Hard Questions to Ask About the Bible: What Judaism, Christianity, and Islam Say

Judaism has a long, robust tradition of questioning scripture—it's practically baked into the tradition. The Talmud itself is structured as argument and counter-argument, and rabbis from Rashi (11th century) to modern scholars like Nehama Leibowitz have modeled relentless textual interrogation. Hard questions aren't a threat; they're the method.

Some of the genuinely hard questions the Hebrew Bible raises include: Does God change His mind? (Compare Exodus 32 with Numbers 23:19.) Why do the righteous suffer? Psalm 73 captures this tension starkly—

"How could God know? Is there knowledge with the Most High?"

—voicing the skeptic's challenge right inside the canon Psalms 73:11. That's remarkable. The text doesn't silence the doubter; it quotes him.

Another hard question: how do you tell a true prophet from a false one? Deuteronomy 18:21 asks it directly—

"And should you ask yourselves, 'How can we know that the oracle was not spoken by GOD?'"

—and the answer the text provides (fulfillment of prediction) is itself contested by later rabbinic commentary, since some true prophecies were conditional and some false prophets did perform signs.

Deuteronomy 13:14 adds another layer: when a troubling religious claim surfaces in the community, the Torah commands active investigation—

"Then shalt thou enquire, and make search, and ask diligently; and, behold, if it be truth, and the thing certain, that such abomination is wrought among you"

—suggesting that faith and forensic inquiry aren't opposites. Hard questions, in the Jewish framework, are obligations, not crises.

Christianity inherits the Hebrew Bible's questioning tradition and adds its own complications—two Testaments that must be read in relation to each other, a canon debated well into the 4th century, and centuries of interpretive disagreement between Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant scholars.

Hard questions to ask about the Bible from a Christian angle include: Are the Gospel accounts historically reliable? How do you reconcile the God of the conquest narratives with the Sermon on the Mount? What does it mean that Jesus quotes Psalm 22 from the cross? These aren't new questions—Origen (3rd century), Augustine (4th–5th century), and more recently N.T. Wright and Bart Ehrman have staked out very different positions.

The New Testament itself models hard questioning. In Mark 9, Jesus enters a scene of dispute and immediately asks—

"What question ye with them?"

—suggesting that interrogation is part of discipleship, not a departure from it. The scribes are the ones being questioned, not silenced.

Jeremiah 23:33 raises a question that cuts across both Testaments: what counts as a genuine word from God versus a human projection?

"What is the burden of the LORD? thou shalt then say unto them, What burden? I will even forsake you, saith the LORD."

Christian theologians have wrestled with this for centuries—the question of canon, inspiration, and inerrancy remains genuinely contested. Hard questions about the Bible, in Christianity, are unavoidable precisely because the tradition claims so much for the text.

Islam's relationship to hard questions about the Bible is distinct: the Qur'an acknowledges earlier scriptures (Torah, Gospel) but holds that they've been altered or misunderstood over time—a doctrine called tahrif. So asking hard questions about the Bible is, from a classical Islamic standpoint, somewhat expected. The Bible's difficulties are partly evidence of that corruption.

Ibn Abbas, one of the most authoritative early Qur'anic commentators, put it bluntly in a hadith recorded in Sahih al-Bukhari:

"How can you ask the people of the Scriptures about their Books while you have Allah's Book (the Qur'an) which is the most recent of the Books revealed by Allah, and you read it in its pure undistorted form?"

That's a striking position—not that the Bible's hard questions are unanswerable, but that Muslims shouldn't need to rely on a text they believe has been compromised.

The Qur'an itself raises pointed questions about how earlier scripture has been used. Surah 3:65 challenges Jews and Christians directly:

"O People of the Scripture! Why will ye argue about Abraham, when the Torah and the Gospel were not revealed till after him? Have ye then no sense?"

And Surah 78:1 opens with a rhetorical question—

"Whereof do they question one another?"

—that classical commentators like al-Tabari read as pointing to human confusion about ultimate realities. Islam, then, doesn't discourage hard questions; it redirects them toward the Qur'an as the more reliable source.

Judaism invites rigorous, communal inquiry: “enquire… make search… ask diligently” when evaluating serious claims—so frame hard questions around truth-testing and verification Deuteronomy 13:14.

• How do we “know that the oracle was not spoken by GOD?” Press leaders for criteria and evidence for prophetic authority and fulfillment Deuteronomy 18:21.
• When accusations of abomination or error arise, what due diligence is required before acting? Insist on corroboration, not rumor Deuteronomy 13:14.
• Does God really know and see? Confront the problem of apparent injustice with the psalmist’s daring challenge, “How could God know?” Psalms 73:11.
• What did God actually answer or speak? Separate human rhetoric from divine response in prophetic discourse Jeremiah 23:37.

These questions are native to Torah-and-Prophets discourse and aren’t irreverent; they’re commanded forms of discernment that safeguard the community from false guidance Deuteronomy 13:14Deuteronomy 18:21.

Christian sources also model pointed inquiry. Jesus himself asked questioners, drawing disputes into the open: “What question ye with them?”—so believers may surface contested issues rather than avoid them Mark 9:16.

• What claims about God’s knowledge and justice withstand biblical scrutiny? Echo the hard lament, “How could God know?” to probe theodicy in light of cross and resurrection hope Psalms 73:11.
• What counts as reliable testimony about Jesus and apostolic teaching, and how should disagreements be handled publicly, as in Jesus’ engagement with scribes? Press for transparent reasoning from Scripture Mark 9:16.
• How do communities test purported revelations or teachings? The church inherits Israel’s mandate to investigate diligently before acting Deuteronomy 13:14.

In this tradition, hard questions are integral to discipleship and correction, provided they are asked openly and judged by Scripture with charity and truthfulness Mark 9:16Deuteronomy 13:14.

Islamic texts acknowledge debates about earlier revelation and redirect them toward clear guidance and chronology: “Why will ye argue about Abraham, when the Torah and the Gospel were not revealed till after him?”—a hard question that reframes identity claims around timing and revelation order Quran 3:65.

• What’s the proper scope of arguing over the Bible from an Islamic standpoint? The Qur’an queries, “Whereof do they question one another?” inviting focus on essentials rather than fruitless contention Quran 78:1.
• Given concerns about textual reliability, why ask People of the Scripture when the Qur’an is considered the preserved, most recent revelation? This challenges authority and method in interfaith appeals Sahih al Bukhari 7522.
• How should Muslims engage biblical claims about figures like Abraham? Islam presses whether later scriptures can define earlier prophets contrary to Qur’anic guidance Quran 3:65.

Thus, hard questions here often test the legitimacy of debates about prior scriptures and urge returning to what Islam presents as the final criterion Sahih al Bukhari 7522Quran 3:65.