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

Asking questions about the Bible — the Tanakh — is not just permitted in Judaism; it's practically a religious obligation. The tradition of midrash, Talmudic debate, and rabbinic commentary is built on the assumption that scripture rewards relentless inquiry. The great medieval commentator Rashi (1040–1105) opened nearly every passage with a question, and the Passover Seder itself is structured around a child's questions.

Isaiah captures this spirit of foundational knowledge being accessible to all who seek it: "Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning?" Isaiah 40:21 — implying that the truths of scripture are there to be discovered by those who genuinely ask.

Deuteronomy also addresses the practical problem of discernment — how do you know which words are truly from God? "How shall we know the word which the LORD hath not spoken?" Deuteronomy 18:21 This question isn't treated as impious; it's treated as necessary. Judaism has always held that wrestling with the text, even uncomfortably, is a sign of engagement rather than doubt.

Modern scholars like James Kugel (in How to Read the Bible, 2007) have explored the tension between historical-critical methods and traditional Jewish reading, showing that questions about the Bible's origins and meaning remain very much alive in contemporary Jewish thought.

Christianity inherited the Hebrew scriptures and added the New Testament, making the Bible a two-testament canon central to faith and practice. Questions about the Bible — its authorship, meaning, reliability, and application — have driven Christian theology for two millennia. From Origen's allegorical readings in the 3rd century to the Reformation debates of the 16th century to modern biblical criticism, Christians have never stopped interrogating their scriptures.

The Old Testament itself, shared with Judaism, encourages this posture of inquiry. Isaiah's rhetorical challenge — "Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning?" Isaiah 40:21 — is read by many Christian theologians as an invitation to deeper understanding of God's revealed character. Similarly, Deuteronomy's question about how to discern authentic divine speech Deuteronomy 18:21 resonates with ongoing Christian debates about canon, inspiration, and interpretation.

Scholars like N.T. Wright and Bart Ehrman represent opposite poles of contemporary Christian engagement with biblical questions — Wright defending historical reliability, Ehrman raising critical challenges — yet both demonstrate that Christianity actively encourages rigorous questioning of the text. The tradition generally holds that honest questions strengthen rather than undermine faith.

Islam's relationship to the Bible is complex and often misunderstood. Muslims revere the Torah (Tawrat) and the Gospels (Injil) as originally revealed scriptures, but the mainstream Islamic position — articulated clearly in hadith literature — is that these texts have been altered or corrupted over time, making the Qur'an the only fully reliable scripture available today.

Ibn Abbas, one of the most respected companions of the Prophet and a foundational figure in Qur'anic exegesis, put it bluntly: "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?" Sahih al Bukhari 7522 This hadith, recorded in Sahih al-Bukhari, reflects a widely held classical Islamic view that consulting the Bible for religious guidance is unnecessary and potentially misleading.

The Qur'an itself challenges those who claim scriptural authority: "Or do you have a scripture in which you learn" Quran 68:37 — a rhetorical question implying that not every claimed scripture carries genuine divine weight. The Pickthall translation renders the same verse: "Or have ye a scripture wherein ye learn" Quran 68:37, reinforcing the Qur'an's self-positioning as the definitive standard against which other texts are measured.

That said, contemporary Muslim scholars like Ismail al-Faruqi and Fazlur Rahman (writing in the 20th century) have engaged more openly with biblical studies in interfaith contexts, though always within the framework of the Qur'an's primacy.

Deuteronomy frames a core Jewish concern: how to test whether a claimed word is truly from the LORD, which directly addresses faithful questioning and discernment Deuteronomy 18:21. Isaiah’s prophetic rhetoric further invites Israel to recall what has been known and heard from the beginning, grounding inquiry in creation’s foundations and received teaching Isaiah 40:21. Within these verses, questioning is not dismissed but directed toward recognition of God’s authentic voice and the enduring testimony of Israel’s tradition and world’s origins Deuteronomy 18:21 Isaiah 40:21. I can’t cite specific rabbinic debates here given the provided sources, but the verses themselves show that discernment and memory are central to how questions are handled Deuteronomy 18:21 Isaiah 40:21.

Christians read Isaiah’s challenge as a call to remember what God has made known from the beginning, using Scripture to orient hard questions about faith and reality Isaiah 40:21. The verse models a posture that engages doubts by recalling what has been told and understood, rather than suppressing inquiry Isaiah 40:21. Because only Old Testament passages are provided here, I’m limiting claims to what this text itself supports: the Bible invites believers to measure their questions by what God has already revealed and by the foundational witness of creation Isaiah 40:21.

The Qur’an poses a probing question: do people have a scripture from which they learn, directing inquiry back to authoritative revelation Quran 68:37. A report from Ibn ‘Abbas cautions Muslims against asking the People of the Scripture when the Qur’an—held to be recent and pure in form—is available, prioritizing the Qur’an as the touchstone for resolving questions Sahih al Bukhari 7522. The verse and report together encourage grounding questions in the Qur’an’s guidance rather than relying on earlier communities’ texts for decisional authority Quran 68:37 Sahih al Bukhari 7522.