Imam al-Qurtubi said in his book Kitabul A’lam Bima Fi Deeni’n-, Nasara Minal Fisadi Wal Awham:

           The present gospels, which are called evangels, are not the same Evangel which the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be on Him) alluded to in the words:

           ’And Allah revealed the Torah and the Evangel for the guidance of the earlier people.’

           Then al-Qurtubi put forward the argument that the disciples of Jesus were not Prophets, hence not protected from impurity, and the miraculous events ascribed to them have not been proved by an unbroken chain of reporters. There are only statements made by isolated reporters, We also do not find any indication that the copies of these gospels are free from serious manipulations. They are wrong. If, for a moment, we accept that these reports are true, they are still not an argument for proving the truth of all the wonders attributed to the disciples, nor do they help in proving the claim of prophethood for them, because they never made any claim to prophethood; on the contrary, they solemnly confirmed that the Prophet Jesus was a preacher. Al-Qurtubi also said:

           It is evident from the above discussion that the present gospels have not been authenticated by means of an unbroken chain of transmission, nor is there any indication that the copiers were protected from wrong action and therefore the possibility of error and fault from them cannot be overlooked. The presence of the above two factors deprives the gospels of their divine character, authenticity and hence their reliability. The proven presence of human manipulation within the text of these gospels is enough to prove their unacceptability. We quote, however, some examples from these books to show the carelessness of their copiers and blunders made by them.

 After producing several examples he said:

           These examples are sufficient to prove that the present gospels and the Pentateuch cannot: be trusted and that neither of them are capable of providing divine guidance to man, because no historical chain of transmission can be adduced in favour of either in support of their authenticity.

           We have already cited several examples to show that these books have been subject to great changes and distortions in their texts. The condition of other books of the Christian theologians can well be imagined in the light of the distorted texts of the Judaeo-Christian scriptures, books of such prime importance to them.

           This book of al-Qurtubi can be seen in the Topkapi Library in Istanbul.