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FAIR Voice Podcast #25: Interview with Blake Ostler

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Blake Ostler discusses the fourth volume of Exploring Mormon Thought: God’s Plan to Heal Evil with Hanna. He outlines many of the common solutions to the problem of evil, but focuses on the uniquely Latter-day Saint solution as well as providing excellent commentary on what it truly means to love God and to love someone.

Blake Ostler graduated from Brigham Young University in 1981, receiving a BA in Philosophy, summa cum laude, and a BS in Psychobiology, magna cum laude. He earned his JD at the University of Utah, cum laude, in 1985. From 1982 to 1985 he was a William Leary Scholar. He is fluent in Italian and French and conversant in Swedish, Spanish and German, and conducts scholarly research in Egyptian, Hebrew, Greek and Latin. Mr. Ostler has published numerous articles in professional philosophical journals including International Journal for Philosophy of Religion, Religious Studies, BYU Studies, Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought and he is the author of the four volume series Exploring Mormon Thought.

Mr. Ostler is a partner in the Salt Lake City law firm of Mackey Price Thompson & Ostler. He is the past Chair for the Education Law Section of the Utah State Bar (1996), and past Chair for the Law for Clergy Section of the Utah State Bar (1990).

Hanna SeariacHanna Seariac is a MA student in Greek and Latin at Brigham Young University. She is currently writing a book on Latter-day Saint approach to theological stances as well as shorter pieces on prayers in scripture. She works as a research assistant on a biblical commentary and as a research assistant on early Latter-day Saint history. She values Jesus Christ, family, friends, hiking, baking, and good ice cream.

FAIR Voice Podcast #18: Sunday Special on Historicity of Book of Mormon, cont.

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In today’s episode of FAIR Voice, Hanna talks about the imperative for historicity of Book of Mormon and about the necessity of a spiritual witness. Next episode will cover the witnesses of the Book Mormon (those of the 3 and the 8 witnesses) and we will soon talk about General Conference, the Bible, and other exciting topics. Remember the Q&A segment that just started– submit any questions for Hanna to [email protected]

Hanna Seariac

Hanna Seariac is a MA student in Greek and Latin at Brigham Young University. She is writing a book on the history of the priesthood and another one that responds systematically to anti-LDS literature. She works as a research assistant on a biblical commentary and as a producer on a news show. She values Jesus Christ, family, friends, hiking, baking, and good ice cream.

FAIR Voice Podcast #15: Worldview Apologetics with Joseph Lawal

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Joseph Lawal, a Classics and Philosophy student, as well as the creator of LDSPhilosophy (YouTube channel) comes on to speak about developing a worldview within apologetics to close off the philosophy series. Joseph illustrates what a worldview is, why it is effective, and how to develop one. This fascinating conversation helps us understand the interconnectedness of our beliefs. Next up on FAIR Voice is all things Book of Mormon apologetics!

Hanna SeariacHanna Seariac is a MA student in Greek and Latin at Brigham Young University. She is writing a book on the history of the priesthood and another one that responds systematically to anti-LDS literature. She works as a research assistant on a biblical commentary and as a producer on a news show. She values Jesus Christ, family, friends, hiking, baking, and really good ice cream.

FairMormon Conference Podcast #60 – John Gee, “By the Numbers: Saving Faith”

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This podcast series features past FairMormon Conference presentations. This presentation is from our 2020 conference, held earlier this month. If you would like to watch the video of this and all the other presentations from our 2020 conference, you can still purchase the video streaming.

John Gee, By the Numbers: Saving Faith

John Gee’s book is available in the FairMormon Bookstore while supplies last.

John Gee is the William (Bill) Gay Research Professor in the Department of Asian and Near Eastern Languages at Brigham Young University. He has authored over one-hundred and fifty publications including three books and editor of eight books and has edited a peer-reviewed international professional journal. He has served on the board of trustees of national and international organizations.

FAIR Voice Podcast #11: Sunday Special with Robert Boylan

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Robert Boylan, a LDS theologian, comes on the show to discuss Mariology. Robert discusses the history of Mariology throughout the Christian tradition and transitions into a discussion about how LDS theology portrays Mary. He offers great suggestions about how to have respect for Mary, as she is the holy mother of God, without engaging in a worship of her as many traditions are want to doing. His blog “Scriptural Mormonism” can be found here. He wrote a book on Mariology that is available on his blog.

After hearing from Robert Boylan, Hanna quotes Dan Ellsworth at length for the devotional while briefly discussing that in conjunction with John 6 (full text below):

There is a lot of controversy these days about a set of interviews that recently took place between egyptologist Robert Ritner and some of the church’s most prominent detractors, concerning the Book of Abraham. For some people, Ritner’s arguments are troubling and have shaken their faith pretty deeply. For others of us, who have weathered numerous of these DEVASTATING FINAL-NAIL-IN-THE-COFFIN TAKEDOWNS OF THE RESTORED GOSPEL over the years, we greet it with a yawn. We know from experience that answers will emerge over time, and they will not be satisfactory to everybody, and we are at peace with that fact. [Read more…] about FAIR Voice Podcast #11: Sunday Special with Robert Boylan

FAIR Voice Podcast #5: Interview with John Gee on the Book of Abraham

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Please register for the FairMormon Conference that is on August 5-7. It’s a great opportunity to support FairMormon, hear from amazing speakers, and ask questions directly to speakers!

Today, Hanna interviews Professor John Gee of Brigham Young University.

John Gee is the William Gay Assistant Research Professor of Egyptology at the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship. They begin by touching upon the difference between John Gee’s and Brian Hauglid’s claims before going into a greater discussion about the Book of Abraham. John Gee relays the most important evidences for the Book of Abraham, outlines faithful positions on historicity that believers can have, discusses his favorite Abrahamic stories, and much more. He offers a preview of what his FairMormon presentation will be. In a truly great interview, John Gee offers an excellent case for why the Book of Abraham has historical probability and also, why that matters.

Note: At the end, Hanna says “historical probability” and it should be “historical plausibility.”

 

Hanna Seariac

Hanna Seariac is a MA student in Greek and Latin at Brigham Young University. She is writing a book on the history of the priesthood and another one that responds systematically to anti-LDS literature. She works as a research assistant on a biblical commentary and as a producer on a news show. She values Jesus Christ, family, friends, hiking, baking, and good ice cream.

FairMormon Conference Podcast #58 – Elder Bruce C. and Sister Marie K. Hafen, “Faith is Not Blind”

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This podcast series features past FairMormon Conference presentations. This presentation is from our 2019 conference. If you would like to watch the presentations from our 2019 conference, you can still purchase the video streaming. (Use coupon SPRING2020 and get the entire conference for $10!) We are also now selling tickets to the 2020 (Virtual) FairMormon Conference!

Elder Bruce C. and Sister Marie K. Hafen, Faith is Not Blind

Their book by the same name is available from the FairMormon Bookstore. This presentation will also be featured in a Facebook video stream this Sunday, May 24, at noon MDT.

Bruce Hafen grew up in St. George, Utah. After serving a mission to Germany, he met Marie Kartchner from Bountiful, Utah at BYU. They were married in 1964.

Elder Hafen received a bachelor’s degree from BYU and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Utah. After practicing law in Salt Lake City, he went to BYU as a member of the original faculty of BYU’s Law School. He taught family law and constitutional law.

He served as the President of BYU-Idaho from 1978 to 1985. Then he was Dean of the BYU Law School and later served as the Provost—the second in command—at BYU. He was called as a full-time General Authority in 1996, serving in area presidencies in Australia, North America, and Europe. He also served at Church headquarters as an adviser to the Priesthood Department, the general auxiliary presidencies, Church History, and the Temple Department. He became an Emeritus General Authority in 2010 then served as president of the St. George Temple. More recently he served as Chairman of the Utah LDS Corrections Committee, overseeing the Church branches in Utah’s state prisons and county jails. He is the author of several books on gospel topics, including the biography of Elder Neal A. Maxwell, and books on marriage, the temple, and the Atonement—including The Broken Heart and Covenant Hearts.

Marie K. Hafen is a homemaker and teacher. She has a Master’s Degree in English from BYU and has taught Shakespeare, freshman writing, and Book of Mormon at BYU-Idaho, the University of Utah, and BYU. She was also on the Young Women General Board, the Board of Directors of the Deseret News, and was matron of the St. George Temple. She has edited and co-authored books with her husband, including The Contrite Spirit and, most recently, Faith Is Not Blind.

The Hafens have seven children and 46 grandchildren.

Conclusions in Search of Evidence

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Cross-posted from The Interpreter Foundation

Review of Jana Riess, The Next Mormons: How Millennials Are Changing the LDS Church (New York: Oxford University Press, 2019). 312 pages. $29.95.

Abstract: Riess’s book surveying the beliefs and behaviors of younger members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was supposed to compare the attitudes of younger generations with those of older generations. Unfortunately, flaws in the design, execution, and analysis of the survey prevent it from being what it was supposed to be. Instead the book is Riess’s musings on how she would like the Church to change, supported by cherry-picked interviews and an occasional result from the survey. The book demonstrates confusion about basic sampling methods, a failure to understand the relevant literature pertaining to the sociology of religion, and potential breaches of professional ethics. Neither the survey results nor the interpretations can be used uncritically.

Oxford University Press has a number of excellent titles in sociology and the sociology of religion that I can recommend.1 Unfortunately, the volume under review is not one of those. On the bright side, this book did not come out of the division of Oxford University Press that deals with sociology but out of the division that deals with religious studies. The unfortunate flip side is that this book did not benefit from peer review by someone who actually does social science.

The author of the book, Jana Riess, is a journalist with a PhD in American religious history from Columbia University, where she studied under Richard Bushman. She has no training in social science or statistical analysis and outsourced the statistical work on her book to others. Her book is based on a survey she calls “The Next Mormons Survey.” She put more effort into this book than typically expected from a journalist, and it shows, but the result does not attain the level of top-quality social science work. Riess’s book is not horrible, but it is plagued with problems. As David Frankfurter, professor of religion at Boston University, once noted, “[M]any scholars in Religious Studies have had a certain aversion to the positivistic use of evidence, borne of post-modern critiques of scientific verifiability and a general relativism toward truth-claims.”2 They thus tend not to be well situated to evaluate or use evidence, which shows in the book under consideration. On a certain level, the book deserves to be taken seriously, seriously enough to go to the effort to dissect certain aspects and analyze them carefully. I will discuss the problems with the book in order of the steps taken to put the book together. [Read more…] about Conclusions in Search of Evidence

Applying Heidegger to Religious Conviction

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by Jeffrey Thayne and Ed Gantt, cross-posted from Latter-day Saint Philosopher

A number of philosophers (Martin Heidegger, Hubert Dreyfus, and others) argue that there are two basic “ways of being,” or modes in which we live-out our lives and make sense of the world:  the ready-to-hand and the present-at-hand. The first denotes our ongoing, active, purposeful, and engaged involvement in relationships and activities as we go about our daily life. The second identifies the more abstract, detached, reflective, or more “intellectual” or “theoretical” way in which we sometimes take up the world and our place in it.

The following example from Dreyfus may help to illustrate this distinction:

We hand the blind man a cane and ask him to tell us what properties it has. After hefting and feeling it, he tells us that it is light, smooth, about three feet long, and so on; it is occurrent for him. But when the man starts to manipulate the cane, he loses his awareness of the cane itself; he is aware only of the curb (or whatever object the cane touches) or, if all is going well, he is not even aware of that, but of his freedom to walk, or perhaps only what he is talking about with his friend.[1]

[Read more…] about Applying Heidegger to Religious Conviction

FairMormon Conference Podcast #44 – René Krywult, “Fear Leads to the Dark Side: How to Navigate the Shallows of (Mis)Information”

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This podcast series features past FairMormon Conference presentations. This presentation is from our 2019 conference held in August. If you would like to watch the presentations from our 2019 conference, you can still purchase the video streaming.

René Krywult, Fear Leads to the Dark Side: How to Navigate the Shallows of (Mis)Information

Transcript available here.

René Alexander Krywult, a native of Vienna, Austria, Europe, has been a member of FairMormon for over eighteen years and has been instrumental in founding the German-speaking FairMormon group. He is a software developer and project manager for a European financial institution. He is married to Gabriele Krywult, and they have four children and three grandchildren. His first publication was “Mormon Deification Compared to Orthodox Christian Theosis” in the magazine Spirituality in East and West of Dialog Center International, a Protestant network of organizations engaged in researching new religious movements. More articles on the FairMormon website followed. He organized four FairMormon conferences in Germany from 2009 to 2015 and spoke at all of them.

Rene’s particular focus is on comparing the teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with those of both traditional Christians and the early Christian centuries. He had his first contact with anti-Mormonism at age 14, and from that time on one of his major interests has been to understand how anti-Mormon literature works, how to discern the reliability of information provided, and how to grow in faith while studying arguments made by the opposition.

Brother Krywult served, among other callings, as ward Sunday school president, ward mission leader, elders quorum president, Seminary and Institute teacher and counsellor in a bishopric: Currently he serves as a High Councilor in the Vienna-Austria Stake. His native language is German.

Audio Copyright © 2019 The Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research, Inc. Any reproduction or transcription of this material without prior express written permission is prohibited.