I started reading the Qur'an last night. Here is the site I'm using to read it. http://www.isgkc.org/translat.htm

I also learned some background info on it. Muslims believe the Qur'an to have been written by helpers of the prophet Muhammad (A.D. 571-632). Evidently, Muhammed received visions from Allah that he then relayed to his helpers. Some of these visions were written after Muhammed was already deceased.

Think about this . . .

The Bible was written by over 40 authors. The Qur'an was written based on the testimony of one person.

The first book of the Bible (Genesis) was written around 1440 B.C. The last book of the Bible (Revelaton) was written in the later part of the first century (about A.D 90). That means the entire Word of the God of the Bible was written over a period of 1500 years.

The Qur'an was written over a period of 23 years, starting when Muhammad was 40, and going until his death in A.D. 632.

One might say the Qur'an seems to be more likely to be true. It was written relatively quickly. It was written by one man, so many men would not have the opporutnity to tamper with it--it could come directly from Allah and therefore be very accurate.

I disagree with this. I think the way the Bible was written is very telling about it's accuracy and the amazing power it holds. Here's why:

1. One man writing something makes it much more succeptible to error or foul play. No accountability is ever good. If I were to write something and claim it was from God, how would you know? You would simply have to take my word for it. BUT, if there were over 40 people claiming to have revelations from God and their stories all coincide, that would be something you would have to listen to! Moses didn't know Paul would ever exist. But God inspired him to write some of the exact same themes Paul discussed in the early church, over 1400 years later! Amazing.
2. The fact the Bible was written over a period of 1500 years tells me it is God's story, not man's story. There's no possible way all of the 40+ authors of the Bible could have collaborated on their writings over a time frame of 1500 years. It had to have been directed from a higher power, namely, the God of the Bible.
3. This one might be a stretch, but why would Allah only give one person his word? One person over a period of 23 years compared to the 7000+ years the earth has been around? Seems a bit stingy to me at face value. (There may be a very good reasons Muslims have for this. If so, I apologize for being hasty. I am just now starting to read the Qur'an.)

You might be thinking, the Bible wasn't completed until after the world had been in existence for about 5000 years. It's only been around for about 30% of the time the earth has been in existence (based on conservative estimates). How then is the God of the Bible not stingy as well? This is a valid question, to which I have two thoughts:

1. It would seem like God is unfair by the fact He has only had His completed Word around for 1900 years or so. It would seem that way if God had only interacted with man in that time frame. The Bible is very clear, however, that God has interacted with man since the beginning of time. God has always been trying to reach out to man, drawing man to Himself. Man is the one who resists God. Not the other way around.
2. This would also seem like a problem if the way by which we come to God is through obeying the law. If man comes to God by obeying His law, then God would be terrible to not give His law to everyone at every point in time. This, however, is not how the God of the Bible works. God saves people through faith (Ephesians 2:8). Anyone that has ever followed the God of the Bible has done so through faith. Adam had faith. Noah had faith. Moses had faith. Rahab had faith. The apostle Paul had faith. I have faith.

Read more about the Qur'an and Muhammad. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qur%27an

Jacob