Page 5 of 12: The Bible in Jesus' Day and Ours

Sura 3:48 says, "And Allah will teach him [Jesus] the book and Wisdom, the Torah, and the Gospel."

"And in their [the prophets'] footsteps we sent Jesus the son of Mary, confirming the Torah that had come before him: we sent him the gospel; therein was guidance and light. And confirmation of the Torah that had come before him: a guidance and an admonition to those who fear Allah" Sura 5:46

Now this verse of the Qur'an is remarkable. If God sent Jesus to confirm the Torah (first five books of the Bible's Old Testament), then at least in Jesus' time, the Torah that people could read and Jesus could confirm was the same Torah God sent.

It goes on. Sura 5:47 goes on to say "Let the People of the Gospel Judge by what Allah hath revealed Therein...." If the People of the Gospel are to judge by what God has revealed in the Gospel, then how can the Gospel they are to judge by not be the Gospel God told them to judge by?

Sura 5:48 says, "To thee (People of the Book) We sent the scripture in truth, confirming the scripture that came before it, and guarding it in safety: so judge between them by what Allah hath revealed, and follow not their vain desires, diverging from the truth that hath come to thee...."

Since God had the power to give His word, God had the power to guard His word in safety. Do you agree?

In modern times, some Arab boys found a cave at Qumran, wherein were a great number of scrolls from the time of Christ. Among the earliest was a scroll of Isaiah from a 100 years or so before Christ. These are called the Dead Sea Scrolls, and they contain all but one of the books of the Old Testament. Thus we can read for ourselves today the Old Testament in Jesus' time.