God Arises
The Challenge of The Qur’an
~ 335 ~
Contradictions within a work arise basically from
the deficiencies of its author. If inconsistencies are
to be avoided, two things are essential: absolute
knowledge and total objectivity. There is no human
being who is not sadly deficient in both of these
areas. It is only God who is omniscient, and flawless
as a Being, and while works wrought by the human
hand are invariably marred by inconsistencies, His
book, and His book alone never contradicts itself.
Because of man’s inherent limitations, there are
many things which, intellectually, he cannot grasp.
He is forced, therefore, to speculate, and this
frequently leads him into making erratic
judgements and unfounded contentions.
Every human being graduates from youth to old
age, and when a man grows old, he often
contradicts things he asserted as facts when he was
young and immature. With age, his knowledge and
experience increase, hence his final verdict being at
variance with his initial judgements. But even when
death finally comes to take him away, he still has
much to learn, and often the assertions of his
maturer age are proved wrong after his death.
