are<\/em> Christians.<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
But perhaps Ms. Wood can\u2019t really be blamed, because, quite plainly, she\u2019s entirely unqualified even to have an opinion on the subject.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIslam,\u201d Ms. Wood \u00a0says, \u201cis about as close to Christianity as Mormonism.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Well, actually, no, it\u2019s not. \u00a0And I say this as a Mormon who is, professionally, an Islamicist.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBoth Islam and Mormonism,\u201d Ms. Wood declares, \u201chave teachings from the Christian Bible and believe Jesus was \u2018a prophet,\u2019 but they had prophets after Jesus that they believe to be more authentic and current than Jesus.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
I have no idea what Ms. Wood means by \u201cmore authentic,\u201d but I can\u2019t really think of any significant sense in which any believing and reasonably intelligent Latter-day Saint would agree that Joseph Smith, or Brigham Young, or Russell M. Nelson, or any other modern prophet is \u201cmore authentic\u201d than Jesus.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMore current\u201d? \u00a0Well, yes, but only in the trivial sense that Jesus lived out his mortal life in first century Palestine while President Nelson is alive right now.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
But, anyway, while Islam regards Jesus as a very great prophet, he\u2019s still a mortal and a creature and not divine. \u00a0Mormonism, by contrast, believes Jesus to be divine, the only begotten Son of God. \u00a0That may be a small detail in Ms. Wood\u2019s mind, but others might think that it would have been worthy of at least brief mention.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cJesus\u2019 teachings,\u201d Ms. Wood somewhat obscurely says, \u201cwere a bit archived in both because Muhammad and Joseph Smith were both visited by angels who told them to receive new orders from God. Both have respected Jesus\u2019 messages but moved forward with other teachings and practices that are not consistent with Christianity.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
But this is merely to say that Mormonism isn\u2019t consistent with Ms. Wood\u2019s<\/em> version of Christianity, whatever that may be. \u00a0It\u2019s rather as if, defining squirrels as non-mammals, Ms. Wood were to point to the things that distinguish squirrels from giraffes, killer whales, and Bengal tigers as \u201cnot consistent with being mammals.\u201d \u00a0That would be not only rather eccentric but obviously circular.<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIslam teaches that Muhammad was the last prophet,\u201d Ms. Wood informs her audience, \u201cand Mormonism teaches that a line of prophets extended from Joseph Smith all the way to the present with Thomas S. Monson, who is currently considered their prophet.\u201d \u00a0[As I say, the article was published some time ago.]<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Well, yes. \u00a0But Ms. Wood doesn\u2019t really explain how the fact that Islam believes the final prophet to have died in 632 AD while Mormonism affirms that there is a living prophet on the earth today supports her claim that the two religions are \u00a0similar.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
[More to come!]<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Posted from Jerusalem, Israel<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00a0 \u00a0 A few years ago, a certain Ms. Eliza Wood posted an extraordinarily inept entry on Huffington Post entitled \u201cAre Mormons Closer to Muslims or Christians?\u201d \u00a0 Her answer is \u201cNo.\u201d \u00a0 But a walk down memory lane will illustrate how, at least with some folks, ignorant anti-Mormonism harmonizes very nicely with anti-Islamic prejudice. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-60929","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
"Are Mormons more like Christians than like Muslims?" (Part 1)<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\" A few years ago, a certain Ms. Eliza Wood posted an extraordinarily inept entry on Huffington Post entitled "Are Mormons Closer to Muslims\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2018\/05\/are-mormons-more-like-christians-than-like-muslims-part-1.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\""Are Mormons more like Christians than like Muslims?" (Part 1)\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\" A few years ago, a certain Ms. Eliza Wood posted an extraordinarily inept entry on Huffington Post entitled "Are Mormons Closer to Muslims\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2018\/05\/are-mormons-more-like-christians-than-like-muslims-part-1.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sic et Non\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-05-08T19:57:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-09-05T15:53:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/files\/2016\/05\/800px-Jerusalem_from_mt_olives.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dan Peterson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dan Peterson\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2018\/05\/are-mormons-more-like-christians-than-like-muslims-part-1.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2018\/05\/are-mormons-more-like-christians-than-like-muslims-part-1.html\",\"name\":\"\\\"Are Mormons more like Christians than like Muslims?\\\" (Part 1)\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2018-05-08T19:57:44+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-09-05T15:53:45+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045\"},\"description\":\" A few years ago, a certain Ms. Eliza Wood posted an extraordinarily inept entry on Huffington Post entitled \\\"Are Mormons Closer to Muslims\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2018\/05\/are-mormons-more-like-christians-than-like-muslims-part-1.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2018\/05\/are-mormons-more-like-christians-than-like-muslims-part-1.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2018\/05\/are-mormons-more-like-christians-than-like-muslims-part-1.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"“Are Mormons more like Christians than like Muslims?” (Part 1)\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/\",\"name\":\"Sic et Non\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045\",\"name\":\"Dan Peterson\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Dan Peterson\"},\"description\":\"\\\"Life was very unsatisfying until I discovered Dan's blog, which gave me a reason to live.\\\" (gemli, 7 November 2019)\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/author\/danpeterson\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"\"Are Mormons more like Christians than like Muslims?\" (Part 1)","description":" A few years ago, a certain Ms. Eliza Wood posted an extraordinarily inept entry on Huffington Post entitled \"Are Mormons Closer to Muslims","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2018\/05\/are-mormons-more-like-christians-than-like-muslims-part-1.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"\"Are Mormons more like Christians than like Muslims?\" (Part 1)","og_description":" A few years ago, a certain Ms. Eliza Wood posted an extraordinarily inept entry on Huffington Post entitled \"Are Mormons Closer to Muslims","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2018\/05\/are-mormons-more-like-christians-than-like-muslims-part-1.html","og_site_name":"Sic et Non","article_published_time":"2018-05-08T19:57:44+00:00","article_modified_time":"2018-09-05T15:53:45+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/files\/2016\/05\/800px-Jerusalem_from_mt_olives.jpg"}],"author":"Dan Peterson","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Dan Peterson","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2018\/05\/are-mormons-more-like-christians-than-like-muslims-part-1.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2018\/05\/are-mormons-more-like-christians-than-like-muslims-part-1.html","name":"\"Are Mormons more like Christians than like Muslims?\" (Part 1)","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website"},"datePublished":"2018-05-08T19:57:44+00:00","dateModified":"2018-09-05T15:53:45+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045"},"description":" A few years ago, a certain Ms. Eliza Wood posted an extraordinarily inept entry on Huffington Post entitled \"Are Mormons Closer to Muslims","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2018\/05\/are-mormons-more-like-christians-than-like-muslims-part-1.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2018\/05\/are-mormons-more-like-christians-than-like-muslims-part-1.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2018\/05\/are-mormons-more-like-christians-than-like-muslims-part-1.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"“Are Mormons more like Christians than like Muslims?” (Part 1)"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/","name":"Sic et Non","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045","name":"Dan Peterson","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Dan Peterson"},"description":"\"Life was very unsatisfying until I discovered Dan's blog, which gave me a reason to live.\" (gemli, 7 November 2019)","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/author\/danpeterson"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60929","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1019"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60929"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60929\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60929"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60929"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60929"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"J'lm](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2016\/05\/800px-Jerusalem_from_mt_olives.jpg\")
<\/a>