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BIK01 - Biblical Investigations of the Koran

A Ministry Course on Biblical Content in the Koran

STAGE 2 - Biblical PASSAGES and Biblical PERSONALITIES in the Koran

UNIT 09 - INVESTIGATE CHANGES: Examples of Biblical Texts on Adam Changed in the Koran - Analysis, Explanation and Application

149 - Introduction to UNIT 09

After having looked at the two extremes of omissions of biblical material from the Koran and additions of non-biblical material to the Koran in view of a specific biblical subject, we now come to the heart of the matter: how was biblical content changed in the Koran? This means we now deal with koranic passages and verses that have recognizably taken up content from the Bible on a specific subject.

In focusing on changes of biblical material in the Koran it is again helpful to distinguish between two types of changes:

1. Primary Changes of biblical material in the Koran: these have far reaching consequences in the rest of the Koran and constitute a root of the different worlds that are set up in the Bible and the Koran respectively.

2. Secondary Changes of biblical material in the Koran: these can be sometimes explained on the basis of primary changes of biblical material in the Koran. Usually they are consequences of the primary changes.

For each change we apply the three objectives of the general procedure outlined in UNIT 06 above. For the case of changes this means that we will have to ask questions like the following ones:

1. How did the Koran change Bible verses? First you need to examine these changes of biblical material in the Koran. For this you analyze the biblical verses as they were changed in the Koran, trying to understand the details of these changes in their respective biblical and koranic contexts. In this it is helpful to first analyze the biblical passage that was changed in the Koran by breaking it up into successive statements. Then you try to associate corresponding koranic statements with each biblical statement. In doing this, you will discover the same pattern of changes, omissions and additions that we found for biblical passages in the Koran to also apply to biblical statements from a given biblical passage that was changed in the Koran. You will find that

a) some biblical statements in this biblical passage were omitted in the Koran;

b) other statements from the Koran, which can be correlated to the given biblical passage, have no counterpart in the Bible and therefore are additions of non-biblical statements to the Koran (Note: when these first two kinds coincide you have replacements of biblical statements in the Koran); and finally

c) some biblical statements seem to be similar to their koranic counterparts but changed. These latter seemingly similar statements can involve:

-- transliterations (same sound and hopefully same meaning as in the Bible),

-- translations (different sound, but same meaning as in the Bible),

-- reformulations or paraphrases (similar meaning to the Bible),

-- transformations (different statements than in the Bible) and even

-- inversions (opposite statements to what the Bible says).

For each specific change you must first try to grasp its meaning in the context of the specific passage in the Bible and the Koran, where it appears, and then reflect this meaning on the background of the overall teachings of the Bible and the Koran respectively.

2. Why did the Koran change Bible verses? Next you seek to elucidate these changes, by trying to explain and interpret the reasons for and consequences from these changes of biblical material in the Koran. On the background of your comparative analysis of biblical statements as they were changed in the Koran, you will have to ask questions such as these:

-- Why were certain statements of the Bible omitted in the Koran?

-- From where did the Koran get the non-biblical statements that are added in it?

-- How much of the biblical meaning is still present in the Koran, when you find biblical words or phrases transliterated, translated or paraphrased in the Koran?

-- Why did the Koran change, replace or even invert certain biblical statements?

-- And what is the significance of each of these cases for the overall teachings of the Bible or the overall teachings of the Koran?

3. What can you do about this in your ministry serving Christ among Muslims? Finally, you need to assess the result of this comparative analysis and discuss how to use and apply such findings in your Christian ministry in the Muslim world.

We now apply this general procedure for the investigation of changes between the Bible and the Koran to the following one example, which concerns the biblical life of Adam and Eve trying to find out how this biblical content was changed in the Koran.

Grace and Truth

149 - Introduction to UNIT 09