SnaleSpace said:
Flysky- What would you consider the main differences (other than Mohammed) between the bible and the Quran?
I would try my best to answer your question SnaleSpace:
First of all, the Bible is a collection of writings done in different periods of history, by different writers. The various denominations of Christianity are not in agreement on the canon of the Bible (i.e a list of books accepted by the Church as authoritative or divinely inspired). While most of these books are accepted by most Christians, there are some that are not universally accepted.
About the earliest existing texts of the Bible too, there is a lot of confusion. The oldest extant manuscript of the Bible is believed to be the Codex Vaticanus, which is slightly older than the Codex Sinaiticus, both of which were transcribed in the 4th century.
As for the story of Jesus, there were at least some fifty gospels written in the first and second century C.E. Four of them (Mark, Matthew, Luke and John) were included in the official canon during the 4th century C.E, and are found today in every Bible. All the original copies of the gospels were lost. What we have now are based on hand-written copies which are an unknown number of replications removed from the originals.
In fact, it is an extreme position held only by some Christian groups (the Fundamentalist churches) that the Bible in its entirety - is the revealed word of God. But the presence of so many contradictions and patently questionable ideas makes this claim untenable.
In comparison, the Qurans claim as the Record of the Word of God dictated to His Prophet, is borne out by the following facts: The speaker in the Qur'an is God talking directly to man. The Quran repeatedly says that it is the word of God. It has self-reference; that is to say, it names itself 70 times as the Qur'an.
The verses of the Quran were revealed to Muhammad (peace be on him), in the course of 23 years of his life, as and when the events in the unfolding development of the Religion of God called for Divine Guidance. As soon as the Prophet received these verses, he dictated them to his disciples, who not only wrote them down, but also learned them by heart. In short from the beginning, the Quran was in the hands and hearts of the people.
And before the death of the Prophet, the whole of the Quran was written down, examined and verified by the Prophet himself. From that time onwards, it has remained safe from corruption as several copies of it were in the possession of the Muslims. So it was not possible to make any changes to its verses, even if someone wanted to do so.
One of the foremost reasons for the Qurans continued incorruptibility is that it has been preserved in its original language, unlike the Bible. No one in the Muslim world has ever thought to supersede it with a translation. Thus the Quran we have today is the same Quran that the Prophet received from God. Its authenticity and genuineness therefore, is unimpeachable.
One of the miracles of the Qur'an, which was revealed 14 centuries ago is the fact that it can be read and understood by the Arabic-speaking people living today. Every language undergoes changes as time passes, and a hundred or two hundred years is long enough for a language to undergo substantial changes. Thus anyone who knows the rudiments of the history of languages knows that logically it should be impossible for the Arabic-speaking peoples of today to read and understand a book fourteen centuries old. And yet, everyday, every hour, every minute, in fact every second of the 24 hours of the 365 days of every year of the past centuries has been alive with the reading and study of the Qur'anic verses. And it goes on into the future. The volume and scope of it multiplies in every imaginable way with the coming of the multimedia. This had started at the time of the Prophet and it has continued unceasingly till the present day, making this the ever-present miracle of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), rivaling all other miracles so far.
Allah says: This is the Book; in it is Sure Guidance, no doubt, for those who are God-conscious
.(Quran 2:2)
And say: The Truth has arrived, and Falsehood perished; for Falsehood is bound to perish. (Quran 17: 81)
And Allah knows best.
I hope this answers your question.