Islam Watch

Series 2 – The Quran’s Fatal Dilemma

Part 3 – The Doctrinal Clash: Bible vs. Quran

Introduction – Why This Clash Matters

One of the central claims of the Quran is that it comes from the same God who revealed the Torah and the Gospel. This isn’t a peripheral statement—it is woven into the Quran’s identity and legitimacy. If that claim holds true, Islam gains historical and theological continuity. If it fails, the Islamic structure collapses entirely.

The problem is simple but devastating: the Bible and the Quran do not agree—not just on minor points, but on the very heart of the message. We are not talking about differences in cultural practice or interpretation; we are talking about opposite positions on salvation, the identity of Jesus, His death and resurrection, and the means by which humanity is reconciled to God.

This is not a debate about whether two faiths can have different emphases—it is about whether both can be simultaneously true under the Islamic claim that they share the same divine origin.

In this part of the series, we will unpack exactly how deep the doctrinal chasm is between the Bible and the Quran, why it is unbridgeable, and why this creates an in-house contradiction in Islam that no amount of theological gymnastics can repair.

1. The Central Figures – Same Names, Different Persons

When Muslims say they believe in Jesus (ʿIsa in the Quran), many Christians initially think there is common ground. The reality is, the Quranic ʿIsa is not the Jesus of history or the Gospels.

Bible’s Jesus:
- Divine Son of God (John 1:1, 1:14; Colossians 1:15-20)
- Second Person of the Trinity
- Died on the cross for the sins of the world (1 Corinthians 15:3-4)
- Resurrected bodily (Luke 24:36-43)
- Final Judge of all humanity (Matthew 25:31-46)
Quran’s ʿIsa:
- Not divine (Quran 4:171, 5:72-73)
- A human prophet only
- Did not die on the cross (Quran 4:157)
- No resurrection for the purpose of atonement
- Will return only to destroy the cross and abolish Christian belief (Hadith, Sahih al-Bukhari 3448; Sahih Muslim 155)

This is not a matter of “interpretation.” These are mutually exclusive historical and theological claims. If the Jesus of the Bible is true, the ʿIsa of the Quran is false. If the ʿIsa of the Quran is true, then the Jesus of the Bible is a fabricated figure.

2. The Crucifixion – The Point of No Compromise

The crucifixion is the single most well-attested event in the life of Jesus from a historical perspective—confirmed not only by the Gospels but also by non-Christian sources like Tacitus, Josephus, and the Talmud. Yet the Quran flatly denies it:

“They did not kill him, nor did they crucify him, but it appeared so to them.”
— Quran 4:157

In contrast, the New Testament’s entire message hinges on the crucifixion:

“…if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.”
— 1 Corinthians 15:17

Here lies the fatal clash:

If the crucifixion happened → the Quran’s denial in 4:157 is false, making it not divinely inspired.
If the crucifixion did not happen → the New Testament is a deliberate fabrication, and the Quran affirming the Gospel as guidance (5:47) is nonsensical.

Either way, the Quran’s claim to confirm the Gospel collapses.

3. The Nature of God – Trinity vs. Tawhid

Another irreconcilable difference lies in the nature of God Himself.

Bible: One God in three co-equal, co-eternal Persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19; 2 Corinthians 13:14).
Quran: Absolute monad, no partners, no Trinity, and a denial that God has a Son (Quran 112:1-4, 4:171, 5:72).

The Quran’s misunderstanding of the Trinity even misrepresents it as including Mary (Quran 5:116), which no branch of historic Christianity has ever taught. This is not just a different theological model—it’s a misrepresentation followed by a rejection, which cannot coexist with the biblical truth claim.

4. The Path to Salvation – Grace vs. Works

The Bible is crystal clear: salvation is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, not by works (Ephesians 2:8-9, Romans 3:28). The Quran, however, consistently presents salvation as earned through good deeds outweighing bad ones (Quran 23:102-103, 7:8-9), with Allah free to override justice on a whim (Quran 4:48).

This is not a minor doctrinal quibble—it is the foundation of how human beings are reconciled to God.

Biblical view: Salvation is a free gift based on Christ’s finished work.
Quranic view: Salvation is conditional, uncertain, and dependent on personal merit.

If the Quran affirms the Gospel (as it claims), it must affirm salvation by grace alone. Since it does not, the claim fails.

5. Authority of Scripture – Confirmed or Contradicted?

The Quran insists that it confirms the earlier revelations:

“He has sent down upon you, [O Muhammad], the Book in truth, confirming what was before it. And He revealed the Torah and the Gospel.”
— Quran 3:3

Yet, the very teachings of the Torah and Gospel—on who God is, how He saves, and what Christ did—directly oppose the Quran’s message. A true confirmation would mean doctrinal harmony. Instead, we find wholesale contradiction.

This creates the Islamic Dilemma in microcosm:

If the Bible is preserved → the Quran contradicts it, meaning the Quran is false.
If the Bible is corrupted → the Quran is wrong for affirming it as guidance.

6. The Quran’s Attempt to Reframe History

The Quran retroactively places its theology into the mouths of Old Testament and New Testament figures—Abraham, Moses, David, and Jesus are all presented as proto-Muslims preaching Tawhid and anticipating Muhammad’s coming.

Yet, there is no historical or textual evidence from Jewish or Christian sources supporting this narrative. Every manuscript of the Bible, from centuries before Muhammad, presents a theology entirely inconsistent with Islam.

In effect, the Quran rebrands historical figures to fit its own story. This is historical revisionism, not historical continuity.

7. Why This Clash Is Fatal for Islam

This doctrinal clash is not merely an “interfaith disagreement.” It is an internal contradiction within Islam’s truth claim:

The Quran says it comes from the same God as the Torah and Gospel.
The Quran says those books were given as guidance and light.
The content of those books flatly contradicts the Quran on central truths.

You cannot affirm two sets of divine revelation that teach opposite messages about who God is, who Jesus is, and how salvation works.

8. Anticipating Muslim Apologetic Responses

Islamic apologists typically offer three escape routes:

“The Bible is corrupted” – but the Quran says it is guidance and does not describe any corruption event.
“The real Gospel is lost” – but the Quran commands Christians of Muhammad’s time to judge by what they had (5:47), which means it still existed.
“The contradictions are misunderstandings” – but these are not translation quirks; they are opposite doctrinal systems.

Each of these responses fails because they require Muslims to either:

Deny what the Quran plainly says, or
Accept that Allah affirmed books He allowed to be lost or corrupted—making Him either incompetent or deceptive.

9. The Formal Logic of the Clash

We can reduce this to a simple logical form:

Premise 1 – The Quran claims the Torah and Gospel are divinely inspired, preserved, and authoritative.
Premise 2 – The Torah and Gospel contradict the Quran on essential doctrines.
Premise 3 – Two contradictory truth claims cannot both be from the same, truthful God.
Conclusion – Therefore, either:
- The Quran is wrong about the Torah and Gospel, or
- The Quran is wrong in its own theology.

Either way, the Quran fails its own truth test.

Conclusion – An Inescapable Collision

The Quran’s affirmation of the Torah and Gospel is not a minor claim—it is the linchpin of its attempt to present itself as the final chapter in God’s revelation. But the moment you place the Bible and the Quran side by side, the claim collapses.

You can have the Bible.
You can have the Quran.
You cannot have both without destroying the integrity of one.

And since it is the Quran that claims to confirm the Bible—not the other way around—the burden is on Islam to explain this irreconcilable gulf. Every attempt so far has either contradicted the Quran itself or conceded that God’s word was lost, which nullifies Islam entirely.