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Your Enjeel Is Missing!!!
by Paul Baumgartner
February 8, 2017
This is no joke. Your Enjeel is missing and this is a serious matter. I’m not talking some dirty language here. This is serious. I’m speaking to you Muslims. Did you know that your Enjeel is missing and it is supposed to be a central part of your religion?
The official Muslim position is that the Torah (Book of Law) was given to Moses uncorrupted, and that the Enjeel (Gospel) was given to Jesus uncorrupted. However, the Muslim position is that the Torah and Enjeel were corrupted by the time that Muhammad delivered his message [1].
Quran 2:77-79 is one of the passages used to defend the Muslim position.
“But do they not know that Allah knows what they conceal and what they declare? And among them are unlettered ones who do not know the Scripture except in wishful thinking, but they are only assuming. So woe to those who write the "scripture" with their own hands, then say, "This is from Allah ," in order to exchange it for a small price. Woe to them for what their hands have written and woe to them for what they earn.”
The usual explanation is that the “Scripture” mentioned here is the Book, as in the people of the Book, referring to the Book of the Christians. Then it goes on to say that there is woe upon those that write the “scripture” with their own hands. The Muslim explanation is that this is saying that the Book of the Christians is all made up. However, notice that it describes these people making up “scripture” with their own hands as “unlettered ones who do not know the Scripture.” There is contrast rather than similarity here between the Scripture that they do not know and the scripture that they write with their own hands. The Scripture that they do not know is Scripture that they should know. The scripture that they write with their own hands is done in contrast to what they should know.
There are several places in this whole passage that confirm prior written Scriptures that are confirmed at the time of the writing of this passage to be True Scriptures and in agreement with what was given to Muhammad. Further down in verse 87, it says, “And We did certainly give Moses the Torah and followed up after him with messengers. And we gave Jesus, the son of Mary, clear proofs and supported him with the Pure Spirit.” So in other words there is a clearly defined and distinguishable Torah at the time of the writing of this passage as well as a clearly defined and distinguishable “clear proofs” given to Jesus. This is further confirmed in verse 97. The scripture that was given to Muhammad confirmed that which came before it. “Say, "Whoever is an enemy to Gabriel - it is [none but] he who has brought the Qur'an down upon your heart, [O Muhammad], by permission of Allah, confirming that which was before it and as guidance and good tidings for the believers." So how could what was given to Muhammad confirm “that which was before it” unless that which was before it was in existence and confirmed to be the Word of God? In verse 136, it says, “Say, [O believers], "We have believed in Allah and what has been revealed to us and what has been revealed to Abraham and Ishmael and Isaac and Jacob and the Descendants and what was given to Moses and Jesus and what was given to the prophets from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them, and we are Muslims [in submission] to Him." So, what was revealed to the Muslims was also revealed to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, the Descendants, Moses, the prophets and Jesus. To be able to make this claim and these comparisons, these revelations must have all been in existence at the time when revelation was given to Muhammad.
Quran 2, or Surah Al-Baqarah, was given to Muhammad in Medina, at an early stage of Muhammad’s tenure there [2] [3]. This fact brings up several factors that dispute the idea the Scriptures of the Christians could have been corrupted at this time. The Quran is not in full existence to be able to be the Scriptures that the unlettered people did not know. These Scriptures can only refer to the Scriptures that the Christians already had in their possession. That which was revealed to the Muslims was also revealed to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, the Descendants, Moses, the prophets and Jesus. In other words, the Torah and the gospel was revealed to the Muslims. This includes the descendants and the prophets too, so that pretty much covers the content of the entire Old and New Testaments.
Quran 5:46 also confirms the existence and continuity of the Torah and the Gospel.
“And we sent, following in their footsteps, Jesus, the son of Mary, confirming that which came before him in the Torah; and we gave him the Gospel, in which was guidance and light and confirming that which preceded it of the Torah as guidance and instruction for the righteous.”
How could Muhammad in about 628 A.D. confirm that the Gospel confirmed the Torah unless they were both in existence at the time of Muhammad and uncorrupted?
The next verse appeals to the Gospel as a revelation for people to use to judge what God has revealed. Quran 5:47, “And let the People of the Gospel judge by what Allah has revealed therein.” How could Muhammad appeal for the people of the Gospel (Christians) to use the Gospel to judge what God has revealed unless that gospel was true and uncorrupted?
Again in verse 48, there is an appeal to confirm what was revealed to Muhammad by comparing it to that preceded it, the Scriptures. “And we have revealed to you, [O Muhammad], the Book in truth, confirming that which preceded it of the Scripture and as a criterion over it.” Notice the use of the pronoun “it” in this sentence. “It” can only refer to a previous noun and must be uniform to what it refers to in the sentence. Otherwise, a new sentence would be needed to establish a new noun for the pronoun. Not only is that which preceded Muhammad’s revelation to be used as a confirmation, but also as a criterion over it. In other words, the Torah and the Gospel supersedes the revelation to Muhammad.
Even Muhammad was instructed to ask those that have been reading the Scripture before him if he had any doubts about anything. See Quran 10:94, “So if you are in doubt, [O Muhammad], about that which we have revealed to you, then ask those who have been reading the Scripture before you. The truth has certainly come to you from your Lord, so never be among the doubters.”
The Quran confirms the validity of specific prophetic writers of the Old Testament. Quran 4:163, “Indeed, We have revealed to you, [O Muhammad], as we revealed to Noah and the prophets after him. And we revealed to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, the Descendants, Jesus, Job, Jonah, Aaron, and Solomon, and to David We gave the book [of Psalms].”
Again, in Quran 3:3, what was revealed to Muhammad confirmed what came before it in the Torah and Gospel. “He has sent down upon you, [O Muhammad], the Book in truth, confirming what was before it. And He revealed the Torah and the Gospel.” How can the Torah and Gospel be confirmed if it is not in existence or corrupted? At the time of Muhammad, the Torah and Gospel is in existence and uncorrupted.
If the word of God was in existence and uncorrupted in the form of the Torah and the Gospel, then how could it have been lost of corrupted? This is confirmed in Quran 6:34, “And certainly were messengers denied before you, but they were patient over [the effects of] denial, and they were harmed until our victory came to them. And none can alter the words of Allah. And there has certainly come to you some information about the [previous] messengers.” So the words of God cannot be altered and the information received about the previous messengers is proof of this. Quran 6:115, “And the word of your Lord has been fulfilled in truth and in justice. None can alter His words, and He is the Hearing, the Knowing.” Quran 10:64, “For them are good tidings in the worldly life and in the Hereafter. No change is there in the words of Allah. That is what is the great attainment.” Thus, if there is no change in the words of God, then the uncorrupted Torah and Gospel must have continued to be uncorrupted.
The Quran expected Christians to judge themselves by the Torah and the Gospel. Quran 5:68, “Say, "O People of the Scripture, you are [standing] on nothing until you uphold [the law of] the Torah, the Gospel, and what has been revealed to you from your Lord." How can they be required to judge themselves according to the Torah and Gospel unless they were the word of God?
The Torah was not only given as guidance, but it was entrusted and preserved by the rabbis and scholars according to Quran 5:44, “Indeed, We sent down the Torah, in which was guidance and light. The prophets who submitted [to Allah] judged by it for the Jews, as did the rabbis and scholars by that with which they were entrusted of the Scripture of Allah, and they were witnesses thereto.”
In fact, the Scriptures were so revered that the Muslims were instructed to not argue with the people of the Scriptures. See Quran 29:46, “And do not argue with the People of the Scripture except in a way that is best, except for those who commit injustice among them, and say, "We believe in that which has been revealed to us and revealed to you. And our God and your God is one; and we are Muslims [in submission] to Him." Notice here the equivalence between what was revealed to the Christians and what was revealed to the Muslims. Surely, this would have to include the Gospel, the Enjeel. Believing in what was revealed to the Christians, the Enjeel, is part of what it means to be a Muslim, to be in submission to God.
There are a couple arguments that Muslims give against the idea that the Enjeel, the Gospel, is the same as the New Testament. The first is that it is a Gospel (singular), not 4 Gospels (plural as there are 4 gospels in the New Testament). This argument fails because Christians began using the term “Gospel” (singular) to refer to the entire New Testament cannon very early on in Christian History. Tertullian, in his letter, “Against Marcion” in 208 A.D., writes, “the Divine Word, who is doubly edged with the two testaments of the law and the gospel [4].” This Muslim argument centers on semantics, and thus is a very poor argument. It is widely known that “The Gospel” is in reference to the entire New Testament by Muhammad’s time. The term gospel is found as the Greek noun euangelion (occurring 76 times) “good news,” and the verb euangelizo (occurring 54 times), meaning “to bring or announce good news.” Both words are derived from the noun angelos, “messenger.” In classical Greek, an euangelos was one who brought a message of victory or other political or personal news that caused joy. In addition, euangelizomai (the middle voice form of the verb) meant “to speak as a messenger of gladness, to proclaim good news.” So even by the usage in the New Testament, the term “Gospel” was used to denote the totality of the Christian message [5].
Another Muslim argument is that the Gospels were not written by Jesus. This also is a very weak argument. It is widely known that the Quran was not written by Muhammad. According to the traditional narrative, several companions of Muhammad served as scribes and were responsible for writing down the revelations [6]. Shortly after Muhammad's death, the Quran was compiled by his companions who wrote down and memorized parts of it [7]. These codices had differences that motivated the Caliph Uthman to establish a standard version now known as Uthman's codex, which is generally considered the archetype of the Quran known today. The fact that there are 4 accounts of Jesus’ life and what he said is a witness to the accuracy of those accounts. They contain a core of accounts that not only are similar, but are often exactly word for word, the same [8].
We can be certain of the reliability of the New Testament, the Gospel, because of a large number of archeological facts. First of all, the Washington codex found in 1906 pushes the dates of the Gospels to early first century dates [9]. Second, nearly every verse in the New Testament (all but 11 verses) was quoted in the works of the 1st century church fathers [10]. Third, out of over 5,600 early manuscripts of New Testament books, they are found to be 99.5% exactly the same [11]. This is a far greater a degree of accuracy than any ancient manuscripts of any kind. Fourth, the New Testament cannon was attested to and agreed upon throughout the 1st century A.D. and completely agreed upon by 125 A.D [12]. The New Testament that we have today is the same as what we had in the 1st century of Christianity. The Gospel was the same for the disciples of Jesus, the disciples of Muhammad, and the same as what we find in the New Testament today.
There are many verses in the Quran that speak of the Gospel, the Enjeel as the message and truth from God. Here are a few of them.
Quran 3:3
“He has sent down upon you, [O Muhammad], the Book in truth, confirming what was before it. And He revealed the Torah and the Gospel.”
Quran 9:111
“[It is] a true promise [binding] upon Him in the Torah and the Gospel and the Qur'an. And who is truer to his covenant than Allah?”
Quran 5:68 “Say, "O People of the Scripture, you are [standing] on nothing until you uphold [the law of] the Torah, the Gospel, and what has been revealed to you from your Lord."
Muslims may claim that the true Torah and true Gospel, were present in Arabia and different from those presently available. But where are they?!? Surely some Muslim would have preserved such important books in one of the many Muslim libraries found throughout the Islamic world, even if only to help the Jews and Christians obey the Quranic instruction to "perform the Torah and the Gospel.” Moreover, we would then be able to compare them with the copies which have been preserved by the Jews and Christians.
In fact, this is not the case. No such ancient copies have been preserved by the Muslims. Over the whole world there is only one Torah, which IS WITH both Jews and Christians, and one book called the Gospel, which IS WITH the Christians.
Muslims, your Enjeel is missing! That is because we, the Christians, have your Enjeel. We have many copies of it and are more than happy to share a copy with you. You can start at the following link.
https://www.biblegateway.com/quicksearch/?quicksearch=matthew&qs_version=NIV
Footnotes
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Islam's Stance on the Gospel and Torah, Dr. Jamal Badawi, https://www.whyislam.org/common-ground/islams-stance-on-the-gospel-and-torah/
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Tertullian. "Chapter XIV". Against Marcion, Book III, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Testament#cite_note-10
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Donner, Fred, "The historical context" in McAuliffe, J. D. (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to the Qur'ān (Cambridge University Press, 2006), p. 31–33. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quran#cite_note-Donner-Companion-15
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Campo, Juan E. (2009). Encyclopedia of Islam. Facts On File. pp. 570–74. ISBN 0-8160-5454-1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quran#cite_note-jecampo-16
References
Quran statements about Torah and Enjeel
http://answering-islam.org/Campbell/s2c1.html
http://www.churches-of-christ.net/tracts/job083u.htm
Quran says that the Torah and Enjeel were not corrupt
https://carm.org/quran-says-bible-not-corrupt
Muslim stance on the Torah and Enjeel
https://www.whyislam.org/common-ground/islams-stance-on-the-gospel-and-torah/
http://www.answering-christianity.com/mucahit_sivri/quran_and_gospel.htm
Gospel Cannon