William Lane Craig’s Critique of Islam
William Lane Craig is a well-known Christian debater and one can benefit from the following interview. However, William Lane Craig wrongly asserts that the Quran says Abraham offered up Isaac (15:03-16:14):
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The Quran does not explicitly say who Abraham offered
The Quran does not explicitly say who Abraham offered (Quran 37:100-108), and early Quranic interpreters were divided as to whether it was Isaac and Ishmael. Reuven Firestone collated more than two hundred medieval Islamic commentaries and concluded that one hundred thirty named Isaac as the son, one hundred thirty-three named Ishmael. Yet over time Ishmael prevailed over Isaac. Islam now rejects the biblical teaching that Abraham offered Isaac (Bruce Feiler, Abraham [William Morrow: New York 2002], 101-107).
William Lane Craig discusses how in a debate with Jamal Badawi (1997?) he pointed out that the Quran says Abraham offered up Isaac, and Badawi strongly objected. It’s understandable why Jamal Badawi objected; Dr. Craig was wrong about the Quran.
It perplexes me that years after after the debate William Lane Craig still mistakenly asserts that the Quran says Abraham offered Isaac (the above interview was done in 2008). Does William Lane Craig think he knows more about the Quran than Muslims? Didn’t William Lane Craig take the time to listen to Jamal Badawi’s objection at this point?
Now do you understand my dilemma? I’m siding with a Muslim and not a Christian for whom I have the utmost respect. I am in the unenviable position of critiquing Dr. William Lane Craig’s critique of Islam.
William Lane Craig has substantial critiques of Islam, but his arguments are severely blunted by his misrepresentation of the Quran.
Don’t assume that you know more about the Quran than Muslims. Conversly, Muslims should not assume that they know more about the Bible than Christians. It is a red flag when Christian or Muslims think they know better.
So I commend the above critique of Islam by William Lane Craig with this caveat, the Quran does not teach that Abraham offered up Isaac (15:03-16:14). See also William Lane Craig’s podcast, “What About Chrislam“.
For Critiques of Islam see:
Hi Pst Aaron I totally agree with you. I too have a great respect for Dr William Craig and he made a similar blunder in a debate with Muslim Attorney yusuf Ismail in South Africa in 2011 when he used the AVATAR to explain the deity of Jesus Christ.