PART I
IN PROOF THAT THE OLD TESTAMENT AND THE NEW ARE THE WORD OF
GOD (كلام
الله), AND THAT THEY HAVE BEEN NEITHER CORRUPTED NOR ABROGATED.
CHAPTER I
TESTIMONY OF THE QUR'AN TO THE BIBLE
THE learned have divided Evidence into two kinds,
Intellectual (عقلي) and Authoritative
(نقلي). Under the former we include both External and Internal Evidence.
Were we writing this book for the benefit of Unbelievers,
Deists. (الْمُلْحِدُونَ) or Idolaters,
it would be necessary in the first place to show what External Evidence we have in support
of our belief that the books of the Old and of the New Testament are ancient, uncorrupted
and generally reliable, and that they contain a Revelation from God Most High. We should
also have to relate the history of each of these books, so far as we know it, to tell how
the Canon of Holy Scripture was formed, and what external evidence we have to justify us
in assigning the various books to the writers whose names they bear. We should then
carefully examine the Internal Evidence afforded by the books themselves. Then we should
state the result of our inquiry.
All this has already been done by Christians again and again. One reason for this is,
that from very early times unbelievers have assailed our Sacred Books, and for our own
satisfaction we have had to examine all the evidence for and against them. Moreover, we
Christians believe that we are bound to hold such an examination
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