I recently attended a course entitled ‘Who is My Neighbour?’. We spent three days looking at the beliefs, teachings, and practices of Islam. During the course we had a tour of a Mosque and had three Muslim ladies visit us to share how their faith shapes their lives and way of thinking. It was all very interesting.
The programme was designed to help Christians better engage our Muslim neighbours with the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. As we shared about what we had learned, I realised that I got something from the course that no one else did. The more I heard about the beliefs and practices of Islam, the more I thought to myself that Mormonism is Islam in disguise.
This is the first in a series, where I will compare and contrast the beliefs and practices of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with those of the Islamic religion.
Mormons and Muslims
‘Elder Carlos E. Asay of the Presidency of the First Quorum of the Seventy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints not only brought the personal greetings of the leadership of the Church to the conference but shared his own experiences during his years in Lebanon and Syria. He reported that his life among the Muslims had a sanctifying influence and stimulated a spiritual renewal. He emphasised ways in which Mormon consideration of Islam must acknowledge the hand of God. In these remarks, he echoed the welcoming tone that had been provided on behalf of Brigham Young University President Jeffrey R. Holland by Noel B. Reynolds…Reynolds told the Muslims in attendance that ‘there are many important elements in Mormon thought in which we would feel closer to the followers of Muhammad than to the contemporary Christian culture in which we have been located since our beginnings.’[1]
Noel B. Reynolds makes an astute observation, but I would go further. Though Mormons identify themselves as Christians, the beliefs and practices of Mormonism are far more akin to Islam than Biblical Christianity. Let us consider the beginnings of both Mormonism and Islam.
Joseph the Unlearned vs Muhammad the Unlettered
Both Mormonism and Islam contend that their founders were illiterate.
Mormonism teaches that God called, and used, a young, unlearned boy to restore truth. The prophet Joseph Smith was the instrument used of God to restore the fullness of the gospel to the earth.
Joseph recorded his thoughts:
By the power of God I translated the Book of Mormon from hieroglyphics, the knowledge of which was lost to the world, in which wonderful event I stood alone, an unlearned youth, to combat the worldly wisdom and multiplied ignorance of eighteen centuries, with a new revelation.[2]
Believing, and supporting, Joseph’s testimony, former Mormon President, Gordon B. Hinckley said:
“The instrument in this work of God was a boy whose mind was not cluttered by the philosophies of men. That mind was fresh and without schooling in the traditions of the day.”[3]
In like manner, Islam believes that Allah called and used an unlettered man to restore truth. The Qur’an says:
Say, “O people, I am the Messenger of God to you all—He to whom belongs the kingdom of the heavens and the earth. There is no god but He. He gives life and causes death.” So believe in God and His Messenger, the Unlettered Prophet, who believes in God and His words. And follow him, that you may be guided.[4]
Calling Muhammad the ‘unlettered prophet’, Islam advocates that the last prophet was unable to read and write.
The emphasis placed by both Mormons and Muslims on the illiteracy of their founders, facilitates a defence of their respective holy books. They contend that the Book of Mormon and the Qur’an could not have possibly been written by their ‘uneducated’ leaders.
It strains credulity to suggest Joseph Smith penned it. Of all the explanations critics give for the creation of the Book of Mormon, the least credible is Joseph writing the manuscript. He could NOT have written nor translated the Book of Mormon in the way humans have long translated.[5]
Were all mankind to come together and wish to produce the like of the Qur’an, they would never succeed, however much they aided each other.[6]
The claim follows that, if these so-called sacred texts were not translated by the founder of these religions, then they must be of divine origin.
The Book of Mormon vs The Qur’an
“I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book.”[7]
‘Yes Muslims believe that the Quran is the greatest good after Allah and that everything is beneath it except Allah. The Quran is the high Imam of all Muslims and who doesn't believe so, is not a Muslim…’[8]
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Islam, both teach that God gave their founders a sacred text. A new revelation was needed to correct the errors that had crept into Christianity. Mormons contend that the Bible has translation errors, and so it is not totally reliable. This is summed up in Article 8 of the Latter-day Saint faith:
We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God.
Likewise, Muslims are also keen to point out that there are mistakes in the Bible, and so they deem it, at least in its current form, to be an unreliable source of truth. This is notwithstanding, that an Islamic pillar of faith is to believe in the scriptures that Allah revealed to his various Prophets. These scriptures are the Torah, the Psalms, the Gospel and the Qur’an.
Most Muslims would say that they do believe in the scriptures given by Allah, but only in their original form. The Bible (Torah, Psalms and Gospel) used by Christians, has been corrupted. The Qur’an, of course, is free from error though only in its original language (Arabic).
Another belief within Mormonism and Islam, is that God gave sacred texts to people for their particular time. This idea leads both groups to contend that their respective sacred texts are for our time and are God’s final revelation for all mankind.
Therefore, the Book of Mormon for Mormons and the Qur’an for Muslims, both trump the Bible that Christians claim to be God’s inerrant, and sufficient Word of God.
Next time we will consider further that which unites Mormonism and Islam.
[1] Mormons and Muslims p.8
[2] History of the Church, 6:74
[3] “The Marvelous Foundation of Our Faith,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2002, p.80.
[4] The Qur’an – Surah 7:158
[5] https://latterdaysaintmag.com/joseph-could-neither-have-written-nor-directly-translated-the-book-of-mormon/
[6] The Qur’an – Surah 17:88
[7] History of the Church, 4:461.
[8] https://www.quora.com/Do-most-Muslims-really-believe-the-Quran-is-a-good-book
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