Adeel,

Thanks for writing. Firstly, let me commend you for trying to investigate your faith and how it differs from others' beliefs. The Qur'an itself exhorts you to seek true knowledge, and I'm glad you are. I hope you will investigate a little deeper into the things which we'll discuss here.

I accept your premise that we should confine our discussion to the three main monotheistic faiths. However, because all three believe in a single God does not mean that all three believe in the same God. Judaism teaches that God is Yahweh, the Creator of heaven and earth. He is a single God: "Hear O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is One!" (Deut 6:4). Christianity also teaches that God is One. He is One in essence, but has revealed Himself in three distinct persons.

Let me draw a rather clumsy analogy: When a man and a woman get married the Bible says "the two shall become one flesh" (Gen 2:24). The persons are distinct, but there is one marriage, one union. Now suppose both spouses have complete agreement on everything, to the point that when one speaks, you could be assured that the other spouse would have said or done the exact same thing. Each one also has the authority to commit the assets of the family to any investment or purchase, etc. This comes close to the idea of the Trinity. Each person of the Godhead is distinct, but each are considered God. The man or woman speaking alone can be said to be speaking for the family. God is not limited to a number since He is a spirit (John 4:24), and not limited to the physical world.

We know that Jesus called the Father God. Jesus also claimed to be God (John 10:30, Luke 22:70) and was recognized as such by others (John 20:28). We also know the Holy Spirit is God (Acts 5:3,4). As people who believe in "the Book of God" as the Qur'an calls it, we accept these teachings. Even the Qur'an teaches that one should accept the New Testament teachings. In sura 10:95 it states "If thou wert in doubt As to what We have revealed Unto thee, then ask those Who have been reading The Book from before thee; The truth hath indeed come To thee from thy Lord.7quot; Also, in suras 4:171 and 5:78, the Qur'an states that one should believe the words of Jesus, as He was God's prophet. So I believe Jesus' teachings on His deity.

Now, as to the prophets of God guiding man towards Him, I do believe that. The problem arises when you have two people claiming to be God's prophet, but the messages they deliver are opposed to each other. The Qur'an ,in sura 6:84-86, states that Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Noah, David, Zechariah, Moses, Jonah, Elisha, and Jesus were all prophets of God. If we look at their messages and find them at odds with Islamic teaching, we must believe that only one can be right.

We'll compare Jesus and His teachings to that of Muhammad. Jesus' birth was foretold in hundreds of prophecies. Muhammad has no prophecies foretelling his birth or mission. You state that you accept the virgin birth of Jesus, and so do I. Muhammad, however, was born of the natural union of a human father and mother. Jesus lived a sinless life (2 Cor 5:21) and is considered sinless by the Qur'an (called an all-Righteous one). Muhammad, however was someone who needed forgiveness for his faults (sura 40:55,41:19). Jesus performed many miracles to substantiate His claim (Luke 7:22), but nowhere in the Qur'an does it state that Muhammad performed any miracles. None of Jesus' enemies could find any fault with Him, but even the Qur'an states that Muhammad took his son Zaid's wife from him (sura 33:36-38). Finally, Muhammad is dead today. His grave is in Medina. Jesus is alive forever. He ascended to the right hand of the Father.

Now, concerning the history of the Bible, I think you need to dig a little deeper. The single source which you found ( the encyclopedia) isn't necessarily the end of the story. Throughout most of the history of Christianity, the writers of the Gospels and the rest of the New Testament were accepted as those who you've heard. In the 1800's some skeptics tried to undermine the bible by claiming that the ascribed authors weren't the real authors. (If the authors were eyewitnesses, then the Bible would have to be true, and if you're trying to disprove that, then this just won't do). So several critics from Germany formed what has become known as "the documentary hypothesis". Starting with an unproved assumption, coupled by an anti-supernatural bias, they worked backward to come up with this idea. These same critics will claim that Muhammad did not write the Qur'an, but men hundreds of years later. If you accept their premise on the Bible, you must also accept their premise on the Qur'an.

The fact is, there are so many copies of the New Testament which are only 30 to 100 years later than the originals, we can safely say that we know the actual text which was originally written by the writers. Nothing has been changed, corrupted, or left out. All of the letters by the early church fathers (those who would have been alive to know the Apostles) also substantiate the authorship and content of the New Testament. The Old Testament has also proven to be reliable with the discovery of the Dead Sea scrolls.

Now, I have a question for you. You state that the Qur'an instructs you to seek knowledge. What happens if that knowledge doesn't match what the Qur'an teaches? The Qur'an in suras 7:54 and 10:3 agrees with the Bible that the world was created in six days. But, in sura 41:9 to 12, if you add up the days there you will count eight days for creation. This seems to be a contradiction. The Qur'an also states that Alexander the Great followed the setting sun (sura 18:85-86) until the sun sank in a spring of muddy water! Also Jinns, what the Western world has known as genies, play an important part in the Qur'an, right from the first line.

There are many instances where the Qur'an teaches about people from the Bible, but gives inaccurate data concerning them. Noah's flood did not take place in the days of Moses (sura 7:136 compared to sura 7:59); Moses was adopted by Pharaoh's daughter, not wife (sura 28:8-9 compared to Exodus 2:5); and crucifixion was not used in Moses' day (sura 7:124), but wasn't even invented until one thousand years later. These are only a few of the places where the Qur'an diverges from the Biblical and historical record.

I hope you've found this dialog enlightening, for nothing else than to clarify the Christian perspective on a few points. Please let me know what you think, for thinking rationally should never hurt the cause of truth, but only strengthen it.