Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Latter-day Saint
Revision 4.23 “Contrasting Islam and Latter-day Saint Teaching” (Part 3)

Revision 4.23 “Contrasting Islam and Latter-day Saint Teaching” (Part 3)

Last updated on: September 11, 2020 at 9:38 pm by Dan Peterson

Revision 4.23 “Contrasting Islam and Latter-day Saint Teaching” (Part 3) 2020-09-11T21:38:17-06:00 Dan Peterson

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Luca Rossetti da Orta, “Trinità” (1738) Wikimedia Commons public domain image

Islam is an absolutely rigorous, pure monotheism. “To God alone is true worship due,” declares the Qur’an.[1] In this regard, it resembles Judaism rather more than Christianity. There is no God-man in Islam, no divine Son. A chasm separates man from God. Even the doctrine of the Trinity, with its claim that three persons are really one God, has never satisfied Muslim critics:

People of the Book, do not transgress the bounds of your religion. Speak nothing but the truth about God. The Messiah, Jesus the son of Mary, was no more than God’s Messenger and His Word which He conveyed to Mary: a spirit from Him. So believe in God and His Messengers and do not say: ‘Three.’ Forbear, and it shall be better for you. God is but one God. God forbid that He should have a son! … The Messiah does not disdain to be a servant of God, nor do the angels who are nearest to Him.[2]

From a Latter-day Saint point of view, the Qur’an is crucially wrong on this important matter. Yet I have to confess that I have always found an amusing implication here. Many enemies of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints like to denounce us as polytheistic and therefore as non-Christian. They think that they escape the charge of polytheism themselves by simply declaring that the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit are somehow, incomprehensibly, one. But the Muslims, whose mathematical abilities are historically well developed (as we shall see, they invented algebra), are not taken in by this. They have frequently denounced mainstream Christianity as polytheism. But it is not only Christians who are under the accusation of worshiping more than the one God. Even Jewish monotheism is suspect in the Qur’an.[3].

The irony is compounded by the historical fact that some early Latter-day Saints saw themselves as monotheistic allies of the Muslims, confronting a Christianity corrupted by saint-worship and the veneration of relics. (After all, they correctly reasoned, Latter-day Saints worship only one God. As much as Latter-day Saint scriptures and leaders may talk of “the Gods,” our worship is strictly limited to the Father. Therefore, we cannot plausibly be considered polytheists—a label we vehemently reject.) This is the thinking that undergirds some of Parley P. Pratt’s more militant declarations:

Mahometanism included the doctrine that there was one God— that He was great, even the creator of all things, and that the people by right should worship Him… On this account, on the simple subject of the Deity and His worship, if nothing more, I should rather incline, of the two, after all my early traditions, education, and prejudices, to the side of Mahomet, for on this point he is on the side of truth, and the Christian world on the side of idolatry and heathenism.[4]

Now, if we take Mahometanism during those dark ages, and the corruptions that are so universally prevalent over the earth, and the idolatrous systems of religion, falsely called Christianity, and weigh them in a balance; with all my education in favor of Christian nations and Christian powers, and Christian institutions, so called, with all my prejudices of early youth, and habits of thought and reading, my rational faculties would compel me to admit that the Mahometan history and Mahometan doctrine was a standard raised against the most corrupt and abominable idolatry that ever perverted our earth, found in the creeds and worship of Christians, falsely so named.[5]

So far as that one point is concerned, of worshipping the one true God under the name of Mahometanism, together with many moral precepts, and in war acting only on the defensive, I think they have exceeded in righteousness and truthfulness of religion, the idolatrous and corrupt church that has borne the name of Christianity.[6]

So seriously does the Qur’an take this issue that it falls into what appears to be an inconsistency. It generally speaks with favor of both Christians and Jews. They are the “People of the Book,” and it tells them that they have little to worry about if only they will live up to the remnants of revelation still in their custody. But the Qur’an labels trinitarian Christians “unbelievers” at one point and threatens them with an unpleasant fate if they do not repent of their grave theological error:

Unbelievers are those that say: ‘God is the Messiah, the son of Mary’ For the Messiah himself said: ‘Children of Israel, serve God, my Lord and your Lord.’ He that worships other gods besides God shall be forbidden Paradise and shall be cast into the fire of Hell… Unbelievers are those who say: ‘God is one of three.’ There is but one God. If they do not desist from so saying, those of them that disbelieve shall be sternly punished… The Messiah, the son of Mary, was no more than a Messenger: other Messengers passed away before him. His mother was a saintly woman. They both ate earthly food.[7]

[1] 39:3.

[2] 4:171-72. Note that the Qur’an seems to call Jesus God’s “Word” here, much as does the first chapter of the gospel of John. Thus, even though it rejects Christ’s divinity, the Qur’an retains an extraordinarily high and reverent view of him.

[3] See 9:30-31. Most Western scholars would say that the denunciation of Jewish polytheism here rests upon a misunderstanding, but it is possible that at least some of the Jews of Arabia held false doctrines. Certainly the Qur’an’s rebuke does not seem to apply to Judaism as we know it, either today or historically.

[4] Journal of Discourses 3:38.

[5] Journal of Discourses 3:40.

[6] Journal of Discourses 3:41. As noted above, Elder Pratt was probably guilty of some exaggerated rhetoric here.

[7] 5:72-73, 75; compare 5:17.

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Previous Post

September 9, 2020

Martin Harris, testifying in 1870

Next Post

September 11, 2020 Revision 4.24 “Contrasting Islam and Latter-day Saint Teaching” (Part 4)

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 March 2014 August 2013 February 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What Christian group is known for wearing black hats and beards?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Orthodox Jews Amish Quakers Mennonites