Mormon Leaders Praise Islam, Condemn Christianity

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Is Islam a better way to approach G-d than Christianity? One early Mormon leader thought so. Here’s what he had to say…

"The Greek and Roman Churches, which have been called Christian, and which take the name of Christians as a cloak, have worshipped innumerable idols. 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."
  • Apostle Parley P. Pratt, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 3, p.38
"…instead of saying that Mahometanism prevailed against Christianity, and that Christianity was in danger of being done away by its prevalence, we would rather say, that where Mahometanism prevailed, it taught and established one truth at least, viz., the true and living God, and so far as this went, it did preserve people from worshipping idols. And had the crescent waved on the tower of London, or on the church of St. Paul, instead of the cross, and had the Mahometan religion been enforced instead of the Roman religion that was enforced for a series of generations, and had tradition riveted what the sword enforced, then that nation and the surrounding nations would have been worshippers of one true God instead of idols; they would have recognized it in theory at least, whether they would have worshipped Him in spirit and in truth or not. But now [Christians] do not recognize Him in theory, for they acknowledge as their god an imaginary being without body, parts, or passions."
  • Apostle Parley P. Pratt, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 3, p.39
"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 over perverted our earth, found in the creeds and worship of Christians, falsely so named."
  • Apostle Parley P. Pratt, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 3, p.40
"Though Mahometan institutions are corrupt enough, and need reforming by the Gospel, I am inclined to think, upon the whole, leaving out the corruptions of men in high places among them, that they have better morals and better institutions than many Christian nations; and in many localities there have been high standards of morals. 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 only acting 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."
  • Apostle Parley P. Pratt, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 3, p.41
 
LaMar said:
Is Islam a better way to approach G-d than Christianity? One early Mormon leader thought so. Here’s what he had to say…

"The Greek and Roman Churches, which have been called Christian, and which take the name of Christians as a cloak, have worshipped innumerable idols. 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."
  • Apostle Parley P. Pratt, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 3, p.38
"…instead of saying that Mahometanism prevailed against Christianity, and that Christianity was in danger of being done away by its prevalence, we would rather say, that where Mahometanism prevailed, it taught and established one truth at least, viz., the true and living God, and so far as this went, it did preserve people from worshipping idols. And had the crescent waved on the tower of London, or on the church of St. Paul, instead of the cross, and had the Mahometan religion been enforced instead of the Roman religion that was enforced for a series of generations, and had tradition riveted what the sword enforced, then that nation and the surrounding nations would have been worshippers of one true God instead of idols; they would have recognized it in theory at least, whether they would have worshipped Him in spirit and in truth or not. But now [Christians] do not recognize Him in theory, for they acknowledge as their god an imaginary being without body, parts, or passions."
  • Apostle Parley P. Pratt, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 3, p.39
"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 over perverted our earth, found in the creeds and worship of Christians, falsely so named."
  • Apostle Parley P. Pratt, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 3, p.40
"Though Mahometan institutions are corrupt enough, and need reforming by the Gospel, I am inclined to think, upon the whole, leaving out the corruptions of men in high places among them, that they have better morals and better institutions than many Christian nations; and in many localities there have been high standards of morals. 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 only acting 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."
  • Apostle Parley P. Pratt, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 3, p.41
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Dear LaMar,

We should wait until Apostle Parley has compared the book of Mormon and Quran. Geez, this should be interesting if anyone would do so, since I don’t know much about those.
 
Radical Muslims would (rightly) condemn Mormons as polytheists. The most fanatical of Muslims would advocate killing Mormons for their polytheism. 🤷
 
While I’m always leery of the JOD (if I remember right the entire thing was published without ever being proof read). The point I think Parley is trying make is that titles alone don’t matter much. I’ve known several Muslims whose day in day out lives conform much more with many of the commandments of God than many Christians I know. (I’ve also known some great Christians and some very unkind Muslims).

As far as comparing the Koran and the Book of Mormon I’ve not found tons in common though I’ve not attempted a detailed comparison.

In terms of belief in the respective religions there are some things in common:

1 A belief in God talk to man after the Bible was compiled
2. A high reverence for the patriarchs (Adam Noah etc.)
3. formalized concepts of modesty.
There are many others but these have stood out to me as differing from the majority of traditional Christians I have known.
 
I would think that this person was speaking of an Islam about which he only had “book-learning.” Before a few decades ago, we had limited knowledge of the teachings of Islam. As was posted by ibkc, Islam would not line up well with Mormonism.

I think that the idea that they were “more” moral and therefore better examples of the Godly life than their CHristian counterparts can be debated. Further, the idea that Islam is closer to the truth than Christianity, when Mormons claim to be Christians, is funny. Both claim that they are sent to restore the true faith. Both cannot be right. Both can be wrong. It is possible that CHristianity is not “on the side of idolatry and heathenism,” but is in fact the correct understanding of God and the other two are not.
 
teancum79 said:
  1. A high reverence for the patriarchs (Adam Noah etc.)
Click to expand...
This is no different than traditional Christianity. In fact check the Eastern Christian calendars which have commemorations of the Patriarchs.
 
So I guess if the crescent rose above the tower of London and St. Paul’s cathedral, Joseph Smith would have to have written the entire Bible to include the Book of Mormon. I’m not sure he would have gotten a lot of takers in a presumably Muslim America, since Mormonism drew mostly from established Christian traditions. Most likely he would have been killed a lot earlier than he was, and a the hands of the Mohametan govenment.

It is interesting that the Bible was compiled and canonized well after the supposed Great Apostacy. Either the Holy Spirit inspired a tool for apostates, or He wasn’t involved in sorting our what was Sacred Scripture and what wasn’t. Neither makes sense.
 
ralphinal said:
I would think that this person was speaking of an Islam about which he only had “book-learning.”
Click to expand...
Yes, and it appears he had about the same type of book learning (if even that) about Christianity, based on this opening sentence of the first citation:

“The Greek and Roman Churches, which have been called Christian, and which take the name of Christians as a cloak, have worshipped innumerable idols.”

it seems like the momrons in general have a tendency to make unsubstantiated (and unsubstantiable) claims. for example the grrrreeeaaat apostasy, which is as true as the tooth fairy is real.
 
Wonder how many Mormon missionaries will be going to Iran and Saudi Arabia this year? :rolleyes:
 
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