>Sorry to importune the list with another query. As a result of a student's
>question, I have been trying to look into the reasons why Muslims believe
>that the Bible has been deformed, altered, bowdlerized and assert that
>portions of the Scriptures (which for instance predict the coming of
>Muhammad) were taken out. I was trying to determine whether any
>discussions of the formation of the canon in modern biblical scholarship
>deals with this claim, and was told by a noted theologian that there is
>no evidence, even in apocyphal sources, of such passages ever having existed
>in the Jewish or Christian scriptures.
>
>I wondered whether medieval Muslims or Christians ever addressed this
>matter in polemics aimed at the Muslims, or in debates between Muslims and
>Christians, or even in exegetical discussions amongst Jewish or Christian
>scholars?
Dear Monica,
Yes, the matter was addressed in Christian writings against Islam. In the
most widespread passage of this kind, Jacques de Vitry in his _Historia
orientalis_ (written in Egypt ca. 1219-21), cap. 6, describes and refutes
the Muslim attitude as follows (ed. F. Moschus, Douai 1597, Repr. 1971,
p.23s., cited from my e-text of the relevant chapters):
Recipiunt autem Pentateuchum Moysi, & omnes libros Prophetarum, &
Apostolorum, quos a Deo fuisse loquutos, & homines fuisse sanctos
non negant. Psalterium etiam, & totius veteris testamenti
translationem secundum septuaginta interpretes recipiunt. Sed
more Iudaeorum vel ad litteram tantum intelligunt scripturas, vel
peruerse aliqua quandoque exponunt. Euangelia autem Domini nostri
Iesu Christi legunt & non intelligunt: Vera tamen esse confitentur
quacumque loquutus est Christus. Eodem modo Apostolos, qui conuersati
sunt cum Christo, quos Mahometus libro suo vocat viros albis, & eorum
libros recipiunt. Omnes autem qui cum Christo, dum esset in terris,
non fuerunt, tanquam falsarios & Euangelice veritatis ignaros, non
admittunt: sed tam eos quam quam eorum libros despiciunt. Vnde beatum
Apostolum Paulum e libris suis, & omnes alios qui post Paulum varios
libros scripserunt ipsi abominantur, doctrinam eorum blasphemantes.
Quando autem ex libris Euangeliorum Christi vel sanctorum Apostolorum,
vel etiam ex veteri testamento aliqua legi sue repugnare videntur, cum
aliter non possunt euadere, dicunt libros nostros a falsarijs esse
corruptos, quibusdam subtractis, & alijs pro voluntate appositis. hoc
est vltimum & miserabile eorum refugium. Ita enim quolibet idiota
respondente, nec ipsi ex libris suis, nec Iudaei ex veteri etstamento,
nec aliqui ex scriptis antiquorum, per locum ab auctoritate, possent
aliquid probare. Quam absurda autem & friuola sit huiusmodi responsio,
patet ex hoc, quod sancti qui post Christi tempora sequuti sunt, eadem
miracula, que Christus fecit, & etiam aliqua maiora Christi virtute
fecerunt. Quidquid autem in libris suis scripserunt, ex nouo vel veteri
testamento habuerunt, idipsum sentientes, & concorditer scribentes de
thesauro suo noua & vetera protulerunt. Notum est autem quod sancta
Euangelia, & libri apostolorum & alia legis Christianorum volumina,
in diuersis mundi partibus, & varijs Idiomatibus, & diuersis etiam
scriptoribus, & varijs temporibus scripta sunt concorditer, & absque
vlla sentiarum contrarietate; & ab omni hominum genere vsque ad tempora
nostra succesiue sunt recepta, ex quorum vniformitate manifestum est
quod nullo potuerunt esse falsata. Quomodo enim tot falsarij & ita a
se remoti tam idiomatibus, quam locis, in vnum penitus possent conuenire?
More extended, but similar discussions can be found in the writings of
Petrus Venerabilis (ed. James Kritzeck, _Peter the Venerable and Islam_,
Princeton: Princeton UP, 1964) and Ricoldo da Monte di Croce (_Contra legem
sarracenorum_, ed. J.-M. Me/rigoux, in: Memorie domenicane, nouva serie 17,
1986). If I remember it right, passages of this kind are discussed somewhere
in Norman Daniel's book _Islam and the West: The Making of an Image_, 2nd
rev. ed., Edinburgh: Edinburgh UP, 1962 (= Edinburgh University
Publications, Language & Literature, 12).
Sincerely,
Otfried Lieberknecht
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Otfried Lieberknecht
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