Muhammadan Objections

46	OBJECTIONS AGAINST THE GENUINESS OF

brought no such charge against either Jews or Christians.

Hence from the عقلي ('aqli) part of the evidence on the subject it follows that the Scriptures cannot have been corrupted after Muhammad's time; and we have previously proved that they cannot have been corrupted in or before his time. We conclude therefore that they are still uncorrupted.

17. M. Well, what are your نقلي (naqli) proofs?

C. They are many, but it will be sufficient to adduce only a few of the chief of them, any one of which by itself is a sufficient refutation of the charge which you bring against us.

II. We possess a number of Greek MS. copies of the Bible, which were copied from still earlier MSS. long before Muhammad's time. It is from these that the printed Greek text of both the Old and the New Testaments is taken. This enables us to know what was the text of the Bible in the hands of the Christians of Muhammad's day, and to prove that it was the same Bible that we now have. These old MSS. may be seen by any of you who wish to examine them. The principal of these MSS. are:—

(1) The Sinaitic (Codex Sinaiticus), written¹ in the middle of the fourth century, about 270 years before the Hijrah of Muhammad. It contains the whole of the New Testament and a large part of

¹ "Written in the fourth or more probably at the beginning of the fifth century." (Nestle, Textual Criticism of the Greek Testament.)

THE BIBLE AS IT NOW EXISTS

the Old, and is preserved in the Imperial Library at St. Petersburg.

(2) The Alexandrian (Codex Alexandrinus), written early¹ in the fifth century, more than 200 years before the Hijrah. It contains the whole Bible, except a few pages that have been lost, and is in the British Museum, London.

(3) The Vatican (Codex Vaticanus), written early in the fourth century, nearly 300 years before the Hijrah. It contains the whole² Bible, though the latter part of the New Testament (from Heb. ix. 14) is written in a later hand, and is in the Vatican Library at Rome.

(4) Codex Ephraemi, written early in the fifth century, or about 200 years before the Hijrah.

It³ is fragmentary, and contains pages from each book of the New Testament and fragments of the Old. It is kept in the National Library at Paris.

¹ "Middle or end of the fifth century." (Nestle, op. cit.) It "is defective at the beginning of the N.T., the first 26 leaves, down to Matt. xxv. 6, being absent, as also two containing John vi. 50-viii. 52, and three containing 2 Cor. iv. 13-xii. 6." (ibid.)
² "Like A" (Cod. Alex.) "it once contained the whole of the Old Test. The first 31 leaves, containing Gen. i. I-xlvi. 28, are now wanting, as well as 20 from the Psalms, containing Ps. cv. (cvi) 27-cxxxvii. (cxxxviii) 6. The N T. is complete down to Heb. ix. 14, where it breaks off at καθα [ριει ]. 1 and 2 Tim., Titus, Philemon, and the Apocalypse are, therefore, also wanting." (ibid.)
³ "The MS. once contained the entire Bible, but the whole of 1 and 2 Thess. has been lost, as also some 37 chapters from the Gospels, 10 from the Acts, 42 from the Epistles, and 8 from the Apocalypse." (ibid.)

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