Islam - The Summit of Religious Evolution — Page 22
22 CHAPTER THREE SCRIPTURE RELIABILITY Before delving into the sensitive area of scripture reliability, it must be emphasized that the comments in this chapter are based on an objective literature search. All reference have been personally verified and properly referenced to direct the reader to its source. Moreover, only reputable references from the respective religions have been used. The intent is to analyze each scripture critically and objectively, so that their absolute accuracy could be established to enable a meaningful comparison. Absolute and unqualified freedom from external interference is an essential prerequisite for books, which form the basis of our religious beliefs. A book revealed by God is superior to its human counterpart because God's book will never lead one astray. His book, therefore, will contain the absolute truth and NO error or contradiction. If our concept of God does not imply such a trust in His revelations then that concept has no value. Communication from God cannot be in error. If communications from God can err, then there is no ground for holding Divine teachings superior to human teachings. Thus, belief in a Divine book entails belief that the book is free from any error. It is possible, however, that a book originally revealed by God may come to suffer from human interference but that will occur only with His discretion. If the contents of a book have suffered additions and subtractions at human hands, then that book can no longer serve as an absolute guide. THE OLD TESTAMENT Many versions of the Old Testament exist today. Due to the inconsistencies among the versions and the changes within the editions of the same version, it is impossible for such a study to accept them all as the original word of God. Conversely, it is equally difficult to single out any version as the absolute word of God. A study of the various versions or editions within the same versions highlights human interference to the Biblical text. At times, these changes are minor, and at times, gross. The very fact that the Biblical text has been tampered with, irrespective of its magnitude, makes it unsuitable for such a comparison. Moreover, no original manuscripts of the Old Testament had been available to Biblical editors; the absolute authority of any version can therefore never be established. Suffice it to say that the current text of the Old Testament cannot be regarded as the original word of God, preserved in its pristine purity. The Old Testament itself provides evidence to this effect: 1 "How can you say, 'We are wise, and the law of the Lord is with us'? But, behold, the false pen of the scribes has made it into a lie". The wise men shall be put to shame, they shall be dismayed and taken; lo, they have rejected the word of the Lord,