Faith

Islamic Evidence of the Bible’s Corruption

Note: While living for two years in Saudi Arabia I made Muslim friends and as a result have developed Islamic connections on social media. One group I am a part of is devoted to interfaith dialog between Muslims and Christians. The majority of the members appear to be from the Middle East and Africa. In April, I posed a question to the group: “Muslim apologists frequently claim that the Bible has been corrupted from its original form. What specific evidence do you have of corruption? As someone who has spent more than a little time studying the textual history of the Bible, the New Testament in particular, I find the claim of corruption difficult to substantiate. Compared to all other ancient texts, the Biblical text is extremely well attested in the manuscript record.” The question led to hundreds of comments and counter comments from many members. Those comments I consolidated into a single list of twenty evidences. I then shared that list of twenty with the group and asked for validation, which I received from the Muslim members of the group. I present that list here without additional comment. I hope in the future to return to it and share further thoughts. (DL, Sept. 13, 2021)


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Faith

On the Historicity of Genesis

Note: Like many of my peers (but unlike many of our parents or many of our children), I have made a lot of Facebook comments over the years. The writing is often unpolished, but they nevertheless offer excellent snapshots of what I was thinking at a particular time and how I articulated those thoughts for a particular audience in a particular context. This comment was made on the post of a friend who shared without comment a Gospel Coalition article entitled, “Biblical Reasons to Doubt the Creation Days Were 24-Hour Periods.” It is an in-progress moment in the decade-long unwinding of my evangelical faith. I have cleaned up a number of typos from the original comment. (DL, Sept. 13, 2021)


My thoughts based on my understanding of various things:

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