Bart Ehrman and the Quran
Here is a clip of Bart Ehrman a famous – infamous depending on your point of view – critic of the Bible as to why he would not attempt to apply his scholarship toward the Quran:
Does the Quran Have a Textual History?
The Muslim attitude toward a textual tradition of the Quran highlights an important difference between Christianity and Islam. Christianity is rooted in history and it’s beliefs and Scriptures are therefore subject to historical methods of investigation. The Quran, according to Muslim doctrine, is an eternal book; therefore, Muslims do not typically look favorably on the idea that the text had a history and manuscript tradition.
Does the Quran (mushaf) have a history? Yes. Dr. Stefan Wild has said, “there were certainly more than one embryonic preliminary stage and prototype that preceded the codified and canonized version [of the Quran] which we know.”
Is there a manuscript tradition of the Quran (mushaf) with variant readings? Yes. How much can we say about them? Very little because the Quran has gone through textual purgings,
“while it may be true that no other work has remained for twelve centuries with so pure a text, it is probably equally true that no other has suffered so drastic a purging” (L Bevan Jones, The People of the Mosque, p.62).
Back in the 1970s some 1,500 fragments of the Quran belonging to no less than 950 copies of the Quran were identified in Great Mosque in the Yemeni capital Sana’a. A few of these Quranic fragments were apparently written as early as toward the end of the first century hijra (7th century, approximately, common era). Unfortunately, only very few of these fragments have been published so far and put at the disposal of the scientific community. It is unclear whether they will be published at all in the foreseeable future. Some of the reasons for this seem to be:
- The idea of textual variants in the Quran is too sensitive a topic in the Muslim world (see Stefan Wild, “The History of the Quran“).
- Today’s Quranic text is much more standardized in meaning than what is found in the Sana’a fragments. The Sana’a manuscripts and their lack of vowel markings means individual Arabic words can have up to thirty different meanings.
The real issue is the Quranic Injil
More importantly, Bart Ehrman and textual critical arguments Muslims sometimes use against the reliability of the New Testament are a red herring.
The real issue is that Muslims believe that before the Christian gospels were written, a single book (the Injil) from heaven given to Jesus and which Jesus gave to His followers (cf. Qur’an 5:46; 57:27). No such book exists or has ever existed.
For Further Study
I think if you have a trace of objectivity and respect for the truth which will never be affected by those who accept it or not it is enough for you this result that a previous Christian had come to , your Bible by all means is loosing credibility day after day , what Dr.Bart Ehreman came to is exactly what the Holy Koran stated 14 centuries ago , Jesus is neither God nor a son of God , and all these inventions and fabrications is only an imitations of what the pagans used to say ,what is left after that for a Christian to believe? , remember if you actually believe that God does exist and as it became clear that both recent Christianity and recent Judism are man made God must have revealed His true Holy word to people , or do you think He can leave people in a great mess ,and loss ? what you said about the Quran can’t be but your men imagination this is afabrication of those who keep all the time deceiving you and laughing at you in order to keep Christianity alive , what you said about sanna is never mentioned before , the Holy Koran had been collected in one book within only 2 years from the prophet’s death , and what was collected was actually what was written between the hands of him so there is no probability to find at the 70s in Yemen , so far from Mecca and Medina these fragment and I challenge you to give one reliable source of what you said
whatever dr. bart Ehrman says about the Quran or Islam will not affect the truth , by all means he knew nothing about both of them , it is only for the benefit of every one to accept and reach the truth as it is because one day this truth will impose itself upon us all and the bill will be very heavy for those who had not attached to it before who had long accepted what others used to deceive them by
knowing this fact I had never accepted the Koran as my Holy book and only living word of God but through very convicting measures , if you really want to debate with me to know why I am so sure of my Holy book on basis of what is written in the Koran , not through these very simple artless claims like ” they found in Sanaa !!!!!!
and who by God’s name is this Dr. Stefan Wild , and what he knew about Koran and whether there must be an embryonic preliminary stage? , a kind of wording calling one to laugh at ,a mere kind of projection of what you actually suffer , fragments of your books found everywhere belonging to different unknown authors of apparently different cultures , places , this is not applicable the least to our Holy Koran which was known to be found and recited in the same place by the same people , not liable the least to be found that imaginary way you speak about , projection like this is a sign of bankruptcy what you definitely did not know that the Holy Koran was memorized by thousands of Muslims from beginning to end during the life of the prophet < they used to recite it in their prayers and in night prayers they used to spend hours reciting every day a considerable proportion of It from memory
The Miraculous Koran for those who don't know can be memorized totally from people who initially do not know the Arabic language ,because beside being a book of Islamic teaching , reciting it is a very good way to come nearer to God
what was made for the Koran to come to us recited as it used to be recited from the mouth of the prophet through several readings to the same text according to different accents of Arabic tribes had never known to be done to any other book , God Himself in the Koran assured us that He will Keep the Koran , and it was not only the Koran as a book that had been preserved but the language of it too , otherwise it would have long been lost
I call you to read the Book of the amazing Koran by Gary Miller a previous Christian preacher and the famous book of Murice Bucaille : the Koran , the Torah and the Bible
once again I am very ready to debate with you through my e mail but only on condition that both me and you be ready to be convinced by the other Idea if it turned to be more convincing , but if all what you want is to implant suspicion in my faith any way by repeating what you used to hear from your men , then I have no time to loose!
look here if I was born to an Islamic family , believing in God the Islamic way and glorify the Holy Koran , while you was born to a Christian family believing in whatever the Bible tells them , and if the controversy between both faiths is at the top level this means clearly that if one of us is at the right side the other is definitely at the wrong one , the truth may be with me or you, theoretically the probability away of any proof is equal , so if I only stuck to Islam because I found myself to be Muslim and that was the case for you , we are deceiving ourselves < it is the sake of every one's benefit to do his best to come to the mere truth as it is not as he likes it to be , away from any fanatic considerations
we have to be neutral and objective . the ultimate fate in an everlasting life is no subject for relinquishment ,courtesy , compromises
so i must stand on hard basis , I in no way do not try to convince my self the other is wrong through misunderstanding of what he says , I must be careful to have the information the way he believes accepts and understands , study the matter objectively , this is the only grown up method to deal with the mater and the only way to come to the truth
in fact If Dr. bart Ehrman came to the conclusion that Jesus the Christ had never known himself to be God or son of God through historical researches I can tell you through a debate by email how I came to the same conclusion by rational thinking , as I think coming to the true faith is attainable by our minds the wonderful gift of the Almighty God to His people .