{"id":115534,"date":"2026-03-31T14:03:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-31T20:03:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?p=115534"},"modified":"2026-03-31T14:03:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T20:03:11","slug":"is-the-church-collapsing-and-two-questions-on-the-quran","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2026\/03\/is-the-church-collapsing-and-two-questions-on-the-quran.html","title":{"rendered":"Is the Church collapsing? And two questions on the Qur\u2019an"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"NASA<\/a>
Against the barren desert of northeastern Africa, the fertile valley of the Nile River runs northward through Egypt. In this image, the city of Cairo can be seen as a gray smudge where the river widens into its broad fan-shaped delta. Other cities are dotted across the green landscape, giving it a speckled appearance. Where the Nile empties into the Mediterranean Sea (top) the waters are swirling with color, likely a mixture of sediment, organic matter, and possibly marine plant life. Farther west, the bright blue color of the water is likely less-organically rich sediment, perhaps sand. East of the delta lies the arid Sinai Peninsula, whose pointed tip is home to rugged mountains, some as high as 8,600 feet. The lattice work of pale lines marks the paths of ephemeral rivers. The Sinai Peninsula intrudes into the Red Sea. Farther east are Israel, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia. At top right is the disputed territory of the West Bank. \u00a0(Wikimedia Commons NASA public domain image)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On the never-changing website of the Interpreter Foundation, Jonn Claybaugh has published yet another of his concise but helpful sets of notes for teachers and students of the Sunday School curriculum of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: \u00a0Come, Follow Me<\/em> \u2014 Old Testament Study and Teaching Helps (2026): April -12: Exodus 7-13 \u2014 \u201cRemember This Day, In Which Ye Came Out from Egypt\u201d<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
\u201cMuhammad, upon whom be peace\u201d in Arabic calligraphy
(Wikimedia Commons public domain image)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I\u2019ve recently been asked a number or questions about Islam and the Qur\u2019an and, in one case, I\u2019ve been asked to respond to an implicit challenge. \u00a0I\u2019ve fallen behind in replying to them, so I\u2019ll try, right now, to answer two of the questions:<\/p>\n

Does Surah Al-Bayyinah provide evidence that Muhammad was sent by Allah and that his message is true? Are Jews and Christians who reject this evidence held accountable?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Surah 98 (al-Bayyinah)<\/a> certainly assumes that Muhammad was sent by God, that his message is true, and that unbelievers (\u0671\u0644\u064e\u0651\u0630\u0650\u064a\u0646\u064e \u0643\u064e\u0641\u064e\u0631\u064f\u0648\u0627\u06df) among the People of the Book (e.g., Jews and Christians) and among the polytheistic pagans will ultimately be accountable for their unbelief. \u00a0In this regard, the idea is precisely analogous to that among most Christians that people who fail to accept the message of Christianity, which is assumed to be true, will be held accountable for their unbelief.<\/p>\n

The crucial term here, I think, is kufr<\/em> (typically translated as \u201cunbelief\u201d) and its related verb forms. \u00a0What does kufr<\/em> mean? \u00a0I don\u2019t have space or time here to lay out my evidence and my reasoning, but my sense is that believing Christians and Jews cannot really be kafirs<\/em> (\u201cunbelievers\u201d). \u00a0I\u2019ll expand upon that contention elsewhere. \u00a0It\u2019s also the case that, at many places, the Qur\u2019an declares that believing, practicing Christians need not fear regarding their eternal fate.<\/p>\n

Is Surah Al-Ahzab correct when it states that Muhammad was the final prophet?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I assume that the specific verse in Surah 33 (al-Ahzab)<\/a> to which this question refers is 33:40, and particularly the phrase in which Muhammad is described as the \u062e\u064e\u0627\u062a\u064e\u0645\u064e\u00a0\u0671\u0644\u0646\u064e\u0651\u0628\u0650\u064a\u0650\u0651\u0640\u06e7\u0646\u064e or \u201cseal of the prophets.\u201d \u00a0Most Muslims today take that phrase to mean that, yes, he was the last of them.<\/p>\n

However, I don\u2019t believe that it needs to be so understood. \u00a0The term \u062e\u064e\u0627\u062a\u064e\u0645\u064e (khatam<\/em>) or \u201cseal\u201d refers to the kind of seal on a jar or on a \u201csealed\u201d letter that guarantees the integrity of the contents of the jar or the letter (i.e., that the container or envelope hasn\u2019t been opened, that the contents haven\u2019t been tampered with but are authentic and pure). \u00a0Thus, Muhammad is the guarantor \u2014 by reason of the Islamic belief that his preaching agrees with theirs \u2014 of the authenticity of the messages of prior prophets (for example, of Abraham and Moses and Jesus). \u00a0It doesn\u2019t necessarily entail that he is the last<\/em> of them. This reminds me a bit of the statement given by Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon early in their account of their great vision of the three degrees of glory:<\/p>\n

\n

And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of him, this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him: That he lives!<\/p>\n

For we saw him, even on the right hand of God; and we heard the voice bearing record that he is the Only Begotten of the Father. (Doctrine and Covenants 76:22-23)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The point of what Sidney Rigdon and Joseph Smith wrote in those two verses is not that they are the last who will ever testify of Jesus Christ, or that no subsequent testimonies will ever be given, but that theirs is the latest in a series of such testimonies and that their witness confirms the truth of the witness borne by those who have testified before.<\/p>\n

\n
\"Kona<\/a>
Just thinking of what might have been: A sunset near Kailua Kona on the Big Island of Hawaii (Wikimedia Commons public domain photograph)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/blockquote>\n

Well (sigh), my wife and I were supposed to be on a plane right now, headed for Kona, on the Big Island of Hawaii. \u00a0Until yesterday. \u00a0It\u2019s the second trip to Hawaii that we\u2019ve canceled out of for this year. \u00a0(We have no other planned.) \u00a0Life is tough. \u00a0We had reasons, but, well . . .<\/p>\n

Incidentally, neither trip would have been funded by the Interpreter Foundation or by befuddled donors<\/em> to the Interpreter Foundation.<\/p>\n

\"Piercy's<\/a>
\u201cThe Nauvoo Temple in Ruins,\u201d by Frederick Piercy (1853) (Wikimedia Commons public domain image) \u00a0Is this the future of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as a whole? \u00a0Some appear to hope so.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I read in some quarters the repeated (and, often, very happy) claim that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is collapsing, that it\u2019s hemorrhaging members, and especially young members) at a catastrophic rate. \u00a0And, certainly, we all know people who have forsaken their covenants and left the Church, and we all know families who suffer from the disaffection of loved ones. \u00a0Moreover, any<\/em> loss is a tragedy, an occasion for sadness. \u00a0Apostasy isn\u2019t anything to be blithely dismissed.<\/p>\n

But the numbers don\u2019t actually suggest that the Church as a whole is fading away, let alone that it\u2019s in free-fall:<\/p>\n