Dual Authorship
A determinant of the practical use of Bible in Christian ministry in contrast to the Islamic use of the Qur'an
Canon: The books that are recognized as inspired and belong to the larger corpus referred to as the Holy Bible.
Anyone who has ever shared the gospel with more than one Muslim can tell you the most common question that Muslims ask: "Hasn't the Bible been corrupted?" Some of our Muslim neighbors expect us to agree with this, while others envision it as a kind of logical entrapment. Likewise, this Islamic polemic acts as a searing iron for many Muslims when they consider the biblical witness of the Triune God. As Christians, we have some excellent rational answers to this objection. My colleague, Fouad Masri, has written an excellent response to Muslims who use this retort in his book, "Is the Injeel Corrupted?"
As Christians, we recognize three crucial steps of how we have received God's Word: Inspiration, Inscripturation, and Transmission. The question of corruption is related to issues concerning transmission; namely, how we can know that we have the original wording of the text. Inscripturation is probably the least examined by evangelicals, but it simply means how the biblical text was recognized as inspired (Protestant Evangelical view), not how the church created the Canon (Roman Catholic and Eastern Church's view). Inspiration, the aspect under consideration by this article, addresses the nature of the original manuscript. It answers questions like,
The entire causal chain of our Doctrine of the Word of God must ultimately hinge upon the first cause: God's intent in the act of inspiration. Consequently, in my own personal evangelism, I aim to show rather than tell that God and human authors have written the Bible. In this way, I intend to put Scripture's self-attestation on fullest display. Opening the Word of God and hearing it proclaimed acts like a tidal wave upon the mind, heart, and will of the called. One can obstinately deny the power of a tidal wave all they want, but crashing waves pay little attention to such protestations. We hear this done in expository sermons, books, brief summaries of the Gospel, and more. However, I don't believe that the Qur'an can function, even according to its own theology, in this way. Let's examine why before we come to some points of application of the doctrine of inspiration in ministry to and among Muslims.
As Christians, we recognize three crucial steps of how we have received God's Word: Inspiration, Inscripturation, and Transmission. The question of corruption is related to issues concerning transmission; namely, how we can know that we have the original wording of the text. Inscripturation is probably the least examined by evangelicals, but it simply means how the biblical text was recognized as inspired (Protestant Evangelical view), not how the church created the Canon (Roman Catholic and Eastern Church's view). Inspiration, the aspect under consideration by this article, addresses the nature of the original manuscript. It answers questions like,
- Who is(are) the author(s) of Scripture?
- Is Scripture necessary for saving faith?
- What kind of authority does Scripture have over the Christian?
- Does Scripture contain some measure of error?
- Is the meaning of Scripture clear?
The entire causal chain of our Doctrine of the Word of God must ultimately hinge upon the first cause: God's intent in the act of inspiration. Consequently, in my own personal evangelism, I aim to show rather than tell that God and human authors have written the Bible. In this way, I intend to put Scripture's self-attestation on fullest display. Opening the Word of God and hearing it proclaimed acts like a tidal wave upon the mind, heart, and will of the called. One can obstinately deny the power of a tidal wave all they want, but crashing waves pay little attention to such protestations. We hear this done in expository sermons, books, brief summaries of the Gospel, and more. However, I don't believe that the Qur'an can function, even according to its own theology, in this way. Let's examine why before we come to some points of application of the doctrine of inspiration in ministry to and among Muslims.
A Magical Book: The Qur'an
An Eternal Book
It is of paramount importance to understand that many Muslims conceive of the Qur'an as co-eternal with God himself. One account of this early debate in Islam is recorded as follows,
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I asked, "And the Qur'an is God's Words; uncreated, and whoever says otherwise is an unbeliever?"
"Yes," replied Ahmad.
"Yes," replied Ahmad.
This debate resulted in persecution of the "Qur'an is uncreated" position, but they seem to have eventually won out. Most modern conservative Muslims espouse that the Qur'an is uncreated and one Sunni Wahhabi apologist cites another matter of islamic jurisprudence as decisive in the matter,
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Imam Malik was asked concerning one who says that the Qur'an is created, what should be done to him? He replied, "he should be forced to repent, and if he refuses, then his head should be cut off!" Imam ash-Shaafi'ee stated, "whoever states that the Qur'an is created is a disbeliever."
The Islamic understanding of the recitation (notice I did not write "inspiration") of the Qur'an is also reflective of this assumption. If the Qur'an has always existed in a complete form in the heavens or within Allah himself, then the human reciter cannot be considered an author. Consequently, while a Christian understanding of the inspiration of the Bible would compel us to understand the original human author's intention in interpretation, such assertions among Muslims regarding Muhammad's recitation of the Qur'an would amount to heresy.
Ex Opere Operato
Ex Opere Operato: Latin for "out of working, it works". This emphasizes that Roman Catholic Theology understands sacraments to work regardless of the nature of the recipient.
Ummah: The religious community of Islam.
Wahhabism: An extremely conservative sect of Islam hailing primarily from Saudi Arabia.
Hadith: Literally translated as "sayings". These record events from the life of Muhammad and those around him that were not Qur'anic utterances. There is much debate among Muslim sects concerning which Hadith are authoritative.
Ummah: The religious community of Islam.
Wahhabism: An extremely conservative sect of Islam hailing primarily from Saudi Arabia.
Hadith: Literally translated as "sayings". These record events from the life of Muhammad and those around him that were not Qur'anic utterances. There is much debate among Muslim sects concerning which Hadith are authoritative.
One significant area of difference between Protestantism and Roman Catholicism is in how we conceive of the sacraments. Roman sacramentology asserts that the Eucharist and the other 6 sacraments of the Roman Church impart grace in and of themselves (latin: ex opere operato) regardless of the nature or faith of the recipient. The Qur'an in like manner, is a book that does not require understanding, regeneration, or faith because the reader's comprehension is not necessarily the goal - at least for the Ummah at large; granted, Islamic apologists, mullahs, and imams are a slightly different story. The abiding presence of God himself is in the Qur'an and supplicants need only to bask in it.
If you've ever read the Qur'an, you quickly noticed that logical arguments and extended narratives with notable themes are quite sparse. Therefore, when I've engaged Wahhabi Muslims in dialogue about Christ, some outright refuse to reason, and rather cite the Qur'an back to me in Arabic with no intention of explaining it. As one of the most highly-funded sects of Islam, exported Wahhabi winds up being an intrinsic part of many cultural Muslims understandings worldwide. The Qur'an is not to be studied or examined, but rather memorized, recited, and adored. For example, miniature Qur'ans, smaller than the palm of your hand, adorn taxis and businesses worldwide. Those Qur'ans are not meant to be read or understood; they're printed for Muslims as small objects of power that boast magical protective benefits. I'll grant that certain religious authorities and Islamic apologists devote themselves to the study of the Qur'an, and a desire for its original meaning is more or less present, but the religion of Islam simply does not require the discovery of meaning among the laity in the same way that Christianity does. Functionally, both religious authorities wield the traditions found in the Hadith serve as magisterial interpreters for the average Muslim.
If you've ever read the Qur'an, you quickly noticed that logical arguments and extended narratives with notable themes are quite sparse. Therefore, when I've engaged Wahhabi Muslims in dialogue about Christ, some outright refuse to reason, and rather cite the Qur'an back to me in Arabic with no intention of explaining it. As one of the most highly-funded sects of Islam, exported Wahhabi winds up being an intrinsic part of many cultural Muslims understandings worldwide. The Qur'an is not to be studied or examined, but rather memorized, recited, and adored. For example, miniature Qur'ans, smaller than the palm of your hand, adorn taxis and businesses worldwide. Those Qur'ans are not meant to be read or understood; they're printed for Muslims as small objects of power that boast magical protective benefits. I'll grant that certain religious authorities and Islamic apologists devote themselves to the study of the Qur'an, and a desire for its original meaning is more or less present, but the religion of Islam simply does not require the discovery of meaning among the laity in the same way that Christianity does. Functionally, both religious authorities wield the traditions found in the Hadith serve as magisterial interpreters for the average Muslim.
Biblical Dual Authorship
Inspiration: The Holy Spirit's act in the human authors of Scripture by which they truly produced the Word of God; a decreed means
Superintention: The providential will of God intended the exact words of Holy Scripture; a decreed end
Superintention: The providential will of God intended the exact words of Holy Scripture; a decreed end
The Bible, on the other hand, is not eternal - that would entail that it had no beginning; rather, it proceeded from God in space and time and endures forever as His Word. God has revealed Himself by inspiring 66 books over the course of at least 1,400 years. Some parts of the Bible record direct speech of the Godhead, while others record exhortations from Apostolic authority. Peter himself made no distinction between those two types of authority when he wrote, "...our dear brother Paul has written to you according to the wisdom given to him. […] The untaught and unstable will twist them to their own destruction, as they also do with the rest of the Scriptures." (2 Peter 3:16, CSB, emphasis mine) Christians are hereby exhorted to make no distinction between the record of the thunderous voice above Sinai in Exodus and scribblings of an incarcerated and soon to be executed man in 2 Timothy. How can that be true? Because the same Sovereign Lord stands behind the superintention of Paul's fettered hands as He does in the transmission of the sound waves reverberating from the mountaintop.
Just because a human is one of the actors producing Scripture, it does not lose its inerrancy or authority. Matthew Barrett brings this out well:
Just because a human is one of the actors producing Scripture, it does not lose its inerrancy or authority. Matthew Barrett brings this out well:
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Some have concluded that if God accommodated himself to humanity in the writing of Scripture, then there must be errors in Scripture. But there is a theological jump in that logic. It automatically assumes that to err is human. Theologically speaking, error, and even sin, is not something essential to humanity. One does not cease to be human if error or sin is absent. Adam and Eve were created by God without flaw, without sin. One day believers will spend eternity in a glorified state, with fully human, resurrected bodies, without sin. So while sin and error certainly characterize our present in-between state, neither is essential to our human essence and existence.
The assumption that humanity is inherently erroneous or bad is more gnostic than Judeo-Christian, and that erroneous belief pervades Islamic thought. To sin and err is not human, but it is rather sub-human; otherwise, we could not affirm the true humanity of our Lord Jesus! With this presupposition, we can assume that the Bible may be a fully human and fully divine undertaking, but it was written, exclusively even, by fallen humans. So what's the deal here? Peter explains,
"For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit."
(2 Peter 1:21, ESV)
(2 Peter 1:21, ESV)
There is much to be garnered from this verse. Peter is ensuring that his readers understand this: the entire transmission of prophecy from God's mind through the prophet and even to the act of private interpretation is overseen and determined by God. Peter assures his readers that God's Word does not originate in the prophet and later receive divine approval, but it begins in the will and decree of God. Then, God's intent is protected from the prophet's own fallibility by God Himself even though the men do truly speak in accord with the thoughts of their own minds.
Application
The Bible as a Means to Meaning
Private Interpretation: Largely a retrieval of the Protestant Reformation whereby all believers are perceived to have a right and obligation to interpret the Bible. William Tyndale is quoted as saying, "I defy the Pope and all his laws. If God spare my life, ere many years I will cause a boy that drive the plow to know more of the Scripture than he does."
If you've been an evangelical Christian for a long time, you've probably been accused by nominal Christians of idolizing the Bible and worshiping it rather than God. Christians revere the Bible as the very Word of God, but the Bible is quite clearly not God Himself. Conversely, when Muslims see Christians placing other books on top of our Bibles, writing in our Bibles, or tossing a Bible across the room to begin a study, they start to scratch their heads. For them, it's like we are spraying graffiti on Solomon's temple - desecrating the sacred. For Christians, God's Word is given for our understanding. God has conveyed a message that He intends to be understood to bolster our faith, love, and hope. We worship our Triune God as He has revealed Himself through His Word, but we do not worship the Bible itself.
Also, we have different presuppositions about the quest of meaning itself. The Qur'an is not intended to be studied by the average Muslim (contra private interpretation), and the Hadith provide necessary context to convey essential parts of its message (contra sola scriptura). Also, we saw that Muhammad's original intent is irrelevant since, in terms of the giving of the Qur'an, he served merely as the delivery device of the eternal Qur'an in heaven. Christian private interpretation, a task of every believer, must begin with the human author's original intent. Grammatical and literary context are the most immediate concern for interpretation, but historical context, covenantal setting, and the witness of the rest of the Canon must also be considered. As we progress to interpreting a text that also has God as its author, Rob Plummer has some helpful directions in this task:
Also, we have different presuppositions about the quest of meaning itself. The Qur'an is not intended to be studied by the average Muslim (contra private interpretation), and the Hadith provide necessary context to convey essential parts of its message (contra sola scriptura). Also, we saw that Muhammad's original intent is irrelevant since, in terms of the giving of the Qur'an, he served merely as the delivery device of the eternal Qur'an in heaven. Christian private interpretation, a task of every believer, must begin with the human author's original intent. Grammatical and literary context are the most immediate concern for interpretation, but historical context, covenantal setting, and the witness of the rest of the Canon must also be considered. As we progress to interpreting a text that also has God as its author, Rob Plummer has some helpful directions in this task:
If you're discipling or evangelizing someone who spent much of their life in an Islamic context, you'll often find that fundamental presuppositions about how one should engage with God's Word are quite different. So Christian, be cognizant of the perceptions of your Muslim friend in this regard, but also show how the realities revealed in God's Word move you to doxology! Don't merely say that something is true, but explain its significance. For example, it is possible to dryly teach that Christ prays for us from Hebrews 7:25. It is another thing entirely to move others to worship that our Savior - the eternal Son to whom the Father always gives everything in abundance - has finished his atoning work and now forever intercedes for us in our Father's presence. Therefore, while former mediators were inhibited by mortality, our Great High Priest is undeterred by the nature of His immortality. What a secure redemption!
How can we be certain of anything as lay interpreters? Private interpretation, according to 2 Peter 1:20, is not a shot in the dark, but the apostolic and christocentric hermeneutic oversees a correct understanding of any matter. Firstly, the Bible was written by humans. Don't neglect to show that the authors of the Bible were real historical people who lived in a particular context. Understanding both historical and literary context of authors as well as the nature of their covenantal relationship to God are instrumental in a correct hermeneutic. Lastly, and most importantly, the Bible was written by God which entails that it all fits together. Greg Beale charts a sure course to biblical interpretation when he writes,
How can we be certain of anything as lay interpreters? Private interpretation, according to 2 Peter 1:20, is not a shot in the dark, but the apostolic and christocentric hermeneutic oversees a correct understanding of any matter. Firstly, the Bible was written by humans. Don't neglect to show that the authors of the Bible were real historical people who lived in a particular context. Understanding both historical and literary context of authors as well as the nature of their covenantal relationship to God are instrumental in a correct hermeneutic. Lastly, and most importantly, the Bible was written by God which entails that it all fits together. Greg Beale charts a sure course to biblical interpretation when he writes,
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The progress of revelation reveals enlarged meanings of earlier biblical texts, and later biblical writers further interpret prior canonical writings in ways that amplify earlier texts. These later interpretations may formulate meanings of which earlier authors may not have been conscious, but which do not contravene their original organic intention but may 'supervene' on it.
The Heart of Self-Attestation: Biblical Theology
Retcon: a piece of new information that imposes a different interpretation on previously described events, typically used to facilitate a dramatic plot shift or account for an inconsistency. (Oxford Languages definition)
A dear pastor friend once asked me, "At the most fundamental level, what is the greatest proof of Christianity's truthfulness over Islam?" My answer, in short, was, "consistency." From beginning to end, the Pentateuch, the Old Testament histories, the Prophets, the Psalms, the Wisdom literature, the Gospels, and the New Testament letters present a cohesive story. As recipients of God's Word, we know where we began, how the story progressed, where we are, and where we are going. Other faiths that attempt to co-opt the biblical story into their belief system must therefore attempt to alter the source material with claims like corruption. That's why earlier Islamic apologists claimed that Christians were guilty only of misinterpreting the biblical witness, but as Muslims had greater exposure to the actual content of the Bible, claims of textual corruption proliferated (White, James. What Every Christian Needs to Know about the Qur'an. p. 175.). This is why biblical theology must be the bedrock of our witness to Muslims: biblical theology illustrates that the Canon is a unified story of promise and fulfillment. Therefore, attempts of other faiths to retcon their religious history into the Bible and distract from the climactic resolution of the cross, ultimately dig their own graves by revealing their incompatibility with the whole of the Canon.
Biblical theology is a challenging term for most evangelical Christians. It certainly can't mean theology that is biblical and therefore true. When I took seminary course work, I learned how scholars continue to intensely debate the use of this term. For the purposes of this article, I'm going to define biblical theology as theology on the bible's own terms, with the Bible's own emphases, through the lens of the Bible's own books and themes, and in accord with the Bible's own story. We can easily see this in terms of a brief presentation of the Gospel. Here's what might be a systematic theological presentation of the Gospel:
Biblical theology is a challenging term for most evangelical Christians. It certainly can't mean theology that is biblical and therefore true. When I took seminary course work, I learned how scholars continue to intensely debate the use of this term. For the purposes of this article, I'm going to define biblical theology as theology on the bible's own terms, with the Bible's own emphases, through the lens of the Bible's own books and themes, and in accord with the Bible's own story. We can easily see this in terms of a brief presentation of the Gospel. Here's what might be a systematic theological presentation of the Gospel:
- The Triune God is Holy
- Man is a sinner and incurs God's wrath
- Christ, the God-Man, Saves
- Respond through trusting in Christ and repentance of sin
Here's a more biblical theological approach to the Gospel:
- God created a good world and mankind was crowned as His vice regent.
- Mankind failed in their God-given mandate, were placed under God's curse, and were expelled from God's presence.
- God promised a future redemption to the fallen pair; this promise was passed on to one man, Abraham, to whom God promised an offspring.
- The offspring was shown likewise to be a future ruler from Abraham's descendant, Judah.
- God made a covenant with the descendants of Abraham, Israel, but they also violated the covenant. Clearly, God requires one faithful covenant partner.
- God made a covenant with Israel's King, David, from the line of Judah that his descendant would be an eternal King.
- God promised a New Covenant in which covenant partners would rest in the finished work of another and all have transformed regenerate hearts.
- Jesus of Nazareth, the incarnate Word of God, eternal Son, Davidic King, seed of the Woman, and faithful covenant partner inaugurated a new age with the coming of the Kingdom through his propitiatory sacrifice upon the instrument of God's curse.
- The citizens of the Kingdom and members of the New Covenant in His blood are recognized by their repentance and faith in their eternal Messiah-King.
- All the redeemed will enjoy God in the New Heavens and New Earth as glorified image-bearers, cleansed from the taint of sin, and unable to fall away from eternal grace.
I believe that both of these ways of explaining the Gospel are faithful and good. In my own personal evangelism, I frequently say some kind of blend of the two. Whenever my systematic gospel is investigated, I must appeal back to the biblical-theological. Whenever the significance of the biblical theological is unclear, I must summarize with the systematic. However, if we remain only at the abstract systematic level, it's much easier for Muslims to attempt to co-opt our themes into another story.
As human beings, we love stories, and that's not a bad thing. Stories tell us about conflicts that find glorious resolutions. The biblical story is meant to reveal a mystery concealed throughout the ages; it is meant to set a standard impossibly high and show that no mere mortal can do it. Then, in fulfillment of the promises of God, we behold one man who fulfilled every requirement. It's in beholding Christ, the glory of the redemptive history, that we are assured that the historical story of the Bible was not determined by the will of man. Instead, we echo with Paul and the Holy Spirit,
As human beings, we love stories, and that's not a bad thing. Stories tell us about conflicts that find glorious resolutions. The biblical story is meant to reveal a mystery concealed throughout the ages; it is meant to set a standard impossibly high and show that no mere mortal can do it. Then, in fulfillment of the promises of God, we behold one man who fulfilled every requirement. It's in beholding Christ, the glory of the redemptive history, that we are assured that the historical story of the Bible was not determined by the will of man. Instead, we echo with Paul and the Holy Spirit,
"Oh, the depth of the riches
and the wisdom and the knowledge of God!
How unsearchable his judgments
and untraceable his ways!
For who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has been his counselor?
And who has ever given to God,
that he should be repaid?
For from him and through him
and to him are all things.
To him be the glory forever. Amen."
(Romans 11:33-36, CSB)
and the wisdom and the knowledge of God!
How unsearchable his judgments
and untraceable his ways!
For who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has been his counselor?
And who has ever given to God,
that he should be repaid?
For from him and through him
and to him are all things.
To him be the glory forever. Amen."
(Romans 11:33-36, CSB)
