Muslims should read the Bible? Is this truly the best way to convert someone to Christianity? I’d like to thank the missionaries who spend thousands of dollars on printing Bibles and giving them to starving children to save them from hunger. Reading a Bible converts no one, I bought my own first copy because no one would give me one, if reading the Bible actually convinces anyone of anything, it would be to recognize its flaws and to search for the true faith at which it hosts many indications of. Let’s take a basic example in which an idiot savant (read as: Sam “tha thug” Shamoun) would be able to notice these basic flaws. We begin with the birth narrative in Matthew 2, versus that of Luke 2.

Matthew 2:

• Joseph and Mary live in Bethlehem (2:1).
• Joseph, Mary and baby God/ Jesus migrate to Egypt  for fear of their safety (2:12).
• Joseph, Mary and baby God/ Jesus do not go to Jerusalem to fulfill the birth rite law of of the Old Testament (Luke 2:23).

Luke 2:

• Joseph and Mary live in Galilee but travel to Bethlehem to pay taxes because the entire Roman world was being taxed. Problem, why would they move to a town that Joseph is originally from to be taxed, wouldn’t the tax collector want to collect the taxes from people in their respective cities/ towns (2:1)?
• No account of Joseph, Mary and baby God/ Jesus migrating to Egypt for fear of safety – rather they stay in Bethlehem for 8 days and wait for Mary to become pure again after giving birth (2:20-21).
• Joseph, Mary and baby God/ Jesus do go to Jerusalem to fulfill the birth rite law of of the Old Testament (Luke 2:22-23).

At first, it might not seem like a big deal, but as Rabbi Michael Skobac of Jews for Judaism pointed out in his video on Micah 5:1-3, the stories claim opposite narratives which cannot be reconciled. In one episode of pure fiction, Mary and Joseph and baby God/ Jesus is scared of being persecuted by the Roman authorities and they flee, and even upon returning to the land of Israel they remain in hiding due to danger. In Luke, the story is quite different, they stay in Bethlehem, wait for Mary to become pure – absolutely no hiding or fear of danger, they stay a little more than a month, then journey to Jerusalem and present Christ at the temple – again no fear of danger, no hiding – nothing.

Now that I’ve read the Bible, I’m more convinced not to be a Christian. Muslims should therefore read the Bible. Saudi Arabia should allow the Bible to be taught and it should be mandatory for every child to be able to explain these differences. Perhaps in that way, the rest of the remaining Christians in the Middle East can finally abandon the chains of the cross and come to true monotheism – God willing.