Can we trust the Gospels recorded in the Bible? How do we know they are accurate? How do we know they contain truth and not the imaginations of man?
Most Muslims today deny that the gospels as recorded in the Bible is genuine. Muslims believe there is another book that had been given to Jesus called “Injeel”. The problem with this claim is no one has ever produced or seen such a book and no one can quote a single verse from it.
Can we trust the Gospels recorded in the Bible? How do we know they are accurate? How do we know they contain truth and not the imaginations of man?
Most Muslims today deny that the gospels as recorded in the Bible is genuine. Muslims believe there is another book that had been given to Jesus called “Injeel”. The problem with this claim is no one has ever produced or seen such a book and no one can quote a single verse from it.
Note: What is Injeel? Injeel is not an Arabic word. It is a corruption of the Greek word, evangellion, which means good news or gospel.
Skeptics will point to documents like the Gospel of Barnabas or the Gospel of Thomas, etc. as indication that there are other gospels and accuse Christians of having chosen only the ones found in the New Testament while rejecting the rest.
The truth is the Biblical gospels are the earliest accounts of Jesus. All from the early 1st century AD and all within the lifetime of the apostles of Jesus. The only gospels close to Jesus’ time are the gospels of the New Testament. Fabricated gospels came much later. They are mainly from the mid second century AD or later. Long after the apostles had died!
For example, the Gospel of Thomas that was supposedly authored by Thomas, is dated by scholars as 135-200 AD. The apostle Thomas died in 72 AD in India. How can he write something 60 years after he died?
The famed Gospel of Barnabas is another example. Attributed to Barnabas but Barnabas died in 61 AD. The gospel of Barnabas has been proven to be a forgery from the middle ages, as late as the 15th or 16th century AD!
One very important criteria for accepting a gospel as canon of scripture is this: Was the author an apostle or have a close connection with an apostle?
All fabricated gospels fail this test and other tests used to determine validity.
To learn about Jesus, the most accurate and reliable source is the Gospels. They were written in the lifetime of the apostles and copies were hand-written circulated widely even during the lifetime of the original apostles and their disciples.
If we look at the earliest biography of Muhammad, Sirat Rasul. It was written by Ibn Ishaq /Ibn Hisham in the 9th century AD. 200 years after Muhammad!
Alexander the Great’s earliest biography was written 400 years after his death! A lot of what we know about Alexander the Great come from these writings.
On the other hand, the gospel record of the life of Jesus was put in writing between 60- 90 AD. This is mere decades after Jesus’ ascension (33-36 AD). Not 200 years or 400 years! And remember, the eyewitnesses of Jesus were still around when the gospels were written and circulated to verify what was written. Who were the eyewitnesses of Muhammad who could verify the Sirat 200 years after him? Yet The Sirat is revered and studied as a biography of Muhammad for centuries.
Who were the eyewitnesses of Alexander the Great who could verify his biography 400 years after him? Yet, today a lot of what we know about Alexander the Great come from these very writings.
The very fact that Allah tells the Christians of Muhammad’s time to judge by the gospel is evidence that the gospel was in their possession. and not lost or corrupted.
And let the People of the Gospel judge by what Allah has revealed therein.
Sura 5:47
Still Muslims are skeptical about the contents of the gospel we have. Muslims have no basis to claim that the gospels we have today are different from Muhammad’s time because you have not seen any other “islamic gospel.” It’s all conjecture.
This is what someone who actually saw and read the gospel existing during Muhammad’s time had to say. This is al-Tabari (838-923 AD), one of the greatest Muslim scholar and historian, writer of Quran commentary.
” … the first one which came into existence, is the Torah, which is in the hands of the People of the Book…As to the Gospel which is in the hands of the Christians, the greater part of it is the history of the Christ, His birth and His life.”
Tabari, The Book of Religion and Empire, p.51
Anything you have read come to mind?
How Do We Know The Authors Of the Gospel
None of the gospel themselves names their authors. So how do we know who wrote it?
Through recorded history.
Learn more here: Who Wrote The Gospels?