evidence for religion

My opponent said that "just because some were lost doesn't mean they were all lost". True, but that proves my entire point that some form of corruption had taken place. I never said every bit of the Hebrew Bible was corrupted. Islam teaches that while some of the teachings of God might there, others have been distorted. As for [Jeremiah 8:8], I see a clear cut statement that the Word of God was distorted by lying pens. Moreover, if we take it in the context we can see that this is about priests who were in possession of the Law of God, and were boasting about their wisdom. Hence the response to them was that simply that the lying pens turned the Law of God into something false.Con tried to place a distinction between my criticism of the Torah and the Hebrew Bible. The latter contains the Torah. It is called the Tanakh. It is relevant to bring it up because I do not see a good reason for believing in the Old Testament rather than the Qur'an. If you have the Qur'an being original and consistent, then why not accept it as the pure Word of God? What kind of benefits are there from picking the Old Testament?As for the translation of immoral verses, my opponent said that I did not provide a translation. In the earlier rounds he said, "Once you mentioned it though I suggest you get a different translation." No, I did not write the verses here, but I referred to them. I never said you should use any specific translation. No matter which one you use, these verses have the same meaning. Am I incorrect in saying that the verses I referred to are immoral? No. Any sexual imagery in what you call the book of God cannot be from God.The passages [Song of Songs 8:1-5] give an analogy. The first verse mentions suckling, but that is simply an analogy given by this woman who depicts herself being with a man. Why is such sexual description in the book of God? [Ezekiel 23:20-22] is even worse. This contradicts the moral teachings in the Hebrew Bible. Therefore, this part of the Bible cannot be the Word of God, and thus the Hebrew Bible is not fully the word of God.-- Arguments --1. The Prophet's illiteracyProphet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was illiterate, as has been made evident by various independent sources. My opponent seems to acknowledge this, but then he moves on to say that he could have hired a scribe to write the Qur'an. But this is a mere hypothesis. Anything "could" have happened. Coming up with an assumption that makes sense is not necessarily true. The Arabs of ancient times used to write down as much as they could about all kinds of events. It happened once that a goat ate a copy of the Qur'an. What happened was that this got recorded into the hadith. We have many random events being recorded in the hadith. How come there are absolutely no independent and authentic sources from those times that accurately describe the Prophet hiring someone to write the Qur'an? That would have been recorded without any doubt. Therefore, this hypothesis that he hired a scribe is null. It doesn't work. The beloved Prophet himself being illiterate also makes it far less likely that any human authored the Qur'an. And if the Qur'an was authored by people of those times, then most surely the Pagan and Jewish tribes in Arabia would not have converted to Islam after being amazed by the Qur'an, but they would have written something to challenge it. But they admitted they could not do that.2. Prophet Muhammad in the Old TestamentThe beloved Prophet was a direct descendant of Ishmael (peace be upon him). What my opponent says is quite ambiguous. Of course the generations are distant - but that doesn't mean that they are not related to each other. Now, my opponent implied that if the prophecy is true, then the beloved Prophet will rule the entire world and not only parts of it. That has already been made evident. Islam grows rapidly, and in almost every country in the world you will find Muslims who follow the example of the Prophet. Many leaders around the world recognize him as a hero, even if the leaders are not Muslims."I wanted to know the best of the life of one who holds today an undisputed sway over the hearts of millions of mankind.... I became more than ever convinced that it was not the sword that won a place for Islam in those days in the scheme of life. It was the rigid simplicity, the utter self-effacement of the Prophet the scrupulous regard for pledges, his intense devotion to his friends and followers, his intrepidity, his fearlessness, his absolute trust in God and in his own mission. These and not the sword carried everything before them and surmounted every obstacle. When I closed the second volume (of the Prophet's biography), I was sorry there was not more for me to read of that great life." - Mahatma GandiMoving on, we see that in [Genesis 17:20] another promise was made to Ishmael: "And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation." This perfectly describes Prophet Muhammad. One of the greatest nations in the times of the Prophet was the one of Muslims, and it remains so today.[Song of Songs 5:16] "His mouth is sweetness itself; he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, this is my friend, daughters of Jerusalem." According to Jewish commentators, this is a description of God and his love of humankind. This, however, does not seem to be the correct interpretation, if we look at the wording and the context. From Song of Songs 8:8-16 we read that this man is described with certain good words, and it endings with saying "he is altogether lovely."The term used for "altogether lovely" in Hebrew is "Mahamaddim." This is plural because a majestic person is referred to as "im." Remove "im" and you get the essensce "Mahamad." It is called the royal plural that queens and kings use for themselves too. The meaning of the word "Mahamad" is also "the Praised One." That is the exact translation of "Muhammad." Here we see that a prophecy of the coming of Prophet Muhammad was made in the Song of Solomon.Read [Isaiah 29:11-18]. A fraction of it says, "And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which [men] deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed: And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned." This is probably one of the most significant references to the beloved Prophet. When he was commanded to read the Qur'an by Angel Gabriel, the Prophet responded saying, "I am not learned." The very first revealed chapter of the Qur'an was surah 96, verses 1-5. Compare it to Isaiah 29.[Qur'an, al-Iqra, 96:1] Proclaim! (or read!) in the name of thy Lord and Cherisher.As a reaction the Prophet responded, "I am not learned." This had been accurately predicted in Isaiah.3. Science in the Qur'anI gave a link describing the amazing science in the Qur'an. While some of the facts found could have been discovered 14 centuries ago, notice how the Qur'an has no errors compared to any other book of those times containing many scientific errors alongside scientific facts. How could the author of the Qur'an know what was a scientific fact and what was an error? Embryology in the Qur'an was described better than any people or books had described it prior to its revelation. The expansion of the universe was also mentioned. The spherical shape of the Earth. And it goes on for a long time.To conclude, I think I have established fair grounds for belief in Islam. I think my opponent should look at the similarities between this religion and his own, and find that the Qur'an does not criticize his scripture, but it corrects them. We believe in the same Prophets, we acknowledge the earlier revelations, and we share many same moral values.