Scripture Wars: Contemporary Polemical Discourses of Bible Versus Quran on the Internet

This article argues that on-line polemical discourse between Muslims and Christians deserves not to be dismissed but rather careful examination and analysis. To this end, it engages in the process of describing, categorizing and characterizing online polemical sources dealing with the Quran and the Bible in relation to each other. After a brief consideration of the nature of polemic, and of the themes of past Muslim-Christian polemic, three particular cases are examined in some detail: the suffering servant passage in Isaiah 53, the quranic story of the angels prostrating to Adam, and the meanings of surah 112. In conclusion, some effects of the existence and use of on-line polemic on teaching and scholarship on the Bible and the Quran are considered.