The Bible and Qur'an

The Bible was written over a period of 1400 years by inspired, but fallible men, for the purpose of relating a developing relationship between God and His people. It was written from the understanding and perspective of the men who wrote it, who, in spite of their inspiration, were not omniscient.  They recorded their books in the common understandings of the day.

This is understood and accepted by all Biblical scholars. At issue is not that there are discrepancies, but that the entirety of the text is as consistent as it is. The events recorded there, recorded by men over centuries, paint a magnificent story arc with a beginning and an end, and a development along the way that encompasses all of creation. As a piece of literature it would be magnificent in its scope if it were penned by a single author.  When you consider that it was written by many people over centuries, and still developed as it did, it is nothing short of a miracle and a testament to the Holy Spirit who moved the authors to record what they had observed.

Now, we turn to the Qur'an, which appeared overnight, historically speaking, originating across the lips of one man over a span of 23 years. It was not written down at the time, but Muslims claim it's the literal word of Allah, from his lips to your ears, as it were. Gee, Allah wrote a book and called it the Qur'an. I would expect it to be the user's manual for the universe, right? I would expect it to be perfect in all ways, entirely consistent.

Too bad it's not. It has no narrative, no story arc, no real organization except the longer surahs (chapters) are more or less in front.  It's self-contradictory and contains many factual errors. It's obviously a retelling of biblical and apocryphal stories that the author had heard years before, half-remembered and never understood.  I've heard Muslims claim the Qur'an is the finest literary example of Arabic.  It may well be, particularly since Muslims have a known penchant for destroying any other writing that isn't the Qur'an. But from a literary standpoint, the Qur'an is garbage. There are so many finer works of literature in the world!

The Qur'an is needlessly repetitive, much of it is plagiarized badly from other Judeo-Christian scripture. It's senseless, has no narrative thread, often changes subject in mid-verse. It's boring, hard to read, endlessly narcissistic, contains many substantial contradictions and often leads the reader wondering what the author was talking about. There is no uplifting message, nothing to give the reader hope, just the endless self-congratulation of Allah and needless reminders that you are his slave.

About the only thing I find mildly interesting is when Muhammad would start to get angry. Some verses start mildly, and then Muhammad is reminded of something that someone did to him.  He starts talking about it and gets worked up - you can tell he's talking faster and faster, working himself up into a lather.  By the end, you can almost imagine him red-faced and screaming as he condemns his detractors to Hell-fire and eternal torture. It's a fascinating study into the state of mind of a complete madman.