Whenever I'm told or I read something (especially in the newspapers!) I have to remind myself, "Don't believe everything you hear or read - check the story out first!" Simply making an accusation does not make it true. Accusations are easy to make but they must be supported by evidence and proof, otherwise we are slandering and speaking out of ignorance.

The Prophet Suleman in his Book of Proverbs shows us how foolish we can be and how shameful it is when we speak or accuse without listening first.

Those making such an accusation are saying that God is either weak or untrustworthy. Either God was not able to protect His perfect Word from being changed, or, God planned the changes and so has changed his mind about what is true, and is deliberately confusing people.

Secondly, they are denying the facts of history:

It is abundantly clear from the huge collection of ancient copies available today that the text of the Bible has remained the same, since God revealed it.

I have heard many people say, "But you can't believe the Bible - it's been changed so many times" or "Yes, the Bible was from God, but we do not have the "original" Bible any more."

Christians are often faced with such accusations which are actually very insulting and hurtful. No-one likes to have their Holy Book attacked and belittled. But when the attacks come we must make an honest attempt to see if there is truth in what is said. I have considered the charge that the Bible has been changed. I want to say that it is not true.

All of us, whether Christians or Muslims, should be greatly concerned about Truth. Ignorance is not good. As the proverb says:

"Blind in this world, blind in the next."

We should want as much light and understanding of the truth as possible, especially when we realise that our eternal destiny depends on our response to God's truth.

This is actually a very serious accusation to make. Anyone saying such things needs to be very careful indeed.

Here are two reasons why we cannot truthfully say "The Bible has been changed."

1) Is God weak or untrustworthy?

The God who made the universe and everything and everybody in it is powerful. In fact, He must be all-powerful. There isn't anything He cannot do.

We must never limit God. He is bigger than our minds. He is bigger than our understanding. He is bigger than all the pronouncements of all the religious teachers in all the world. That is why God is to be worshipped.

So would the Almighty God stand helplessly by while evil men tampered with and rewrote His perfect Holy Scripture?

God Himself has said: "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away." (Luke 21:33)

God has gone to great lengths to reveal the message of His love and forgiveness to us, through His many prophets. Does it make sense that He should now watch as men seize His revelation and change it?

God can and God does preserve and protect His Holy Word. When we look at the thousands of old Bible manuscripts in the original languages of Greek and Hebrew available for study by anyone wishing to look, we find exactly that.

The teachings of Jesus Christ remain the same, whichever ancient manuscript we look at. They have not changed.

I think you will agree that God's power could not be overturned nor can His Holy revelation be taken and perverted. Of course it could not happen. We would be questioning His almighty power if we argued that men changed his word without his permission. You may have heard some claim that God gave permission for His Book to be changed. "Maybe God allowed it so He could replace it with another Book," they say.

Wouldn't this make God seem unreliable because He now says something very different than before? He is now calling right what used to be wrong. How could this be? This is accusing God of dishonesty.

Does God contradict Himself ? This is something we humans do all the time, but we don't expect it of God. He is perfect.

Does God back down on His previous promises? Again, we may do this but God wouldn't.

Has God changed His mind showing that He cannot be trusted any more? We are often unreliable - as the Arabic proverb says: "Don't trust others, but don't trust yourself either!" But how can we ever say that God Himself is untrustworthy?

Have you ever noticed how British weather is always changing?

A friend once gave me some advice: If you don't like the weather, just stand still and in 20 minutes it will have changed! That is our weather for you, but God is most certainly not like that.

A most wonderful attribute of God is that He is 'The Unchanging One'. He and His Word are always constant and reliable.

We read in the Taurat:

"You know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises the LORD your God gave you has failed. Every promise has been fulfilled; not one has failed." (Joshua 23:14)

It is so comforting to know that God does not change. It means we can trust Him and trust His Word completely. He cannot fail, neither can His promises in His Holy Book.

The point of what I am saying is that I do not want the Almighty, Holy God to be misrepresented. He cannot be charged with being changeable and unreliable.

2) What about the facts of history?

- An abundance of old Bible manuscripts that we can examine

To state, "The Qur'an says the Bible has been changed," is not convincing for the person wanting to examine all the evidence. Those bringing this serious charge need to be willing and able to bring proof showing clearly that what they are saying is a historical fact.

They need to provide answers to such questions as:

1) When was it changed ?

2) Who changed it ?

3) Why was it changed ?

4) What changes were made ?

5) Where is the "original" Bible that we can compare it with to prove the change happened ?

Do you have answers for these five questions ?

If the Bible has been distorted then there will be proof. There will be convincing evidence and answers to these questions.

1) When was the Bible changed?

If the charge of corruption is true, then very big changes must have been made to the text of the Bible before Islam began in Arabia. This, however, is not what we find. What we actually find are at least 292 ancient manuscripts (hand-written copies) written before 600 AD. These copies agree completely with the Bible available today that you can buy in your local bookshop. These ancient manuscripts are written in the original languages of Greek and Hebrew. Trained scholars have translated them to give us an accurate translation in a language we can understand.

We have copies of the Bible that predate Islam by up to 450 years! These copies agree with today's Bible in EVERY point of teaching and doctrine. If you want to look for yourself, pay a visit to the British Museum in Great Russell Street, London. You will see there two Ancient Greek manuscripts on public display all year round - Codex Alexandrinus and Codex Sinaiticus. Ask the curator how old they are.

Such evidence speaks for itself. The Bible cannot have undergone the changes that many Muslims believe. The manuscripts say "no!" to the charge of corruption.

2) Who changed the Bible?

Those usually charged with this scandalous crime are Jews and Christians - otherwise known as "the People of the Book." Could this have been possible?

Did the Jews change the Bible?

The Jews are well known for their zeal in preserving their sacred Scriptures. They know the exact number of words and letters it contains. Those scribes responsible for the copying of the ancient Hebrew text showed amazing reverence and deep respect for the Scriptures in their hands. If they made even a small mistake whilst copying, that whole section was reverently disposed of. When they came to the name of God in the text, they would go and wash themselves before continuing. Such is their reverence for their Holy Book.

We must also ask the question, "Why would the Jews wish to change the text of Scripture so that Jesus the Son of Mary is continually revealed as God's Messiah - an idea to which they became totally opposed?" That would make no sense whatsoever.

Did the Christians change the Bible?

You may have heard this but again there is no evidence. The documents of the New Testament were written by Christ's Apostles or close companions of the Apostles. They were moved by God's Spirit to record Holy Scripture. They were eyewitnesses of the events of which they wrote. They watched Christ and knew him intimately. They loved him and were willing to die for what they heard Christ say and saw him do. Their writings come to us in an unbroken line of testimony. Their books from the very first have always been regarded as reliable Holy Scripture coming from God Himself.

Within a very short time Christianity, and copies of the Bible had spread over a wide area. There were translations of the Christian Scriptures into several languages distributed very early on. See the map below Illustrating the Early Spread of the Bible Before AD 600. Because there were so many copies, written in different languages, in so many places, in the possession of so many people, it would have been impossible to arrange or even agree to any change being made. History records no council or gathering where supposed changes were agreed upon. In fact, when groups tried to alter the Scriptures, they were exposed and condemned as heretics.

"People of the Book" had and still do have a deep respect and love for Holy Scripture. This is shown in the way we have preserved all the manuscripts. Christians have not destroyed or discarded any.

Did Jews and Christians agree together to change the Bible ?

To change the whole Bible, Jews and Christians would have had to agree to alter both the Old and New Testaments. This is out of the question as Jews and Christians, after the time of Jesus Christ, were opposed to each other. They would not have been able to agree on any change whatsoever! There would have been a definite outcry from one party had the other even attempted to change their Holy Book.

3) Why was the Bible changed?

Every crime has its motive. What could possibly be the motive for the "People of the Book" changing their own Scripture? Consider these two passages from the Old and New Testaments:

"Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commandments of the Lord your God that I give you." (Deuteronomy 4:2)

"But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned!" (Galatians 1:8)

Would corrupting their own books be more preferable than their eternal blessing? The warnings in the Bible are many and severe against anyone trying to change God's Holy revelation. It makes no sense to say that they went against such warnings, and then even preserved the very warnings they were ignoring.

Christians were willing to lay down their lives for the sake of the Gospel message they had been given so that it might be preserved and spread. Many died during several periods of intense persecution. Would anyone die a martyr's death for a book he knew to be a fraud? It makes no sense.

If one looks at the content of the Holy Bible, one is led to ask What possible gain would there be for men to invent such a Book? This is so when we realise that the Bible:

forbids all sin (even sins of the mind and heart)

commands all duty (loving God completely and one's neighbour as oneself)

exposes the weaknesses and failings of its human authors (even the heroes of the Bible are described very honestly)

humbles man completely by insisting that salvation is only by God's free gift of salvation and not obtained by our own deeds. (Don't we naturally feel we are not too bad and can therefore do something to merit God's favour?)

These things show that the Bible is not of human origin, men would not write such things. It must originate from God Himself, and have been revealed perfectly through His servants.

4) What changes were made to the Bible?

Whatever changes have been attempted have been exposed and corrected by scholars. Modern translations of the Bible are the products of their painstaking study. If someone has a proof of changes that haven't been recognised, they need to present them. Christians and Jews alike do not want their books to have errors.

5) Where is this "original" Bible?

Since it was revealed from God, many have disagreed with the Bible. It has been banned, burned, misinterpreted, and misquoted. Proud human hearts, offended by its message of free salvation in Jesus Christ alone, have despised it. But hated as it is, no one has ever been able to prove that today's Bible is not the original Bible that God revealed to mankind. No different "original" has ever been displayed.

Conclusions