Page 298 - History of The Quranic Text | Kalamullah.Com

278 THE HISTORY OF THE QUR'ANIC TEXT

6. Conclusions

Consider these points: that the disciples ofJesus, according to the Bible,
were students of an uncertain quality; that Q, the original gospel of Jesus,
was out-competed by other ideas during the earliest stages of Christianity;
that a one-time simple declaration of faith was greatly inflated to encom-
pass new theological notions centuries later, prompted by the lack of any
distinct creed; that the great diversity of views concerning the nature of
God-head resulted in the corruption of available texts for theological aims;
and that, on top of this theological chaos, the firstthree centuries of Christian
history were imbued with persecution. Such a volatile atmosphere could
not possibly have been conducive to the transmission and preservation of
Christian Scripture.