Introduction

The following is a Christian response to common problems Muslims have with Christianity, followed by a number of problems Christians find with Islam and its texts.

Christianity Problem 1: The Authors of Most of the Books of the New Testament are Unknown

We actually know a lot about the sources of the New Testament. It's widely accepted that the Gospels were written by their namesakes in the mid-to-late 1st century (at least three of them before the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD). Matthew was written by a former tax collector and disciple of Jesus, also known as Levi. Early church fathers Papias, Irenaeus, Pantaenus and Origen corroborate Matthew as the gospel's author, estimating it was written in the 50s to 60s AD (https://crossexamined.org/wrote-gospel-matthew).

Papias and Irenaeus confirm disciple John Mark wrote Mark's Gospel somewhere from the 40s to the late 60s AD (being conservative), using the eyewitness testimony of chief disciple Peter, having been an interpreter and scribe of his during the early church period of the 1st century (https://crossexamined.org/wrote-gospel-mark).

Luke, a physician known as the companion of Paul, wrote the Gospel of Luke using the eyewitness testimony of early church fathers whose job it was to guarantee the oral transmission of the accounts of Jesus' life before written texts were available. Writing to his sponsor, Theophilus, at the beginning of the book, Luke writes, "Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught." He wrote his account at some time in the early 60s AD (https://crossexamined.org/wrote-gospel-luke-acts).

John, son of Zebedee, the beloved disciple of Jesus, wrote the Gospel of John. This is supported by Ignatius of Antioch, Irenaeus, Polycarp and Clement of Alexandria. John was the last of the 4 gospels written around mid-80s to early 90s AD (https://crossexamined.org/wrote-gospel-john).

Luke also wrote Acts, which was completed by AD 64 and documents the early history of the church and the spread of the gospel, as documented by Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Papias and others. Again, all sourced from eyewitness testimony as Luke states above.

Being conservative again, since the vast majority of Christians believe all 13 of Apostle Paul's letters to be written by him, 7 of them are undisputed by Bible scholars. These being Galatians, 1 Thessalonians, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Romans, Philippians and Philemon (all written between 48-62 AD). If you were to limit yourself to just these 7, you'd have an excellent body of scripture to go by anyway! 1 Corinthians contains the earliest known creed Christians would use at church gatherings, dated within 5 years of Jesus' death and resurrection (scholar James Dunn said within months). We believe the same thing about Jesus as the earliest Christians did (https://beliefmap.org/bible/1-corinthians/15-creed/date). It reads as follows:

"For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles." - 1 Corinthians 15:3-7

"According to the Scriptures" here makes reference to Old Testament prophecies (which all came true) about Jesus' life and mission to die for us on the cross and be raised from the dead.

The remaining books attributed to Paul (out of the 13 in total) are 2 Thessalonians, Colossians, Ephesians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus and Hebrews. It's reasonable to assume they were written by disciples of Paul under his guidance, although he may have dictated to a secretary later on in life, which could have affected various aspects of his writing. Regardless, Christians believe all Biblical scripture is inspired by God. We have it because God wants us to have it, so the exact history of its authorship is secondary to its actual content, which is attested to by the Holy Spirit (the very Spirit of truth) within us:

"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." - 2 Timothy 3:16-17

The rest of the books of the New Testament are:

Christianity Problem 2: The Gospels are Contradictory

On the face of it, the 'contradictions' people raise about the Gospels seem problematic, however there are perfectly acceptable explanations for them, and the misconceptions they reveal can be dispelled fairly easily.

For example, one contradiction people raise is about what time Jesus was crucified. In Mark it says Jesus was crucified at 'the third hour', but in John it says his trial before Pilate was at 'the sixth hour'. This sounds like they have an account of two completely different timelines, but really it's because Mark was referring to the Jewish time system, which starts at 6am, and John was referring to the Roman time system starting at 12am. So you actually have Jesus being taken away to be crucified at 6am in John and the crucifixion taking place at 9am in Mark. The two timelines compliment each other and don't pose a contradiction.

The Gospels are also based on different eyewitness accounts, so similar stories have variations in their telling. This is common in eyewitness testimony. Just as the police gather separate witness statements regarding a crime, the Bible gives us a broad picture by including multiple perspectives on the same events. If the Bible were a fabrication, it would have benefitted the compilers to include only one Gospel or to combine all of them into one. We're blessed with a rich tapestry of Jesus' life through the multiplicity of the Gospels and additional eyewitness information found in other places, such as Acts. There's a lot of data!

Some of the Gospels have stories others don't and there's more or less detail between them, but all four agree on the major aspects of Jesus' life; he was the Son of God and claimed to be God, he performed miracles and taught the gospel of salvation and the kingdom of heaven; he came to pay for our sins, he was sentenced to death by Pontius Pilate, he died on the cross as a sacrifice for us and was raised from the dead on the third day.

There are several 'contradictions' that people point to and I won't list them all here, but if there are particular issues that concern you, let me know and I'll do my best to address them.

Christianity Problem 3: The Original Manuscripts are Substantially Different From What We Have Today

This sounds like the typical Islamic claim that the Bible has been changed or corrupted somehow. This is just false. We have thousands of ancient manuscripts (either fragments, whole books or full copies of the Bible) that agree with each other and prove that what we have today is the same scripture as the early church and the ancient Hebrews had. There are textual variants between translations into different languages of course, but the substance and meaning of the text has not changed.

We also have a 'chain of custody' in the writings of the early church fathers. As scripture was passed down through generations of teachers and students (first from eyewitnesses), students would quote and make notes about the scripture they were receiving, and the Biblical text was confirmed over and over again. "Indeed so extensive are these citations that if all the sources for our knowledge of the text of the New Testament were destroyed, they would be sufficient alone for the reconstruction of practically the entire New Testament." (B. M. Metzger, The Text Of The New Testament: Its Transmission Corruption, And Restoration)

You can see a comprehensive list of patristic quotations from nearly every book of the Bible here: http://www.earlychristiancommentary.com/FathersScripIndex

Also, the earliest full manuscript of the New Testament is Codex Sinaiticus (containing much of the Old Testament as well), written in Greek around 345 AD. The British Library has digitised it and you can read it in the original Greek and in English (https://www.codexsinaiticus.org/en/manuscript.aspx?&book=36).

In fact, the Quran affirms Jewish and Christian scripture that came before it (Quran 3:3): "He has sent down upon you, [O Muhammad], the Book in truth, confirming what was before it. And He revealed the Torah and the Gospel"

It also says (Quran 10:94): "So if you are in doubt, [O Muhammed], about that which We have revealed to you, then ask those who have been reading the Scripture before you. The truth has certainly come to you from your Lord, so never be among the doubters."

So Muhammed was instructed to ask the Jews and Christians if he was unsure about the content of the Quran since, according to the Quran, it confirmed 'what was before it'.

Furthermore, Allah asserts that his words cannot be changed (Quran 6:115): "The Word of your Lord is perfect in truthfulness and justice; no one can change His words. He is the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing."

A few questions arise here then:

The assertion that the Bible has been changed certainly doesn't come from the Quran. Quran 29:46: "And do not argue with the People of the Scripture except in a way that is best, except for those who commit injustice among them, and say, "We believe in that which has been revealed to us and revealed to you. And our God and your God is one; and we are Muslims [in submission] to Him."

This brings me to another argument against Islam, that the Bible contradicts much of what's taught in the Quran. If the Bible is true then the Quran can't be. So why does Allah point to it as if it confirms what's in the Quran? This is known as the Islamic Dilemma, a logical dead end that Muslims must contend with. Apparently the idea of Biblical corruption was invented by someone called ibn Hazm in the 11th century in order to address this problem, and imams and Muslim scholars have perpetuated that lie ever since. However, it just leads to another dead end, i.e. the Quran affirms corrupted scripture and therefore cannot be the infallible word of God.

Christianity Problem 4: The Theology of the Trinity is a Later Development, Christian Theologians Call it Incoherent and it's Not Monotheistic

The idea that the Holy Trinity is a later development is a misconception. The word 'Trinity' is not in the Bible, however that doesn't mean that the Bible doesn't teach it. On the contrary, the Trinity is demonstrated many times throughout the Old and New Testaments. The official church doctrine of the Trinity wasn't confirmed until 325 AD (at the Council of Nicea), but the early church believed in the same concept of God, just without the label. Actually the Council of Nicea was convened in order to eliminate various heretical ideas of what the Trinity was (namely Modalism and Monarchianism), and served to confirm what Christians already believed it to be.

To be clear, Christians believe in one God (monotheism). God is one being and three persons, all equally God. Each person shares the same divine nature and is separate from the other two persons; the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. God is one 'what' and three 'whos'. Each person of the Trinity has their own thoughts and will but they always act in agreement with each other. We often refer to all three persons at the same time using the term 'God', but we might also use the word God to reference a particular person of the Trinity, e.g. when we say Jesus is God.

Don't get me wrong, God has a complex identity, but I wouldn't call it incoherent. At a certain point it is a mystery and as mere humans we're unable to grasp the full nature of God, but that's fine; by His own explanation, His ways are higher than ours (Isaiah 55:9), i.e. God is so powerful and intelligent that we just can't comprehend the entirety of who He is and what He does.

In Exodus, God reveals His true name as Yahweh (the ancient Hebrew) or "I Am" in English. As His name suggests, He has always existed and always will.

In Isaiah 61:1 (Old Testament), the Son is speaking, while making reference to the Father and the Holy Spirit: "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;". He did exactly that in his earthly ministry when he came in the flesh, and that same mission continues today.

In several places, the Old Testament records encounters with someone called, "the Angel of the Lord" (no mere angel). In the story of Abraham, the Angel of the Lord appears to him and assumes the role of God, saying, "Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me." (Genesis 22:12).

Another time in Judges, the Angel of the Lord appears to Gideon and promises victory in battle over the Midianites: "Now the angel of the Lord came and sat under the terebinth at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress to hide it from the Midianites. And the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, "The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor." And Gideon said to him, "Please, my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all his wonderful deeds that our fathers recounted to us, saying, 'Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?' But now the Lord has forsaken us and given us into the hand of Midian." And the Lord turned to him and said, "Go in this might of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian; do not I send you?" And he said to him, "Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house." And the Lord said to him, "But I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man." (Judges 6:11-16)

With the Trinity in mind, it's easy to conclude that the appearances of the Angel of the Lord are that of pre-incarnate Christ; a figure in the form of a man, assuming the identity of God.

As well as this, every book in the Old Testament prophesies the coming of the Messiah, the ultimate king of the people of Israel who will redeem them from sin and set up God's kingdom on Earth. Every one of these prophecies is clearly fulfilled by Jesus Christ (Christ means the same as Messiah - anointed one) in the New Testament. The entire Bible is about Jesus!

For example, in Exodus 12, the Jews used the blood of a Passover lamb (without defect) to identify their houses so God's "destroyer" would not enter and kill the firstborn of the family, as was one of His plagues sent to Egypt. Later in John chapter 1, John the Baptist sees Jesus coming and says, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" As Christians, we are covered by the sacrificial blood of Jesus, who lived a sinless life (without defect) so that we no longer have to face God's wrath when we die.

In Jeremiah, it says the Messiah will be God: "In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. This is the name by which he will be called: The Lord Our Righteous Saviour." (Jeremiah 23:6)

In Psalm 22, King David prophesies Jesus' crucifixion (before crucifixion was even invented): "For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet. I can count all my bones. They stare and gloat over me; they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots."

Micah actually predicts the Messiah will be born in Bethlehem: "But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days." (Micah 5:2)

There are 35 more books in the Old Testament, and some have many prophecies of Jesus' life. Conservatively, we can say that Jesus fulfilled at least 300 Old Testament prophecies during His life on Earth. You can find a lot of them outlined here: https://www.gotquestions.org/prophecies-of-Jesus.html

So back to the Trinity, The Holy Spirit appears 26 times in the Old Testament. He participates in creation, gives us life, gives judges, warriors and prophets extraordinary power, convicts people of sin and inspires scripture, among other things.

And of course God is also called Father many times in the Old Testament, for example, "But now, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand." (Isaiah 64:8)

As we come to the New Testament, the most obvious example of the Holy Trinity being 'in the same room together' is at Jesus' baptism: "And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased." (Matthew 3:13-17) Here we have Father God speaking from Heaven, declaring Jesus is His Son, as the Holy Spirit comes to rest on Him.

Later in Matthew, after His resurrection, Jesus instructs his disciples to "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (Matthew 28:19).

John 1 says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God." Then, "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth." So Jesus was with the Father before creation, and was also God at the same time. And then God (Jesus, the Word) came in the flesh and lived among us.

Later in John, Jesus explicitly states He is God: "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am." (John 8:58)

There are many Bible passages that describe the Trinity and its characteristics. For example, there is one God (1 Corinthians 8:4) consisting of three persons (2 Corinthians 13:14) distinct from each other (John 14:16-17), each of whom is God (1 Peter 1:2). They're subordinate to each other in hierarchy (John 14:26) and have different roles to play (too many verses to mention). I can't list all of the relevant passages here but this article has a substantial list: https://www.gotquestions.org/Trinity-Bible.html

Islam Problem 1: The Islamic Dilemma

I've already described this in detail above but it's a serious problem for Islam so I'll include it again here to be thorough.

To summarise, the Quran claims to be the infallible, unchangeable word of Allah, however it also affirms the Bible as divine, unchangeable revelation, which supposedly confirms the theology of the Quran. The Bible, on the other hand, contradicts the Quran on major aspects of theology, so the Quran is either wrong about the Bible or its own theology. Either way it is wrong and is not infallible.

Muslims try to deal with this issue by claiming that the Bible has been changed or corrupted, but this idea is clearly an innovation by Muslims later on, and is contradicted by the Quran itself, church history and archeology. Regardless, even if the Bible was corrupted, the Quran would be affirming false revelation and would still be wrong.

Islam Problem 2: Allah is not Yahweh

In Exodus 3, God reveals his proper name to Moses, 'Yahweh' or 'YHWH' (ancient Hebrew didn't have written vowels), which means "I Am Who I Am". God tells Moses to say to the Israelites, "I Am has sent me to you", and "This is my name forever, the name you shall call me from generation to generation". The ancient Hebrews believed this name to be so holy that when reading or saying 'YHWH', they would replace it with 'Adonai', which means 'Lord', so as not to use the Lord's name in vain. This is why most English translations of the Bible replace 'Yahweh' with 'The LORD'. This name is mentioned around 7000 times in the Bible.

My issue with Islam here then is that nowhere in the Quran or hadith is Allah referred to as Yahweh, even though Yahweh Himself said, "This is my name forever". The Quran asserts Allah has 99 names but none of them are Yahweh. Why would God reveal His proper name, state that it will never change, and then not even mention it in the Quran, instead specifying 99 different names? This leads me to conclude that Allah in the Quran is not the God of the Bible.

Islam Problem 3: Allah Gets the Holy Trinity Wrong

Quran 5:116 says, "And [beware the Day] when Allah will say, "O Jesus, Son of Mary, did you say to the people, 'Take me and my mother as deities besides Allah?'" He will say, "Exalted are You! It was not for me to say that to which I have no right. If I had said it, You would have known it. You know what is within myself, and I do not know what is within Yourself. Indeed, it is You who is Knower of the unseen."

Here Allah appears to be accusing Jesus of teaching the Holy Trinity, but Allah gets it wrong and assumes Mary is the third person instead of the Holy Spirit. This is bizarre and betrays an ignorance of Christian teaching. Not at any time has Mary been depicted as divine or a member of the Holy Trinity in Christianity. The Catholics hold her in very high regard (and get some things wrong about her) but this is still just veneration, not worship of a deity. Apparently there was a heretical sect in pre-Islamic Arabia called Collyridianism (AD 300s-500s) which held that Mary was a goddess worthy of worship. I suspect this is where Muhammed got his information from and wrongly ascribed Mary to the Trinity according to what he thought Christians believed. If it was God speaking, He would definitely have gotten the Holy Trinity right.

Also, the last part of the Quran verse above directly contradicts Jesus in John 10, when he says, "I and the Father are one", and, "the Father is in me and I am in the Father."

Islam Problem 4: Muhammed's False Prophecies

Here are just a few of Muhammed's prophecies that didn't come true:

In Sunan Abi Dawud 2535, talking about Muhammed, it says, "He then placed his hand on my head and said: Ibn Hawalah, when you see the caliphate has settled in the holy land, earthquakes, sorrows and serious matters will have drawn near and on that day the Last Hour will be nearer to mankind than this hand of mine is to your head." The Islamic caliphate conquered Jerusalem in 638 AD and the city remained under Muslim rule for 451 years. Judgement day still hasn't come.

In Sunan Abi Dawud 4294, Muhammed claims that the Dajjal (Antichrist) would appear shortly after the Muslim conquest of Constantinople. As I'm sure you know, Muslims attacked Constantinople a handful of times and finally conquered it in 1453, but the Dajjal did not appear and the world didn't end.

In Sahih al-Bukhari 7099, Muhammed claims that, "Never will succeed such a nation as makes a woman their ruler." England has had eight reigning queens and three female prime ministers and remains a successful nation.

In light of these alone, Moses would have had Muhammed put to death as a false prophet. In Deuteronomy 18:20-22, God gives us a test to determine a false prophet: "But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name that I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.' And if you say in your heart, 'How may we know the word that the Lord has not spoken?'— when a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him."

So the third criteria applies here. None of the events Muhammed described above came to pass, so we must conclude that he was a false prophet. We can't accept any of his revelations as truthful and we must not be afraid of anything he said.

We can also infer that the first two criteria above are met by the Quran's contradictions with the Bible. Even one mistake on Muhammed's behalf is enough for him to fail the test. An easy target, and easily the biggest contradiction, would be the fact that in the Quran, Allah denies that Jesus was crucified, despite thousands of years of Biblical prophecy, history (even non-Christian historians agree it is one of the most certain facts of history), scripture and tradition. To reiterate, the entire Bible is about Jesus and his sacrifice on the cross. Why would God go to the immeasurable length of guiding history towards that one event, come to Earth Himself to fulfill that purpose, leave behind the world's biggest religion, only to tell Muhammed 600 years after it happened that it didn't actually happen? There is no doubt in my mind that God did not command Muhammed to deny that Jesus was crucified and resurrected. And the fact that it wasn't God who told him to say that means that Allah is an "other god".

Jesus predicted false prophets would appear and deceive many people: "Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them." (Matthew 7:15-20)

If we consider Muhammed's 'fruit', we can easily conclude he was a false prophet by Jesus' standard: war, subjugation, torture, child marriage (Aisha), sex-slavery, wife-beating, murder, adultery, lust (Zaynab), prohibition of adoption (because he wanted Zaynab), deception, racism (Jews are called apes and pigs), theft, forced conversion, murder of apostates… I'm sure the list goes on. This doesn't sound like a good tree to me.

Islam Problem 5: The Quran is not Perfectly Preserved as Muslims Claim

The early history of the Quran is very shaky and the standard Islamic narrative that the Quran is perfectly preserved, letter for letter and dot for dot just isn't true. We only have to look at the two most widely recognised, standard versions of the Quran today, the Hafs and Warsh recitations, to see that they contain different words, letters and dots (there are around 5000 textual variants between them).

We don't have the original versions of the Quran and there are reports of lost chapters and alternative recitations before it was standardised.

In Sahi Muslim 1050, Abu Musa akl-Ash'ari, a companion of Muhammed and governor of Basra, sent for his Quran reciters (some reports say there were 300 of them) and they admitted they had forgotten two long chapters of it, now missing from the Quran.

In Kitab al-Masahif by Ibn Abi Dawud (p. 23), it says, "Zuhri reports, 'We have heard that many Quran passages were revealed but that those who had memorised them fell in the Yemama fighting. Those passages had not been written down, and following the deaths of those who knew them, were no longer known; nor had Abu Bakr, nor Umar, nor Uthman as yet collected the texts of the Quran. Those lost passages were not to be found with anyone after the deaths of those who had memorized them.'"

In Sahih Muslim 1452a, Aisha reports that the revelation of 'breastfeeding an adult ten times' had been replaced by 'breastfeeding an adult five times', and was at the time part of the Quran, but then Muhammed died and this revelation is no longer included.

In The Perfect Guide to the Sciences of the Qur'an by Al-Suyuti, Aisha is recorded as saying surah 33 used to be 200 verses long, not 73: "During the time of the Prophet two hundred verses of the chapter Al-Ahzab were recited but when compiling the Qur'an Uthman was only able to collect what now exists."

And so the story goes that the written Quran was assembled by Zaid bin Thabit under first caliph, Abu Bakr from "leafless stalks of the date-palm tree, pieces of leather and hides, and from the stones, and from the chests of men (who had memorised the Quran)." (Sahi al-Bukhari 7191)

In 651 AD, Uthman ibn Affan, the third caliph, had all existing versions of the Quran burnt because they disagreed with his authorised version, which was to be standardised and distributed throughout the caliphate. One of Muhammed's top reciters, Abdullah bin Mas'ud, however, condemned this action and said, "O people of Al-'Iraq! Keep the Musahif (Quran) that are with you, and conceal them. For indeed Allah said: And whoever conceals something, he shall come with what he concealed on the Day of Judgement. So meet Allah with the Musahif." (Jami at-Tirmidhi 3104)

It's clear that Mas'ud preferred his version, which must have been significantly different to the standardised version, even to the point of standing by it on judgement day.

Islam Problem 6: Contradictions in the Quran

The Quran claims that if it came from anyone other than Allah, it would contain much contradiction: "Then do they not reflect upon the Quran? If it had been from [any] other than Allah, they would have found within it much contradiction." (Quran 4:82)

Of course it does contain many contradictions, thus proving by its own standard, that it didn't come from Allah, but from Muhammed himself.

For example, the Quran explicitly claims that Abraham, Joseph, Jacob and Jesus were Muslims. Of Abraham (who lived around 2600 years before Muhammed), it says, "Abraham was neither a Jew nor a Christian, but he was one inclining toward truth, a Muslim [submitting to Allah]. And he was not of the polytheists." (Quran 3:67)

However, the Quran also claims that Muhammed was the first Muslim: "He has no partner. And of this I have been commanded, and I am the first of the Muslims." (Quran 6:163)

As well as this, the Quran claims that Moses was the first to believe. Quran 7:143 says, "...and when his Lord revealed Himself to the mountain, He made it crumble: Moses fell down unconscious. When he recovered, he said, 'Glory be to You! To You I turn in repentance! I am the first to believe!'"

In Quran 5:90, alcohol is an abomination of Satan, but in Quran 16:67, it's a blessing from Allah as 'good provision'.

In several places, the Quran states that Allah is all-powerful, but in Quran 6:101 it says, "[He is] Originator of the heavens and the earth. How could He have a son when He does not have a companion [i.e., wife] and He created all things?" This is a damning contradiction as it clearly implies Allah is not all-powerful. Why could he not just create a son out of nothing like the rest of the heavens and the Earth? My impression is that this is an unforced error on account of Muhammed's eagerness to deny that Jesus was the Son of God.

This leads to another contradiction about creation; how was man created? In Quran 96:2, it says he was made from a clot of congealed blood. In Quran 15:26, it says he was made from clay and mud. In Quran 3:59, Adam was created from dust and Allah told him to "be". In Quran 16:4, man was created from a drop of sperm. All conflicting information here.

Quran 2:256 says, "There shall be no compulsion in [acceptance of] the religion." However, Quran 9:5 says, "And when the inviolable (sacred) months have passed, then kill the polytheists wherever you find them and capture them and besiege them and sit in wait for them at every place of ambush. But if they should repent, establish prayer, and give zakāh (give to charity), let them [go] on their way."

Islam Problem 7: The Quran Adopts Apocryphal Sources

The Quran includes various stories that have clearly been taken from apocryphal texts. These non-biblical sources are considered to be inauthentic forgeries and cannot be taken seriously.

For example, in Quran 19:29-30, Jesus speaks as an infant: "She pointed at him. They said, 'How can we converse with an infant?' [But] he said: 'I am a servant of God. He has granted me the Scripture; made me a prophet".

In the Arabic Infancy Gospel, written in the 6th century, it says, "He (Joseph the high priest) has said that Jesus spoke, and, indeed, when He was lying in His cradle said to Mary His mother: I am Jesus, the Son of God, the Logos, whom thou hast brought forth".

In Quran 3:49, Jesus makes a bird out of clay, breathes into it and the bird comes alive: "And will make him [Isa (Jesus)] a Messenger to the Children of Israel (saying): "I have come to you with a sign from your Lord, that I design for you out of clay, a figure like that of a bird, and breathe into it, and it becomes a bird by Allah's Leave".

The Infancy Gospel of Thomas, dated to the mid-to-late 2nd century, contains the same story: "He (at five years old) then made soft clay and shaped it into twelve sparrows. [...] Jesus simply clapped his hands and shouted to the sparrows: "Be off, fly away, and remember me, you who are now alive!" And the sparrows took off and flew away noisily."

Quran 4:157 says, "And [for] their (the Jews) saying, 'Indeed, we have killed the Messiah, Jesus the son of Mary, the messenger of Allah.' And they did not kill him, nor did they crucify him; but [another] was made to resemble him to them. And indeed, those who differ over it are in doubt about it. They have no knowledge of it except the following of assumption. And they did not kill him, for certain."

Most likely from The Gospel of Basilides, dated to the early 2nd century, church father Iraneus in Against Heresies (180 AD), describes an account of Jesus' crucifixion, which bears a remarkable resemblance to the substitution hypothesis in the Quran: "He [Christ] appeared on earth as a man and performed miracles. Thus, he himself did not suffer. Rather, a certain Simon of Cyrene was compelled to carry his cross for him. It was he [Simon] who was ignorantly and erroneously crucified, being transfigured by him [Jesus], so that he [Simon] might be thought to be Jesus. Moreover, Jesus assumed the form of Simon and stood by, laughing at them."

God is not a deceiver. He cannot lie (Numbers 23:19), and we know that Jesus lived a sinless life, so he wouldn't have participated in any kind of deception either: "He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth." (1 Peter 2:22)

The good news is that Jesus did succeed in His mission and He is the Son of God. He taught a world-changing message of forgiveness, grace and love, and He saved us from the punishment we deserve through faith in His death and resurrection. Everyone has sinned and needs Jesus to save them from God's judgement (Romans 3:23-24). As Christians, when we come to believe in Jesus and what he did for us, we receive the Holy Spirit and are spiritually born again (1 John 5:1-4). We are sealed by God Himself irrevocably (Ephesians 1:13-14). This is our assurance of salvation, which is continually confirmed to us as we experience fellowship with Him throughout our lives. He will never leave us or abandon us (Hebrews 13:5). We are bound for heaven and eternal life with God (John 14:1-6).

Are you sure of your salvation? The Quran doesn't make any promises on the subject. In Quran 46:9, Allah tells Muhammed, "Say, 'I am not something original among the messengers, nor do I know what will be done with me or with you. I only follow that which is revealed to me, and I am not but a clear warner.'"

So even Muhammed didn't know if he would go to heaven. How can you know you've done enough to earn Allah's favour? Prayed enough, done enough good deeds, submitted enough?

With Christianity, it's not about what we do, but what God has done for us. We don't earn our salvation, it is freely given to us as a gift. To accept this gift, just pray the following prayer:

Heavenly Father, in Jesus' name, forgive my sins. I believe that Jesus is your Son and that He lived and died and that you raised him to life again because you loved me.

Islam Problem 8: What is the Injil?

Contrary to the Quran, Muslims claim that the Gospel (the Injil in Arabic), given to Jesus by Allah, no longer exists. Or they cherry pick passages from the four Gospels of the New Testament, claiming they were part of the original message. Or they reference apocryphal sources such as The Gospel of Barnabas (written in the 15th-16th century).

Quran 5:46-47 says Allah sent Jesus and gave Him the Gospel, and that Christians are to judge by it. Quran 7:157 says the Gospel is a written (maktuban in Arabic) document. But we don't know what was in it or who wrote it.

But if it was a written document that the Christians had at the time of Muhammed, how do we know it wasn't the New Testament? If you can't tell me what it is, how can you tell me what it isn't?

Quran 7:157 also claims that Muhammed can be found in the Torah and the Gospel. If it is the Bible we're talking about, this is a false claim. Muhammed is nowhere to be found.

Some translations of this verse reference Deuteronomy 18:15: "The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen—". Moses is talking about Jesus Christ here, not Muhammed.

It also references John 14:16: "And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever,". Here Jesus is speaking about the Holy Spirit, not Muhammed.

While we're on the subject of cherry picking, I've seen Muslims point to Matthew 26:39, where Jesus prays in a prostrate position, claiming this is proof that He was a Muslim. But if you consider the context, He is praying to "My Father" (it's forbidden to call Allah Father in Islam), which also implies He considers Himself the Son of God (also forbidden), and He is praying about His subsequent crucifixion (which Islam denies). How could He be a Muslim when He continuously breaks these rules?

In addition to this, Jesus is recorded as praying in different ways in the Gospels. In John 17:1-2, Jesus lifts His eyes to heaven and says, "Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him."

Also, Jesus taught that fasting should be done in secret: "And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. (Matthew 6:16-18)

This doesn't fit with Islam's approach, which makes fasting a month-long public occasion during Ramadan.