04 · Sources and evidence
Read primary texts in context. The source cards show which step a piece of evidence supports and which conclusion would go beyond it.
Primary text · Quran
The Torah is addressed as being in the addressees' possession and as bearing a divine judgment.
The immediate context concerns a legal judgment; it does not formulate a guarantee for every part of the canon.
Open source ↗Primary text · Quran
The People of the Gospel are to judge according to what God has revealed in it.
The temporal reference, reading and scope of “what God has revealed” require interpretation; see al-Qurṭubī.
Open source ↗Primary text · Quran
The Quran confirms preceding scripture and is described as muhaymin over it.
Confirmation and oversight must be explained together. The verse is also read as a claim to corrective authority.
Open source ↗Primary text · Quran
The People of the Book are called to uphold the Torah, the Gospel and the revelation given to them.
What this includes within an overall interpretation of the Quran is disputed between the conversation partners.
Open source ↗Primary text · Quran
The messenger is presented as described in the Torah and Gospel among the People of the Book.
The claimed description must be examined against a specific text; the verse names no biblical passage.
Open source ↗Primary text · Quran
In a conditional address, the text refers to people who read earlier scripture.
The condition does not entail that Muhammad actually doubted; the precise purpose of the evidence must be considered.
Open source ↗Primary text · Quran
The verse criticizes people who produce writings and pass them off as coming from God.
It quantifies neither all manuscripts nor the entire contents of Jewish and Christian scriptures.
Open source ↗Primary text · Quran
The verse distinguishes scripture from what people make appear to be scripture through their manner of recitation.
The immediate accusation concerns verbal deception; no complete model of transmission follows from it.
Open source ↗Primary text · Quran
The verse denies that the opponents addressed killed or crucified Jesus.
The exact interpretation of the event is debated. The comparison must specify the interpretation being advocated.
Open source ↗Primary text · Quran
Jesus is described as a messenger and the Word of God; at the same time, “three” and divine sonship are rejected.
A Christian understanding of the Word must not simply be read into the Quranic usage.
Open source ↗Primary text · Quran
The statement that God is the Messiah is rejected.
A Christian response must explain what it claims about the Son and how it distinguishes Father and Son.
Open source ↗Primary source · Tafsīr
The collection transmits interpretations of muhaymin as witness, guardian and criterion for earlier scriptures (including reports 12106 and 12115).
Individual transmitted opinions must be distinguished from al-Ṭabarī's own selection and assessment. This is no evidence for an exclusively confirmatory function.
Open source ↗Primary source · Tafsīr
Among the transmitted reports are accusations of altered descriptions and added or removed words (1394–1395).
The text page contains different explanations. A single report proves neither worldwide total corruption nor a uniform position on the commentator's part.
Open source ↗Primary source · Tafsīr
The commentary distinguishes a purpose reading, including that of Ḥamza, from the command reading. It also discusses an earlier command and an injunction relating to Muhammad's time.
The grammatical command reading does not by itself determine the temporal reference. The classical interpretation “recognize Muhammad” must be answered substantively.
Open source ↗Primary source · Hadith
The narrative reports that Muhammad places a Torah brought to him on a cushion and expresses his belief in it and its revealer. The page lists al-Albānī's grading of ḥasan.
The report attests a Muslim tradition. It is not a contemporary record and does not expressly confirm every statement in a present-day edition of the Bible.
Open source ↗Primary source · Manuscript project
The project describes the Greek codex from the middle of the 4th century as the oldest surviving complete copy of the New Testament. This provides an extensive pre-Islamic textual witness.
Dating and textual contents establish age and continuity. By themselves, they prove neither inspiration nor the truth of every transmitted statement; textual variants must be examined.
Open source ↗Primary text · New Testament
John 1,1–3.14 connects the Word with God, creation and incarnation. John 20,28 contains Thomas's confession addressed to Jesus.
For the internal dilemma, it must additionally be established why the relevant statement belongs to the content confirmed by the Quran.
Open source ↗Primary text · New Testament
John 19 recounts the crucifixion and death of Jesus. A specific narrative context can be compared with the interpretation of Surah 4:157 being advocated.
Demonstrating a difference between two texts does not replace establishing that the Quran confirms precisely this content as true.
Open source ↗Primary text · New Testament
The Johannine text identifies the promised Advocate with the Holy Spirit. This immediate context must be explained when identifying him with Muhammad.
The failure of this identification initially refutes this proposed prophecy, not automatically every conceivable proposal.
Open source ↗Muslim opposing position
The presentation defends a model of earlier scripture that is partly preserved and partly corrupted. The Quran serves as the decisive criterion.
The page represents an argued Muslim position, not a consensus of all Muslims. A Christian response must address this partial model.
Open source ↗Research · The Muslim World 92 (2002), 419–436
Pp. 420–428 discuss various forms of taḥrīf. Pp. 429–430 argue for accessible scripture and discuss Ibn Taymiyya's nuanced position. Pp. 431–432 examine differing concepts of revelation.
Saeed offers a scholarly interpretation of the sources. His account does not support a blanket claim that Muslim interpreters universally ruled out textual alteration. The full text of the article was consulted through the SWBTS library.
Open source ↗Christian commentary · Section on Surah 5:48
The consulted section on Surah 5:48 treats confirmation of earlier scripture together with the Quran's claim to judge over it.
A Christian commentary is an interpretive secondary source. It replaces neither the Arabic primary text nor the examination of Muslim counterarguments. Read in Logos.
Open source ↗A pre-Islamic textual witness refutes the claim that its already attested content arose only after Muhammad. It does not by itself decide whether that content is original, inspired or confirmed by the Quran. A claim of alteration must therefore specify the particular passage, the alleged time frame and the existing textual witnesses.
Codex Sinaiticus serves here as a datable witness to the transmitted New Testament tradition. The modern Bible translation is used to read the content; it is not presented as an image or transcription of the manuscript.
Martin Whittingham, A History of Muslim Views of the Bible: The First Four Centuries, Berlin/Boston: De Gruyter, 2021. Bibliographic details checked in the library catalogue; in this learning section, no substitute for a documented individual piece of evidence from the full text.
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