Damascus Gate or, as it is known in Arabic, \u201cBab al-\u2018Amud\u201d (The Gate of the Column), is my favorite among the gates of Jerusalem\u2019s Old City. When I first lived there, coming from Sheikh Jarrah in more modern East Jerusalem, it was the gate through which I always entered the Arab Quarter, which remains my favorite of the Old City\u2019s \u201cquarters.\u201d We\u2019ve passed by it several times over the past couple of days.
(Wikimedia Commons public domain image)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
***<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
We bade farewell to our tour group this evening.\u00a0 It always seems that the time has been just a bit too short, and this tour was no exception.\u00a0 I hope that they had a good time, that their knowledge and understanding of some of the scriptural stories and the history of the land have been deepened, and that their faith has increased.\u00a0 I haven\u2019t blogged much about our time here over the past few days, but I\u2019ll probably do some summary entries when we\u2019ve returned.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
***<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s a passage that struck me some time ago while I was reading Michael Bonner, Jihad in Islamic History: Doctrines and Practice<\/em> (Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2006):<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
How were people expected to know that these words of Revelation were indeed of divine origin? \u00a0One answer to the question was that the Prophet Muhammad, through whom the words came into the world, was a trustworthy man whose life and behavior conformed to established patterns of monotheist prophecy. \u00a0The books of sira [biography] and maghazi [specifically military biography, literally \u201craids\u201d or \u201ccampaigns\u201d] provided what one needed to know about this exemplary life and behavior. \u00a0Then what if someone wished to put Muhammad\u2019s credentials as a prophet to the test? \u00a0In that case, one proof came in the Quran itself (the famous \u201cchallenge verses\u201d): doubters were challenged to produce Arabic words of similar quality and beauty; their failure to do this confirmed the authenticity of both the Messenger and the Message.<\/strong> \u00a0(36-37)<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Here are some of those \u201cchallenge verses\u201d:<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
And if you are in doubt about what We have sent down upon Our Servant [Muhammad], then produce a surah the like thereof and call upon your witnesses other than Allah, if you should be truthful. \u00a0But if you do not \u2013 and you will never be able to \u2013 then fear the Fire, whose fuel is men and stones, prepared for the disbelievers.<\/strong> \u00a0(Qur\u2019an 2:23-24)<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Or do they say [about the Prophet], \u201cHe invented it?\u201d Say, \u201cThen bring forth a surah like it and call upon [for assistance] whomever you can besides Allah, if you should be truthful.\u201d \u00a0<\/strong>(Qur\u2019an 10:38)<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Or do they say, \u201cHe invented it\u201d? Say, \u201cThen bring ten surahs like it that have been invented and call upon [for assistance] whomever you can besides Allah, if you should be truthful.\u201d \u00a0<\/strong>(Qur\u2019an 11:13)<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Say, \u201cIf mankind and the jinn gathered in order to produce the like of this Qur\u2019an, they could not produce the like of it, even if they were assistants to each other.\u201d \u00a0<\/strong>(Qur\u2019an 17:88)<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Then let them produce a statement like it, if they should be truthful. <\/strong>(Qur\u2019an 52:34)<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
There is an obvious parallel in Latter-day Saint history:<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Shortly before publication of the\u00a0Book of Commandments (the forerunner of the Doctrine and Covenants), some members of the Church evidently criticized the wording of some of Joseph Smith\u2019s\u00a0revelations. \u00a0After all, Joseph was very poorly educated and quite unsophisticated.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
The revelation now known as Doctrine and Covenants 67 was given through Joseph Smith, at Hiram, Ohio, early in November 1831:<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
And now I, the Lord, give unto you a\u00a0testimony\u00a0of the truth of these commandments which are lying before you. \u00a0Your eyes have been upon my servant Joseph Smith, Jun., and his\u00a0language\u00a0you have known, and his imperfections you have known; and you have sought in your hearts knowledge that you might express beyond his language; this you also know. \u00a0Now, seek ye out of the Book of Commandments, even the least that is among them, and appoint him that is the most\u00a0wise\u00a0among you; or, if there be any among you that shall make one\u00a0like\u00a0unto it, then ye are justified in saying that ye do not know that they are true; but if ye cannot make one like unto it, ye are under condemnation\u00a0if ye do not\u00a0bear record\u00a0that they are true.<\/strong> \u00a0(Doctrine and Covenants 67:4-8)<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
The critics selected William E. McLellin, a schoolteacher, a future apostle (and, alas, a future apostate), to take up the challenge.\u00a0 He had an exceptionally sharp mind, so he was a natural choice for the role.\u00a0 It appears, though, that McLellin failed to produce a convincing text, and the controversy soon died away.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
The story is briefly treated, by the way, on pages 142-143 of\u00a0Saints: The Standard of Truth: 1815-1846,<\/em> the first volume in the new official history of the Church.\u00a0 And this passage from Richard L. Bushman\u2019s Joseph Smith: Rou<\/span>gh Stone Rolling<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/em>also seems appropriate when considering such matters:<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Not long after this attempt, the issue arose again. A conference on November 8 instructed Joseph Smith to review the commandments and \u2018correct those errors or mistakes which he may discover by the holy Spirit.\u2019 Correcting \u2018errors\u2019 in language supposedly spoken by God again raised the question of authenticity. If from God, how could the language be corrected? Correction implied Joseph\u2019s human mind had introduced errors; if so, were the revelations really his productions?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\nThe editing process uncovered Joseph\u2019s anomalous assumptions about the nature of revealed words. He never considered the wording infallible. God\u2019s language stood in an indefinite relationship to the human language coming through the Prophet. The revealed preface to the Book of Commandments specified that the language of the revelations was Joseph Smith\u2019s: \u2018These commandments are of me, and were given unto my servants in their weakness, after the manner of their language, that they might come to understanding.\u2019 They were couched in language suitable to Joseph\u2019s time. The idioms, the grammar, even the tone had to be combrehensible to 1830s Americans. Recognizing the pliability of the revealed words, Joseph freely edited the revelations \u2018by the Holy Spirit,\u2019 making emendations with each new edition. He thought of his revelations as imprinted on his mind, not graven in stone. With each edition, he patched pieces together and altered the wording to clarify meaning. The words were both his and God\u2019s.\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/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 *** \u00a0 We bade farewell to our tour group this evening.\u00a0 It always seems that the time has been just a bit too short, and this tour was no exception.\u00a0 I hope that they had a good time, that their knowledge and understanding of some of the scriptural stories and the history of […]<\/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":[1809,4841,2827,3157,14941,66,28845,380,183,2905,1812,1815,7113,22384,8394,186,1769,5262,1637,11654,82,3967,24035],"class_list":["post-94999","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-church-of-jesus-christ-of-latter-day-saints","tag-divine","tag-doctrine-and-covenants","tag-human","tag-inimitability","tag-islam","tag-ijaz","tag-joseph-smith","tag-koran","tag-latter-day-saint","tag-latter-day-saints","tag-lds","tag-lds-church","tag-mohamed","tag-mohammad","tag-muhammad","tag-muslim","tag-prophecy","tag-prophet","tag-prophethood","tag-quran","tag-revelation","tag-william-e-mclellin"],"yoast_head":"\n
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![\"Damascus](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2019\/03\/1600px-Jerusalem_Damaskustor_BW_1-1.jpg\")
<\/a>