Islam insists on an absolute gulf, an unbridgeable chasm, between God and everything else in the universe. There is no kinship between Creator and creature, any more than there is a genetic relationship between Thomas Edison and the lightbulb.[1] In Islam, Jesus too is a creature.[2] Educated Muslims will probably understand what we Christians mean when we speak of “the brotherhood of man under the Fatherhood of God,” and they may even have sympathy for the sentiment. But... Read more
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... Read more
Here are some further reports about Martin Harris just before and following his arrival in Utah in 1870, from Susan Easton Black and Larry C. Porter, Martin Harris: Uncompromising Witness of the Book of Mormon (Provo: BYU Studies, 2018): Edward Stevenson first heard Martin Harris bear testimony that an angel had shown him the golden plates from which the Book of Mormon was translated near the town of Pontiac, in Oakland County, Michigan Territory, in 1833. Now, thirty-six... Read more
Here’s a passage from Alister McGrath, The Passionate Intellect: Christian Faith and the Discipleship of the Mind (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2010). McGrath is a former atheist, now an Anglican priest, who holds three Oxford doctorates — in molecular biophysics, theology, and intellectual history. In this passage, he cites the very prominent British literary theorist and critic Terry Eagleton: For the new atheists Christianity represents an antiquated way of explaining things that can be pensioned off in... Read more
I have already hinted in this chapter at some of the differences between the Qur’anic version of biblical stories and the earlier Hebrew accounts. It will be recalled that, according to the Qur’an, Abraham and Ishmael came down to west central Arabia and there founded the Meccan Ka’ba, asking that they might be given a posterity that “submits” to God (i.e., is “Muslim”).[1] This incident is totally unknown to the Old Testament, but it serves to give ancient... Read more
There are those — some of them read my blog — who appear to argue that science is the only valid kind of knowledge, and that anything that isn’t scientific isn’t really knowledge. I find such claims — if that’s indeed what they’re really saying — unspeakably weird and obviously false. I offer, below, a comment on the subject from the great German philosopher Hans-Georg Gadamer (1900-2002; yes, you read that right). It’s perhaps just a bit... Read more
This item is newly posted on the website of the Interpreter Foundation: Audio Roundtable: Come, Follow Me Book of Mormon Lesson 37 “Arise and Come Forth unto Me”: 3 Nephi 8-11 On 16 August 2020, Bruce Webster, Kris Frederickson, and Mike Parker were the discussants in an Interpreter Radio Roundtable for Come, Follow Me Book of Mormon Lesson 37, “Arise and Come Forth unto Me,” on 3 Nephi 8-11. Freed of commercial interruptions, the roundtable was extracted from the 16 August 2020 broadcast of the Interpreter... Read more
So far, I have emphasized the similarities between Islam and Christianity. Specifically, I have concentrated on resemblances between Islam and the restored gospel. This has been deliberate. I have tried to correct the misperception held by many people that Islam is a totally foreign religion, even a form of paganism. Such opinions are far from the truth. Islam is a child of Abraham, a half-sister to Christianity and Judaism. It is true that there has been a long... Read more
If you are one of these selfish and irresponsible idiots, please stop it. If you know one of these selfish and irresponsible idiots, please tell him or her to stop it: “Large parties held in Provo as COVID-19 on the rise at BYU” There may be light at the end of the novel coronavirus tunnel, but we still have some considerable distance to travel: “Pharmaceutical Companies Ruin Prospects for COVID-19 Vaccine “October Surprise”. That’s a... Read more
A new article — this one by Jeffrey M. Bradshaw — has appeared in Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship: “Faith, Hope, and Charity: The “Three Principal Rounds” of the Ladder of Heavenly Ascent” Abstract: This chapter argues that “the scriptural triad of faith, hope, and charity should be understood as something more than a general set of personal attributes that must be developed in order for disciples to become like Christ. Instead, as part of the... Read more
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