person named John (see Sura 19:7), an assertion that is
refuted in the Old Testament (see 1Kgs 25:23, 1Chron 3:15,
and elsewhere) and many other ancient documents. Muslim
apologists defend the Koran by claiming that the Arabic
nameYahyadoes not correspond to the Hebrew and Greek
words for John, but this is specious: Zechariah’s son is
universally known only as John the Baptist.
Two of the Koran’s most egregious historical errors, as
we have seen, involve Christianity: it confuses the family of
Mary and Jesus with the family of Moses and Aaron, and it
denies the crucifixion of Jesus Christ — an event which, as
we have discussed earlier (see question 39), is well
documented in ancient non-Christian historical sources.
50. Aren’t there similar
contradictions or historical errors in
the Bible?
Many Muslims (and non-Muslims as well) purport to
find such contradictions in the Bible. Some of these
‘‘contradictions’’ are simple misunderstandings of the
genres and writing styles of the Scriptures; others are more
substantive and draw the attention of serious scholars. If
understood correctly, however, the Bible can be shown to
be without error in all those matters God wished to reveal
for our salvation (see CCC 107). Thus, strictly speaking, no
true contradictions (only apparent contradictions) exist in
the Sacred Scriptures.