THREE GRADES OF EVIDENCE
We Muslims have no hesitation in acknowledging that in the Bible, there ‘three different kinds of witnessing’ recognizable without any need of specialized training.
These are:
- You will be able to recognize in the Bible what may be described as “The Word of God.”
- You also be able to discern what can be described as the “Words of a Prophet of God.”
- And you will most readily observe that the bulk of the Bible is the records of eye witnesses or ear witnesses, or people writing from hearsay. As such they are the “Words of a Historian.”
For the Muslim it is quite easy to distinguish the above types of evidence, because he also has them in his own faith. But unlike the followers of the different religions, the Muslim is the most fortunate in that his various records are contained in separate Books!
ONE: The first kind – THE WORD OF GOD – is found in a book called The Holy Quŕ-án.
TWO: The second kind – THE WORDS OF THE PROPHET OF GOD, (Muhammad (may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) are recorded in the books of Tradition (Sunnah) called The Hadith.
THREE: Evidence of the third kind abounds in different volume of Islamic history, written by some of high integrity and learning, and others of less trustworthiness, but the Muslim advisedly keeps his Books in separate volumes!
The Muslim keeps the above three types of evidence jealously apart, in their proper gradations of authority. He never equates them.
On the other hand, the “Holy Bible” contains a motley type of literature, which composes the embarrassing kind, the sordid, and the obscene – all under the same cover – A Christian is forced to concede equal spiritual import and authority to all, and is thus unfortunate in this regard.
The “gospel” is a frequently-used word, but what Gospel did Jesus (p.b.u.h.) preach? Of the 27 books of the New Testament, only a small fraction can be accepted as the words of Jesus (p.b.u.h.).
The Christians boast about the Gospels ‘according to’ St. Matthew, according to St. Mark, according to St. Luke and according to St. John, but there is not a single Gospel “according” to (St.) Jesus (p.b.u.h.) himself!
We sincerely believe that everything Christ (may the peace and blessings of God be upon him) preached was from God. That was the Injeel, the good news and the guidance of God for the Children of Israel. In his life-time Jesus (p.b.u.h.) never wrote a single word, nor did he instruct anyone to do so.
What passes off as the “GOSPELS” today are the works of anonymous hands!
The question before us is: “Do YOU accept that the Bible is God’s Word?” The question is really in the form of a challenge. The questioner is simply seeking enlightenment. The question is posed in the spirit of a debate.