The methodological study of Critique on the Bible from the perspective of Allama Mohammad Javad Balaghi with an emphasis on his ‘Al-hoda ila Din al-Mustafa’

The Bible is one of the books that attracted the attention of theologians. Many authors and scholars have criticized this book, including Allameh Balaghi in his Al-hoda ila Din al-Mustafa, which critiques the Bible in a scientific way. The question this research aims to answer is: what are the rhetorical methods in criticizing the Bible in the book of Al-hoda ila Din al-Mustafa? This research has been done with the aim of identifying Allameh Balaghi’s methods in criticizing the Bible in Al-hoda and determining his points of weakness in his criticism. Regarding the content critique, he has used various methods one of which is the polemical method, criticizing the appearance or content of the Bible based on what is accepted by Jews and Christians. The rational method is also another one of the rhetorical methods used in Al-hoda, which itself could be divided into two types: the rational method based on argumentative rationality. The second is the rational method based on disciplined innate rationality. The third method is to compare texts, which means analyzing the texts of Judaism and Christianity itself, such as examining the Hebrew and non-Hebrew versions. In this widely used method of biblical critique, a rhetorician examines and compares the Hebrew original Bible with various translations or compares different translations with each other. The method of historical analysis is another relatively used method in critical rhetorical discussions in biblical criticism. In this method, historical elements are the basis of criticism and critique based on the mentioned elements, and sometimes a specific historical event is examined and sometimes a set of events is the basis of criticism.