How Can the Bible Be Trusted If It Has Been Altered or Corrupted?

The Claim: The Bible Has Been Corrupted

Many people have the assumption that the Bible has been corrupted. When I speak to most Muslims they say the same thing, however this idea is not just peculiar to Muslims but non-Muslims at times have the same claim but their claims spring up from different bases and we would see that in another blog but here we would focus on the opinions of Muslims.

So whenever I approach my Muslim friends, lol I call them friends because I actually feel drawn to Muslims. Anyways that aside, whenever I approach them and they come with the claim that the Bible has been corrupted & altered — that it is only the Quran that has been perfectly preserved.

What the Quran Actually Says About the Bible

And I ask them: when has it been altered or corrupted? And some would say during/after the time of Jesus and that is why Allah would send his final prophet to bring people back to the right. And then I tell them that the Quran wouldn’t agree with them on that because Surah 5:44–48 says:

“Indeed, We revealed the Torah, containing guidance and light, by which the prophets, who submitted themselves to Allah, made judgments for Jews. So too did the rabbis and scholars judge according to Allah’s Book, with which they were entrusted and of which they were made keepers. So do not fear the people; fear Me! Nor trade my revelations for a fleeting gain. And those who do not judge by what Allah has revealed are ⁠truly⁠ the disbelievers. We ordained for them in the Torah, ‘A life for a life, an eye for an eye, a nose for a nose, an ear for an ear, a tooth for a tooth — and for wounds equal retaliation.’ But whoever waives it charitably, it will be atonement for them. And those who do not judge by what Allah has revealed are ⁠truly⁠ the wrongdoers. Then in the footsteps of the prophets, We sent Jesus, son of Mary, confirming the Torah revealed before him. And We gave him the Gospel containing guidance and light and confirming what was revealed in the Torah — a guide and a lesson to the God-fearing. So let the people of the Gospel judge by what Allah has revealed in it. And those who do not judge by what Allah has revealed are ⁠truly⁠ the rebellious. We have revealed to you ⁠O Prophet⁠ this Book with the truth, as a confirmation of previous Scriptures and a supreme authority on them. So judge between them by what Allah has revealed, and do not follow their desires over the truth that has come to you. To each of you We have ordained a code of law and a way of life. If Allah had willed, He would have made you one community, but His Will is to test you with what He has given ⁠each of⁠ you. So compete with one another in doing good. To Allah you will all return, then He will inform you ⁠of the truth⁠ regarding your differences.” — Surah 5:44–48

Also Surah 10:94 says: “So if you are in doubt about what We have revealed to you, then ask those who have been reading the Scripture before you. The truth has certainly come to you from your Lord, so never be among the doubters.”

So this means that for Allah to tell the prophet Mohammed to verify what he is saying with the Jews and the Christians, it means that the Torah and the Bible cannot be corrupted or altered. If they were, Allah wouldn’t be telling the prophet Mohammed to verify from them — it would have been to correct them.

When Was It Allegedly Changed? The Timeline Problem

When I say this, then some of my Muslim friends may claim that it was changed years after the prophet died. And then I say that the prophet came in the 6th century and died in the 7th century.

This matters, because the manuscript evidence does not support a corruption that happened after Mohammed. The textual tradition of the Bible was already well established long before the 7th century — and the manuscript witnesses we have confirm it.

The Old Testament Manuscripts: Leningrad Codex and Aleppo Codex

Now all this while, before 1947, the earliest Hebrew complete/near-complete manuscripts of the Old Testament were dated back to the 10th century. We have the Leningrad Codex, dated to around 1008–1009 CE (the oldest complete Hebrew Bible manuscript), and the Aleppo Codex, dated to around 930 CE (slightly earlier but partially damaged).

Someone might ask: how can the earliest complete manuscript available for the Old Testament be from the 10th century, which is after the time of Jesus? And by the time of Jesus the Old Testament was already considered scripture — so how can the earliest surviving copy only be from the 10th century? Very good question.

Now, “earliest complete manuscript” does not mean “earliest time the Bible existed or was compiled.” The Old Testament was already compiled and considered scripture among the Jews. The earliest surviving copy dates to the 10th century because these texts were written on materials like papyrus and early parchment — and these materials decay over time. Texts were copied repeatedly by scribes, so older copies would have worn out and been discarded.

The Dead Sea Scrolls: The Game-Changing Discovery of 1947

Then in 1947, hundreds of ancient leather manuscripts were discovered in jars in a cave at Qumran, north of the Dead Sea. These were far older — dated roughly from the 3rd century BCE to the 1st century CE (about 250 BCE–70 CE). The collection included complete copies of Old Testament books.

This is the decisive evidence. The Dead Sea Scrolls pushed the Old Testament manuscript record back over a thousand years before the Leningrad and Aleppo Codices — and comparison showed the text had been faithfully preserved across that entire span.

The New Testament Manuscripts: Thousands of Witnesses

And for the New Testament, the earliest known fragment — the most important — is Rylands Papyrus P52 (a portion of the Gospel of John), dated to around 125–150 CE. It was discovered in Egypt in the 1920s and published in 1935. After P52 we also have:

• Papyrus P46 → ~200 CE
• Papyrus P66 → ~200 CE
• Papyrus P75 → ~175–225 CE

Then for the earliest major complete New Testament manuscripts:

• Codex Sinaiticus – ~4th century CE (contains most of the New Testament)
• Codex Vaticanus – ~4th century CE (very important early Greek Bible manuscript)
• Codex Alexandrinus – ~5th century CE

So with this, we can’t say that the Bible has been changed, because the early manuscripts are available.

Comparing Bible and Quran Manuscript Counts

And I was doing some research, and just for the New Testament alone, the early Greek manuscript fragments number about 5,800. We also have about 10,000 in Latin and 9,300 in other languages like Syriac, Coptic (Egyptian Christian texts), Armenian, Georgian, Gothic, Ethiopic (Ge’ez), Old Church Slavonic, Arabic, and others.

To compare that with the Quran: although the earliest surviving Qur’anic manuscripts date to the 7th century CE — very close to the lifetime of the Prophet Muhammad (d. 632 CE) — there are 60+ Quranic manuscript witnesses (that is, fragments, folios, and partial codices). So “60” does not mean only 60 pages — it means more than 60 distinct early manuscript sources.

So if we look at the count, there are far more manuscripts for the Bible than for the Quran.

Why Are There So Many Bible Versions?

Another claim would be: okay, let’s imagine the Bible has not been corrupted or altered — then why are there so many versions of the Bible? And I say that versions doesn’t mean that there are different Bibles.

I usually give an example: Shakespeare, if he wanted to say something, would use old English like “thou shall not kill.” Now if you were to communicate the same thing today, it would be “you should not kill.” One thing was said in two different ways but it didn’t change the meaning or the intent of what is being communicated — and that is the same thing with the Bible.

Here is an example of a single verse across different versions:

John 3:16 across five versions:

And there are many more. This is just one verse, and these different versions are just explanations of this single verse — still communicating the same intent and message.

Where Did the Corruption Claim Really Come From?

So then where did the claim of the Bible being corrupted come from? I personally think that the claim arose after people (Muslim scholars) started comparing the two books together (the Quran & the Bible) and they realised that they were not correlating. Then they assumed that since the Quran is considered to be the final revelation from Allah, it must mean that the Bible has been changed or altered.

This is because Surah 6:115 says: “The word of your Lord has been perfected in truth and justice. None can change His words.” In Arabic: لَا مُبَدِّلَ لِكَلِمَاتِهِ (Lā mubaddila li-kalimātih) — “There is no one who can alter His words.”

And Surah 18:27 says: “And recite what has been revealed to you of the Book of your Lord. None can change His words, and you will never find any refuge besides Him.”

The Logical Inconsistency

But then we forget that the Torah and the Injil are also considered the words of Allah, since they were also revealed/sent by Allah. So if we say the Quran hasn’t been changed but the Torah and the Bible have been changed, that would be an inconsistency.

“Because if we cannot trust Allah to preserve the Torah and Injil, how can we trust him to preserve the Quran?” — Angel Kanu

The same Quranic promise that guarantees the Quran’s preservation applies equally to the earlier scriptures. You cannot selectively apply Allah’s preserving power to one book and deny it to the others He claims to have sent — not without contradicting the very verses you use to make the argument.