Do you believe what Jesus believed about the Bible?

The Bible was central to Jesus’ teaching

The Bible was foundational to Jesus’ beliefs and teaching,

Jesus taught that the Bible was authoritative (Matthew 5:17-44 and John 10:30-36).
Jesus taught that the biblical writers were inspired by the Holy Spirit (Mark 12:36).
Jesus taught that the Old Testament Bible is a means of salvation (Luke 16:31; see Rom.10:17).
When Jesus was disputing with the Pharisees and teachers of the Law He appealed to the Scriptures (Matthew 19:4 with Genesis 2:24; Matthew 22:41-46 with Psalm 110:1).
Jesus taught that error comes from not knowing the Bible (Matthew 22:29).
Jesus taught that it was necessary for Scripture be fulfilled (Luke 24:25,27,44; Matthew 26:54).
Jesus put belief in His words on the same level as belief in the Old Testament Bible (John 5:45-47).

The Qur’anic ʾInjīl

It has been my experience that Muslims don’t take seriously references to the Christian gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) because they mistakenly believe the gospels are corrupted from the ʾInjīl, which the Qur’an claims was given to Jesus,

Quran 5:46
And We made to supervene on their tracks Isa son of Maryam, (Jesus son of Mary) sincerely verifying whatever of the Tawrah (The Book revealed to Musa “Moses”, of which the extant Torah is a corruption) was before him, (Literally: between: between his two hands) and We brought him the Injil, (The Book revealed to Isa “Jesus”, of which the extant Gospel is a corruption) wherein there is a guidance and a light, and sincerely verifying whatever of the Tawrah (The Book revealed to Musa “Moses”, of which the extant Torah is a corruption ) was before him, (Literally: between: between his two hands) and a guidance and an admonition to the pious. (Mohammad Mahmoud Ghali)

Gordon Nickel wrote about the ʾInjīl,

The claim that the Injīl was a writing “given” to or “sent down” upon Jesus appears for the first time six hundred years after the death and resurrection of Jesus, in the Qur’an (Q 5:46,47).¹

The truth is that Jesus was never given a book from heaven. Jesus never gave His followers a book, which the Qur’an calls the ʾInjīl.

Jesus is the good news sent from heaven. He is what the Christian gospels and the other books of the New and Old Testaments are about (Luke 24:43-49).²

Islam’s circular logic

A picture of a circle. Going around the circle is the sentence, "Circular reasoning works because circular reasoning works because..."

The logic of Muslims about the ʾInjīl appears to be circular:

Question: How do we know the Christian gospels are corrupt?
Answer: The Qur’anic claim about the ʾInjīl.
Question: What is the proof that the ʾInjīl existed?
Answer: The Qur’an.

The reality is that the Quranic ʾInjīl is a corruption of the New Testament. The ʾInjīl has only ever existed in Islamic imagination.

Jesus lived by the Bible, and Jesus is alive

One of the greatest evidences for the reliability of the Christian Bible is that Jesus not only lived by the Bible, Jesus is alive – His tomb is empty

An image of an open and empty tomb and a quote from the biblical text of 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 which says, "Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel (Greek: εὐαγγέλιον) which I preached (Greek: εὐαγγελίζω) to you, which also you received, in which also you stand,by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached (Greek: εὐαγγελίζω) to you, unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures…"

–

Do you believe in Jesus Christ?³ Do you believe what Jesus believed about Scripture?

Learn More:

The ʾInjīl ≠ the Gospels

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Footnotes

Nickel quotes Sidney Griffith, “one may conclude that the Qur’an is the sole witness for the existence of such a Gospel [Injīl].”
Nickel, Gordon D. The Gentle Answer to the Muslim Accusation of Biblical Falsification (2015): 151. Print.
ʾInjīl is often translated “the Gospel” in English translations of the Quran, but the Arabic ʾInjīl of the Quran has a different meaning from the biblical word “gospel” (euangelion).

The biblical euangelion (gospel) refers to good news and preaching (Greek: euangelizō) the good news about the kingdom of God, God’s Messiah (Christ), and what Jesus accomplished and is accomplishing in history.

Jesus’ followers preached (Greek: euangelizō) the good news (Greek: euangelion ) about Jesus and years later they wrote down the good news they preached in books Christians call gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. These four gospels (books) should not be confused with the Qur’an’s ʾInjīl.

The Qur’an either denies or does not clearly proclaim (euangelizō) the good news (euangelion) about Jesus Christ’s person and work.
The Bible’s references to Jesus as the “Christ” are references to Jesus’ death on the cross, resurrection and ascension to the right hand of God (Psalm 2; Acts 2:32-36).