to be found many clear prophecies of Muhammad's coming. If so many have been left in,
why do you accuse us of striking out a few?
15. M. Another reason was to insert passages in support of the false doctrines
and evil practices that you had adopted, and to strike out those which were contrary to
them.
C. How can that be, when the Taurat and Injil as they exist at present so
distinctly forbid many practices and oppose many doctrines held by some Jews
and Christians? For instance, the Jews are noted for usury, which is forbidden (Exod. xxii.
25; Lev. xxv. 35-37; cf. Surah IV., An Nisa’, 159). So too, idolatry is forbidden to
Christians (Rev. xxi. 8), yet, if any misguided Christians practise and justify it, they
do not try to alter the Bible, which so severely condemns idolaters.
16. M. Let me hear your other proofs.
C. The Jews and Christians could not have altered their Scriptures in or
after Muhammad's time, even had they all been seized with madness and desired to do so.
For they were already spread over a large part of the world, and could not meet together
to agree upon corrupting the Bible. Had they altered it without collusion, their
alterations would have differed from one another and been readily detected. Both
Christians and Jews were then to be found in every part of Europe, in India, Persia,
Mesopotamia, Armenia, Asia Minor, Syria, Palestine, Arabia, Ethiopia, Egypt, and
throughout