Islamic And Mormonism Similarities: Similarities Between Joseph Smith and Muhammad

The Interactive Bible ^ | Brother Andrew

[dljordan]

Thank you for your reasoned and polite reply.

[Tennessee Nana]

they were being chased all across the country. Obviously they had to stand and fight at some point or they wouldn’t be here.
___________________________________________

Nobody chased the mormons across the country...

They chose to leave...

where ever the mormons went and tried to take over the locals objected to their wives and daughters being stolen and raped, their property being stolen and themselves being murdered and run off by the invading mormons...

The mormons had a standing army of 5,000 thugs to the US army with its widespread 8,000 men...nobody could make the mormons do anything...they were a law unto themselves...

They would move into any area and demand to run the town with their own large voting block and pagan ideas of law and justice and morals and try to force polygamy on the local women and slavery on the men...

The mormons would claim that their mormon gods had “given” them the area and that the legal settlers had to get out or die...

The ones who were being chased out were the original legal owners and settlers of the land...it was they who stood up and fought off the mauraudering mormons cutthroats...

At one time Joey Smith petitioned ther US congress for permission to raise a 100,000 man army...can you imagine the bloodshed if he had got his wish ???

Joey Smith had already crowned himself “king of the world” and promoted himself from civilian to 2 star general.. he imagined himself also president of the United States for life and attempted to get himserlf elected as such in 1844 sending out his missionaries to canvass for him throughpout the nation for votes...Rigdon was his VP...

BTW the mormons still vote in a block...In Utah about 95% voted for the RINO Romney...

The mormons still believe they are entiled to “own” the US...the biggest land owner outside the US governmemt are ...the mormons...

BTW the givers of the littlest amount and persentage of income to the poor anjd needy are....the mormons...

[Tennessee Nana]

“I Will Be a Second Mohammed”

In the heat of the Missouri “Mormon War” of 1838, Joseph Smith made the following claim, “I will be to this generation a second Mohammed, whose motto in treating for peace was ‘the Alcoran [Koran] or the Sword.’ So shall it eventually be with us—‘Joseph Smith or the Sword!’ ”[1]

It is most interesting that a self-proclaimed Christian prophet would liken himself to Mohammed, the founder of Islam. His own comparison invites us to take a closer look as well. And when we do, we find some striking—and troubling—parallels. Consider the following.

Mohammed and Joseph Smith both had humble beginnings. Neither had formal religious connections or upbringing, and both were relatively uneducated. Both founded new religions by creating their own scriptures. In fact, followers of both prophets claim these scriptures are miracles since their authors were the most simple and uneducated of men.[2]

Both prophets claim of having angel visitations, and of receiving divine revelation to restore pure religion to the earth again. Mohammed was told that both Jews and Christians had long since corrupted their scriptures and religion. In like manner, Joseph Smith was told that all of Christianity had become corrupt, and that consequently the Bible itself was no longer reliable. In both cases, this corruption required a complete restoration of both scripture and religion. Nothing which preceded either prophet could be relied upon any longer. Both prophets claim they were used of God to restore eternal truths which once existed on earth, but had been lost due to human corruption.

Both prophets created new scripture which borrowed heavily from the Bible, but with a substantially new “spin.” In his Koran, Mohammed appropriates a number of Biblical themes and characters—but he changes the complete sense of many passages, claiming to “correct” the Bible. In so doing he changes many doctrines, introducing his own in their place. In like manner, Joseph Smith created the Book of Mormon, much of which is plagiarized directly from the King James Bible. Interestingly, the Book of Mormon claims that this same Bible has been substantially corrupted and is therefore unreliable. In addition, Joseph Smith went so far as to actually create his own version of the Bible itself, the “Inspired Version,” in which he both adds and deletes significant portions of text, claiming he is “correcting” it. In so doing he also changes many doctrines, introducing his own in their place.

As a part of their new scriptural “spin,” both prophets saw themselves as prophesied in scripture, and both saw themselves as a continuation of a long line of Biblical prophets. Mohammed saw himself as a continuation of the ministry of Moses and Jesus. Joseph Smith saw himself as a successor to Enoch, Melchizedek, Joseph and Moses. Joseph Smith actually wrote himself into his own version of the Bible—by name.

Both prophets held up their own scripture as superior to the Bible. Mohammed claimed that the Koran was a perfect copy of the original which was in heaven. The Koran is therefore held to be absolutely perfect, far superior to the Bible and superceding it. In like manner, Joseph Smith also made the following claim. “I told the Brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding its precepts, than by any other book.”[3]

Despite their claim that the Bible was corrupt, both prophets admonished their followers to adhere to its teachings. An obvious contradiction, this led to selective acceptance of some portions and wholesale rejection of others. As a result, the Bible is accepted by both groups of followers only to the extent that it agrees with their prophet’s own superior revelation.

Both Mohammed and Joseph Smith taught that true salvation was to be found only in their respective religions. Those who would not accept their message were considered “infidels,” pagans or Gentiles. In so doing, both prophets became the enemy of genuine Christianity, and have led many people away from the Christ of the Bible.

Both prophets encountered fierce opposition to their new religions and had to flee from town to town because of threats on their lives. Both retaliated to this opposition by forming their own militias. Both ultimately set up their own towns as model societies.

Both Mohammed and Joseph Smith left unclear instructions about their successors. The majority of Mohammed’s followers, Sunni Muslims, believe they were to elect their new leader, whereas the minority, Shiite Muslims, believe Mohammed’s son was to be their next leader. Similarly, the majority of Joseph Smith’s followers, Mormons, believed their next prophet should have been the existing leader of their quorum of twelve apostles, whereas the minority, RLDS, believed Joseph Smith’s own son should have been their next prophet. Differences on this issue, and many others, have created substantial tension between these rival groups of each prophet.

Mohammed taught that Jesus was just another of a long line of human prophets, of which he was the last. He taught that he was superior to Christ and superceded Him. In comparison, Joseph Smith also made the following claim.

“I have more to boast of than ever any man had. I am the only man that has ever been able to keep a whole church together since the days of Adam. A large majority of the whole have stood by me. Neither Paul, John, Peter, nor Jesus ever did it. I boast that no man ever did such a work as I. The followers of Jesus ran away from Him, but the Latter-day Saints never ran away from me yet.”[4] In light of these parallels, perhaps Joseph Smith’s claim to be a second Mohammed unwittingly became his most genuine prophecy of all.
________________________________________

[1] Joseph Smith made this statement at the conclusion of a speech in the public square at Far West, Missouri on October 14, 1838. This particular quote is documented in Fawn M. Brodie, No Man Knows My History, second edition, (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1971), p. 230–231. Fawn Brodie’s footnote regarding this speech contains valuable information, and follows. “Except where noted, all the details of this chapter [16] are taken from the History of the [Mormon] Church. This speech, however, was not recorded there, and the report given here is based upon the accounts of seven men. See the affidavits of T.B. Marsh, Orson Hyde, George M. Hinkle, John Corrill, W.W. Phelps, Samson Avard, and Reed Peck in Correspondence, Orders, etc., pp. 57–9, 97–129. The Marsh and Hyde account, which was made on October 24, is particularly important. Part of it was reproduced in History of the [Mormon] Church, Vol. III, p. 167. See also the Peck manuscript, p. 80. Joseph himself barely mentioned the speech in his history; see Vol. III, p. 162.”

[2] John Ankerberg & John Weldon, The Facts on Islam, (Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers, 1998), pp.8–9. Eric Johnson, Joseph Smith & Muhammed, (El Cajon, CA: Mormonism Research Ministry, 1998), pp. 6–7.

[3] Documentary History of the [Mormon] Church, vol.4, pp.461.

[4] Documentary History of the [Mormon] Church, vol.6, pp.408–409.

(Decker, Ed, My Kingdom Come: The Mormon Quest for Godhood, Xulon Press, 2007)

[Colofornian]

I’m guessing that one of his reasons for posting the article was to wake up some of the complacent mormons who go along thinking that their church is unique and correct. It may stir them to thought and get them to searching...hopefully to discover the actual truth.

I didn't read the removed post...I'm guessing at "responding."

Simply put, #1: I didn't write this article (Brother Andrew did; you can ask him)

#2...Reaganaut sized up a nice response.

#3...I would simply add this comment: One aspect is to show that Mormons have more in common with Islam (& therefore, Islam's founder, Muhammad) -- than they do Christianity -- due to its founder, Joseph Smith.

[reaganaut]

The only part of the deleted post I didn’t copy into my response was the first sentence (and I’m guessing the reason for the delettion) which was along the lines of “Why are you posting this [word not allowed on RF]?” There were only 3 questions and I copied two of them.

[reaganaut]

you are welcome.

[Godzilla]

IBPD

[Imnidiot]

PD must still be at church...usually doesn’t take this long for him/her to paste “The Reply” onto a thread.

[Logophile]

"Modern Mohammedanism has its Mecca at Salt Lake... Clearly the Koran was Joseph Smith's model, so closely followed as to exclude even the poor pretension of originality in his foul 'revelations.' " (The Women of Mormonism, Frances E. Willard, 1882, Introduction, p. xvi)

Utter nonsense.

Mecca is the holiest city of Islam, so holy that non-Muslims are forbidden by law from entering the city. One of the five pillars of Islam is the Hajj, the obligatory pilgrimage to Mecca: every Muslim who is able to afford it is expected to make a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in his or her life.

In contrast, Salt Lake City is not considered holy by Mormons, nor are non-Mormons forbidden to enter the city. (In fact, the majority of the city's residents are not members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.) Pilgrimages are not a practice or requirement of our religion at all; hence, Mormons are not expected to undertake pilgrimages to Salt Lake City.

In my view, Salt Lake City functions more like Rome than like Mecca.

As for the allegation that the Koran was Joseph Smith's model, I suspect that the writer knew little of either the Book of Mormon or the Koran.

[SENTINEL]

I am one of those saved here on Freerepublic by the folks called "anti-mormon".

I was raised mormon, descended from the Martin Harris family, and was a bishopric member at the time.

I was sticking up for the religion during the runup to the 2008 elections and set out to prove a referenced Joseph Smith quote posted by GreyFoxx39 (I think) was false.

I went to the stake library where I had noticed an original copy of the "History of the Church" set, and to my utter horror at the time, FOUND IT TRUE THAT JOSEPH SMITH HAD CLAIMED TO BE GREATER THAN CHRIST....PUBLISHED AND PRINTED RIGHT IN THIER OWN BOOKS !

I asked the stake president about it immediately and saw the wolf come out from behind the sheep's clothing. He responded with threats of excommunication for apostasy etc.

Once I had the courage to check online at the BYU Library website the many Journal of Discourses quotes posted here, with 100% accuracy....Things like Brigham Young teaching that Christ was a polygamist and a sinner, God was a reincarnated Adam, Certain sins are beyond the reach of Christ's atonement and only the shedding of blood could atone for them, Mary was not a virgin at Christ's birth etc......Once I had the courage to check for myself, the ENTIRE FOUNDATION OF THE CHURCH BUILT ON SAND WASHED AWAY IN LITERALLY 2 HOURS.

God saved me, and he can save anyone here in these threads, ESPECIALLY THOSE WHO PERFORM THEIR GOD ASSIGNED DUTY TO TEST ALL THINGS AND HOLD FAST ONLY TO WHAT IS TRUE.

Amen

[SENTINEL]

I'll tell you straight up.

Utah still has on the books a law allowing death row inmates to choose death by firing squad. It is, I believe, the only state in the union that allows firing squad executions, and it can be traced right back to Brigham Young's Blood Atonement doctrine.

Also, Bruce R. McConkie's book "Mormon Doctrine" says that blood atonement is a true principle, and the fact that it is no longer used in cases of adultery is proof of the degredation of modern society.

[reaganaut]

Amen Sentinel and thank you for sharing your testimony. God has done great things in your life these past few years.

Love ya, brother.

[SENTINEL]

I went to church for the first time since 2007 last week, and again today.

It's hard to trust anyone after living in a cult, isn't it ? Even just a pastor for a sunday lesson.

I chose the Anchorage Cowboy Church because I'm comfortable around country folk, they're not the pushy salesman type, and they use the New King James Bible.

So far, so good....And it's ok to drink a coffee during the sermon. ;)

[Colofornian]

Utter nonsense. Mecca is the holiest city of Islam, so holy that non-Muslims are forbidden by law from entering the city.

Temples are the most sacred sites of Mormonism, so sacred that non-Mormons are forbidden from entering them.

In contrast, Salt Lake City is not considered holy by Mormons, nor are non-Mormons forbidden to enter the city... Pilgrimages are not a practice or requirement of our religion at all; hence, Mormons are not expected to undertake pilgrimages to Salt Lake City.

Utah has about 10% of all Mormon temples -- and the Salt Lake City metro area has about 30% of Utah temples (including South Jordan & Bountiful). If a Mormon wants to access one of the 130 Mormon temples in the world -- because most countries do not have one -- "pilgrimages" to Mormon temples ARE required if...
...(a) you want to enter the celestial kingdom (become a god);
...(b) if you want to get married in the Mormon temple (& Mormon doctrine links marriage with HAVING to become a Mormon god)
...(c) if you want to become one of those "saviors on Mt. Zion" Lds "prophet" John Taylor said grassroots Mormons are to be!

Likewise, Lds take "pilgrimages" all the time to Joseph Smith's home of Palmyra NY & death location in IL.

Salt Lake City functions more like Rome than like Mecca.

For the Muslims, Mecca operates as a literal geographical orientation for Muslim eyes; for the Mormons, Salt Lake City operates as a spiritual geographical orientation for Mormon eyes.

[Paragon Defender]

Seekers of truth,

If you peruse the Free Republic religion forums you will notice a pattern. There's an anti-Mormon group of people here that spends a great deal of their time attacking the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. They post regurgitated propaganda on an almost daily basis.

They have a misguided obsession. You can witness many different tactics employed that you might find quite interesting. The straw man argument is a big favorite and is frequently preceded by cherry-picking quotes or other material. After the "quotation" the attacker will misrepresent what has been said or what was meant and then attack their own interpretation.Later they will have the audacity to claim they were "only" quoting our own material.  

They will of course insist ad nauseum that they are merely using our sources and are therefore innocent of any deceptive practice. LDS persons have no issue whatsoever having our scriptures or leaders quoted as long as it is presented fairly and accurately. This is rarely (if ever) done.

Another favorite is posting scripture or statements which on their own really present no dilemma. They make something out of nothing while never bringing up a single objection that hasn't been addressed a hundred times before.

You might note a couple of other tactics used to try to antagonize is the use of disrespectful or insulting terms or language and/or pictures. That's a Christlike thing to do right? Yeah I don't think so either. It does speak volumes about them though.

Some of them claim being some sort of special witness to you as being supposedly former Mormons. So someone who is an ex-member of any organization would never have an axe to grind or have reason to try to justify their actions by any means? Perhaps not but perhaps so. The LDS Church gains members from other denominations as well as others faiths all the time. This doesn't make them an expert on anything and you certainly won't hear them attacking their forner Church.

Frequently they cruise the headlines of the day seeking any story that might be twisted into making the Church look bad. Anything will do, just watch the progression of posts following it and see what I mean.

After reading their posts, I invite you to seek the truth about whatever "issue" they seem to be "revealing" or "exposing". I promise that if you do so with honest intent, the "ahah" moments you will have will be many and frequent. You will start to recognize the tactics employed to cleverly twist and attack and will likely chuckle the more you see. In actuality, there's nothing new here. It's all been addressed many times before.

The latest twist in the anti-Mormon propaganda machine is to actually go to the links provided, but then they cherry pick what they want, then quote and straw man attack that. Clever. It almost appears that they are helping you, the seeker of truth out by doing some footwork for you. Not so much. Don't be insulted, look for yourself. It's not the haystack they want you to think.

Here's a few links to get your started from a different viewpoint. I have found that the vast majority of the "issues" brought up can be found and addressed at http://www.fairlds.org/ but here's more:

http://scriptures.lds.org/
http://www.lds.org
http://www.fairlds.org/
http://www.mormonapologetics.org/
http://www.mormonwiki.com/Main_Page
http://www.lightplanet.com/response/index.html
http://www.jefflindsay.com/LDS_Intro.shtml
http://www.answeringantimormons.com/index.htm
http://promormon.blogspot.com/

Now you will likely notice the "you never address or answer our points" posts pop up as usual. All after providing the answers just as you have here.

Sometimes it is claimed that these sites present a needle in a haystack. Far from it. But if you give up before you try you won't know will you? They often state that these sites provide no answer. They just don't want you looking. It is as simple as that.

Will you wear blinders too? Seek truth. Find out for yourself. Want to chat with someone on any topic? A few of these sites provide just that. So do your homework sincere seeker of truth. Listen and read from both "sides". Make up your own mind.

I witness to you of these truths and wish you the best, in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

 

[delacoert]

I dont expect this thread to last long.......

You were wrong. There are well spelled out reasons why you are wrong. Have you learned why? Do you care to learn?

[reaganaut]

Let me know if you actually decide to post the answers rather just claim you have when in acutally you have done nothing but post UNOFFICIAL sites full of only Mormon OPINION not doctrine.

And don’t make promises you can’t keep. Good feelings are not a witness of God and do not determine truth. Mormonism is too easily proved false and no ‘holy heartburn’ will even make it true.

[SENTINEL]

Our obsession with your cult of lies and guilt, paragon, is TO PROTECT THOSE THAT CONSIDER JOINING, AND HELP EXTRACT THOSE THAT HAVE FROM THE PSYCHOLOGICAL TORTURE, THEFT OF FUNDS AND TIME, AND DOWNWARD SPIRAL OF WELL BEING THAT THE MOST FAITHFUL MEMBERS SECRETLY ENDURE.

You claim a first amendment right to publicly recruit here, and we will meet you sqaurely in response. You are trying to do to Christianity what Romney and Reid have done to American Freedom, not on our watch !

Our Christ IS Christ, do your worst.

[Red Badger]

I know Jim Rob don’t much care for Mormon bashing.....

[SENTINEL]

Why do you guys keep calling this "mormon bashing" ?

They lie, we expose, who has sinned here ?...Really.

Any cult that supports Reid and Romney are fair game here at FR, no blind eye will be turned to their recruiting efforts.