much greater the task of falsifying all Biblical quota­tions in so many different languages !

But, had this task been accomplished, the fraud would have been exposed through the discovery of the very ancient MSS. of long-lost early Christian works during the last few years. Not a few writings of ancient times in Greek, Coptic. Armenian, and Syriac, the names of which were known to us, but which every scholar believed to have perished many hundreds of years ago, have recently been found in old convent libraries and elsewhere. Of these three are especially famous : (1) the Didakhé or " Teaching of the Twelve Apostles " (a.d. 131-160); (2) the Apology of Arts- tides (a.d. 138-147); and (3) the Diatessarón of Tatian (a.d. 160-170). As these books were lost long before Muhammad's time, they cannot possibly have been corrupted after his appearance. They show us that the Christian Faith in those very early days taught exactly the same doctrines that are found in the Old Testament and the New now in circulation throughout the world. Hence the Christian Faith taught in the

Bible has not been corrupted since the days of the Apostles.

Another fact which confutes the vulgar theory of tahrif is that the Khalifah 'Umar, when his armies conquered Syria, 'Ir&q, and Egypt, found at Caesarea, Alexandria, and many other places, great libraries full of books. Among these were many copies of the Holy Scriptures and of books composed by Christian teachers. The Muslims might have preserved these books and referred to them in after ages, in order to know whether or not the Christian Scriptures in later times were or were not falsified. But Abti'l Faraj informs us that, when the Khalifah 'Umar was asked what was to be done with the great Alexandrian Library, he ordered it to be destroyed. This was done. In the same way the author of the Kashfuz Zundn ■ i -<) tells us that the same Khalifah

ordered the libraries of Persia also to be destroyed when Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqds (^13, a*-.)¹ con­

quered Persia. If the Muslims had preserved some of the copies of the Bible that then fell into their hands, they would have been able to prevent the possibility of the falsification of these books in later times, should anyone have wished to corrupt Holy Scripture. Believing as they did that the Qur'in was the " Protector " (u^l, SArah v. 52) of " the Book of God such conduct would have been very suitable on the part of Muslims. But what the Muslims failed to do the Christians did, for (as we have seen) we have in our possession not a few MSS. of the Bible which were written some centuries before the Hijrah, and which escaped the fate that probably befell many in the Alexandrian Library and elsewhere. Learned Muslims who visit Rome, or St. Petersburg, or Paris, or London, can see some of these ancient MSS. for themselves. Moreover, photographic reproductions of some of them have been published. It is from a com- parison of these MSS. with one another that our present Greek New Testament and Hebrew Old Testament are published, and from them come the translations now circulated in more than 400 languages.

From the evidence which we have briefly summed up in this chapter it is clear that the most learned Muslim commentators of the past and the leading scholars at present among them are right in asserting that the Sacred Scriptures of the Jews and Christians have not undergone corruption either before or since Muhammad's time. We have also seen that the Old Testament and the New have never been abrogated and can never be abrogated in the facts which they relate or in the doctrines and moral principles which they teach. It has been shown that the Old Testa­ment and the New now in circulation are those which were in the hands of Jews and Christians in Muham­mad's time, and that the Qur'ân itself bears witness to them, calling them by many lofty titles, bidding Muslims profess faith in them,¹ and asserting that it was itself sent down by God Most High in order to confirm the Bible and to be a " Protector " ² to it.

Hence it follows that those Muslims who truly believe in the Qur'ân must see that it is their duty not to let themselves be misled by the prejudices of the ignorant, but to obey the Qur'ân by taking the Bible for a light and a guidance.³ To do this it is necessary to study it with sincere prayer to the Most Merciful God that He may open their hearts to understand its teachings and walk in the right way, the way of those unto whom He is gracious, not of those who go astray.

¹ e.g. in Sûrahs ii. 130; iii. 78. * Sûrah v. 52.

^s Sûrah xl. 56.

PART II

Of which the aim is to set forth the principal Doctrines of the Holy Scriptures, and to show that their teaching is in conformity with the Criteria of the True Revelation as stated in the Introduction.

CHAPTER I

A BRIEF ACCOUNT OF THE MAIN CONTENTS OF THE BIBLE

The Bible consists of two parts, the Old Testament and the New. The former is often called the Taur&t and the latter the Injil, because the Law of Moses and the Gospel are the first books in these two volumes respectively.

It has been already stated ¹ that the Jews divide the Old Testament into three main parts, the Law (Taurat), the Prophets, and the Books (ubLUl). This third portion used more anciently to be called the Psalms Oh?¹)' k^ecause it begins with the Psalms. The Old Testament was originally written in Hebrew, except a few chapters which are in Aramaic. The original language of the New Testament is Greek. The Jews have most carefully preserved the Old Testament in its original languages up to our own days. The Chris­tians have accepted the Old Testament from the hands of the Jews on the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.¹ Our Canon of the Books of the Old

Testament is exactly the same as that of the Jews in Palestine was in Christ's time and is still in all lands.

The Old Testament contains the Divine Revelation which was written down by Prophets and other Divinely commissioned men before the coming of Christ. In most cases the various books bear their writers' names, but in some these are known only by tradition. Yet the fact that our Lord Jesus confirmed these books, as the Qur'in also states,¹ justifies us in accepting them on His authority. In ancient times the Old Testament was divided into twenty-two books,² corresponding with the number of letters in the Hebrew alphabet. Having separated the Book of Ruth from Judges and the Lamentations of Jeremiah from his prophecies, the Jews now often count twenty-four Books. It is more usual to divide Samuel, Kings, Chronicles, inter two books each, and the twelve Minor Prophets are counted as twelve, books, and not as one. Hence we now number thirty-nine books in the Old Testament instead of twenty-two. Yet this does not imply any addition to the Sacred Text, as the ignorant might imagine.

The Taur&t of Moses consists of five books, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. These relate the history of the creation of the world and of man, and tell us how Adam, the Father of Mankind, disobeyed God, and thereby fell into sin and incurred death, but that the Most Merciful God then promised to send into the world a Saviour born of the seed of the woman (Gen. iii. 15). When men sank deeper into sin and were guilty of all kinds of cruelty, God sent the Flood upon the earth to destroy all mankind except Noah and his family. After the Flood, all the nations which sprang from Noah gradually fell away from the worship of the True God. But from among all men God selected one, Abraham, who worshipped the True and Only God. Because of his faith Abraham, the Friend of God, obtained the promise ³ that the

¹ Sfirah v. 50, &c. ² Part I, ch. iii.

³ Gen. xii. 1-3; xv. 6; xvii. 15-21 ; xviii. 18; xxii. 18.

coming Saviour would be born among the descendants of his son Isaac. Of Isaac's two sons, God selected Jacob, whom He named Israel,¹ and with him He renewed His covenant and His promise to Abraham that all the families of the earth should be blessed in him and his seed.² In fulfilment of this promise, God afterwards raised up the Prophets from his seed, as the Qur'&n admits,⁸ so that they might with true wisdom reveal God's will, and by Divine Inspiration might write " the Book", bearing witness to the promised Messiah.

Before the accomplishment of God's promise, how­ever, it was necessary that the sons of Israel should be properly trained to become the religious teachers of the human race. The Taurat tells us how they went down into Egypt, how they resided there for hundreds of years and became a numerous nation. When at last the King of Egypt cruelly oppressed them, God raised up Moses, and by his hand led His people out of Egypt (about 1320 b.c., or,as the Jews say, 1314 b.c.). Then at Mount Sinai God exhibited His glory to the Children of Israel and gave them the Ten Command­ments,⁴ along with many other injunctions, all of which are recorded in the Taurit. One object of the Mosaic Law was to enable the people to grow in the knowledge of God's Holiness, a doctrine then unknown to all but Israel, and now not realized by any but Jews and Chris­tians. Another object of that Law was to prevent the Israelites from becoming mixed with the surrounding heathen, lest the light of the truth and the doctrine of the Divine Unity should be lost in heathen darkness. This separation was to last until the coming of the Saviour of the world, unto whom the nations were to be obedient.⁴

After forty years' wandering and residence in various parts of the wilderness now called At Tih (L3i), God led the children of Israel to the borders of the Promised

' Gen. xxxii. 28. ² Gen. xxviii. 14. ³ Sfirah x!v. 15.

⁴ Exod. xx. ⁶ Gen. xlix. 10.

Land of¹ Canaan. The Book of Joshua tells us of the conquest of Canaan and of the partial destruction of the idolatrous nations there, whom God Most Holy had condemned because of their fearful wickedness. They used to burn their children alive as offerings to false gods, and to indulge in licentious abomina­tions ¹ in honour of the evil beings whom they wor­shipped. We are told that Israel took possession of Canaan in accordance with God's promise to Abraham.²The Books of Judges, Ruth, Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles tell us the main facts in the history of the Children of Israel from that time forward until the Babylonian Captivity. During the first few centuries of their residence in Canaan, the Israelites many times fell into idolatry, and were punished by God, who on that account permitted the heathen rulers of the sur­viving Canaanites and other neighbouring nations to oppress them. But whenever His people repented and turned to God, He mercifully forgave them and interposed to save them from their enemies, by raising up among them some brave warrior to be their cham­pion. After the reign of their first king, Saul (who is called Tdldth, ¿¿Jit, in the Qur'&n),³ God appointed David ⁶ king over all the Children of Israel, about 1020 b.c. He was succeeded by his son Solomon,⁶ who reigned from 980 to 938 b. c. The Biblical His­tory goes on to tell how ten of the tribes rebelled against Solomon's son Rehoboam, and formed the Kingdom of Israel, leaving only the Kingdom of Judah to the family of David. The Kingdom of Israel soon fell away into idolatry, as did later the Kingdom of Judah. Hence the Israelites were conquered by the Assyrians, and many of them were carried away captive to Media, Persia, and other lands in 730 b.c. Judah followed the same evil course, and was subjected to the Babylonian yoke in 606 b. c. From this time they remained in bondage to Babylon for seventy years, until 536 b.c. In 587 b.c., Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, destroyed the Temple which Solomon had built at Jerusalem, and carried the chief of the Jews to Babylon.

The Book of Ezra tells us that, when the seventy years' subjection to Babylon spoken of by the Prophet Jeremiah ¹ was ended, God delivered them by turning the heart of Cyrus, King of Persia, who had become ruler of Babylonia and many other lands, to give them permission to return to Palestine. The account of the restoration of the Temple and the rebuilding of Jeru­salem is given in the Books of Ezra and Nehemiah. But when the Jews rejected the promised Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, as the Gospels relate, He pre­dicted that terrible punishment would fall upon them, and that Jerusalem and the Temple would be destroyed.² In accordance with this and with Moses' prediction,³ the Romans destroyed the city and the Temple in a. d. 70. From that time to this the Jews have never had a king or a country of their own, but have ever remained scattered overall the earth, often most cruelly oppressed. Not yet are the days of their " tribulation " * ended.

From the Bible we gather that the Divine purpose in thus dealing with the Children of Israel and in com­manding historians and prophets to record the most important events in their history was threefold : (1) To show the Jews themselves (and in later times all other nations) that the heart of man is so prone to rebellion that, in spite of God's great mercy and the bestowal of so many blessings and the continual guidance which He had vouchsafed by His holy prophets, it was yet possible for men to forget the True God, and at last to fall into idolatry. (2) To teach the Israelites that release from sin and from the dominion of man s carnal