Of Languages & Holy Writ

Psalms scroll from The Dead Sea Scrolls, a 150 B.C., most likely older, partial manuscript of the Old Testament. When found, the accuracy of the manuscripts to the Old Testament that was already in circulation was stunning, despite accusations to the contrary.

Medved: Bibles, the Army and Double Standards

Michael Medved (May 13, 2009)

If the U.S. military in Afghanistan burned copies of the Koran there would be an international outcry, but when the army destroys dozens of Bibles it provokes little protest or question. Al Jazeera TV recently reported on a soldier at Bagram air base whose home church sent him copies of the New Testament translated into local languages. I am guessing the Army destroyed these Bibles sent to the soldier.

Part of the reason Muslims would get so bent out of shape is because they think of the Qur’an as a magical item or fetish which has sacred value in its physical presence.  Gitmo guards even honor the fetish by handling detainees’ Qur’ans with latex gloves, and most Muslims would tell you not to touch one with unclean hands or let its elevation fall below one’s waist.  Part of the reason for this is because they think that Allah dictated words directly to Muhammad alone in a cave somewhere in the middle of an isolated desert.

Little do many people know, the descendants of Muhammad in blood and religious zeal gathered thousands of differing and errant Manuscripts and burned them shortly after Muhammad died, deciding for themselves what was Muhammad’s word or not.  This later became the Qur’an which they would forbid burning today and refuse to acknowledge has been refined by fire.

Christians, on the other hand, see the Bible as 100% God’s words and 100% men’s, but there is nothing sacred about its physical form, because its spiritual content is what counts.  Jesus is the epitome of God’s Word in physical form, but anytime God wanted to speak, He didn’t have to dictate it to just one man.  He spoke with many and various proofs to multiple people so as not to distort his message: from prophets, to Sinai, through angels and miracles, visions and dreams, even directly to men, and finally through His Son in human flesh.  This is a major belief distinction between Judeo-Christians and Muslims.

Most Muslims around the world revere a book and memorize its sounds and symbols, but don’t know a lick of what it means.  My formerly Muslim friends and those having grown up in Muslim countries tell me that if you read it, it is incomprehensible – it doesn’t make any sense – even if you try to understand it.

For Christians and Jews, the advantage is that we can see where changes have been made over the centuries of manuscripts and manuscript families, so we know exactly where our translations are from.  Furthermore, Jews would count each letter in the Old Testament and burn manuscripts if they found just one little error in their copying of them.  Burning was to preserve their purity and make sure that God’s word was faithfully passed on without addition or subtraction.