Why were the previous Scriptures alleged to have been changed?
The Muslim believers observed those around them who followed the Bible, known as the People of the Book, and were shocked to see them doing certain things that were seemingly forbidden in the Bible. Also in recent times, the greatest reason for Muslim scholars to presume the Bible must have undergone changes is what they see of the lifestyle of people in the West (supposedly “Christian” in their eyes). When the Muslim world saw the promiscuous lifestyle of the West, the use of alcohol and eating of pork, while the Westerners claimed to be Christians (since that has been their ancestral religion), Muslims concluded that, “this is what Christianity is and this proves they have changed their Bible.” The fact is, many of these Western people do not even call themselves Christians or are only Christians in name (many are even atheists). True Christians in the West are actually disappointed by the immorality in Western society. When the People of the Book were questioned as to why they ate pork or drank wine, the People of the Book (Christians specifically) answered from the Bible. They stated that Isa al-Masih (pbuh) said, “not what goes into the mouth defiles a man, but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man” (Injeel, Matthew 15:11). They claimed that this statement proved that he made all food lawful. It is important to note that this was an incorrect interpretation of Isa al-Masih’s (pbuh) words. He was not declaring previously unclean food clean by that statement; nor was he now making all the teachings of the Tawrat nullified by this one verse, as we will see below.
Why were the previous Scriptures alleged to have been changed?
The Muslim believers observed those around them who followed the Bible, known as the People of the Book, and were shocked to see them doing certain things that were seemingly forbidden in the Bible. Also in recent times, the greatest reason for Muslim scholars to presume the Bible must have undergone changes is what they see of the lifestyle of people in the West (supposedly “Christian” in their eyes). When the Muslim world saw the promiscuous lifestyle of the West, the use of alcohol and eating of pork, while the Westerners claimed to be Christians (since that has been their ancestral religion), Muslims concluded that, “this is what Christianity is and this proves they have changed their Bible.” The fact is, many of these Western people do not even call themselves Christians or are only Christians in name (many are even atheists). True Christians in the West are actually disappointed by the immorality in Western society. When the People of the Book were questioned as to why they ate pork or drank wine, the People of the Book (Christians specifically) answered from the Bible. They stated that Isa al-Masih (pbuh) said, “not what goes into the mouth defiles a man, but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man” (Injeel, Matthew 15:11). They claimed that this statement proved that he made all food lawful. It is important to note that this was an incorrect interpretation of Isa al-Masih’s (pbuh) words. He was not declaring previously unclean food clean by that statement; nor was he now making all the teachings of the Tawrat nullified by this one verse, as we will see below.