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New Name and New Directions

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In 1997 a small group of Internet message board warriors started an organization named the Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research, or FAIR. FAIR was staffed by young, strident defenders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

However, our really cool name soon created problems.  People asked, “What does the word “Apologetic” mean?”[1]  “Why are you apologizing?” “What is it that you actually do?”

It was confusing. So that people weren’t always stumbling over our name, in 2013, we changed it to FairMormon. We thought of ourselves as Mormon, and we want the facts to be covered “FAIRly”. The name was perfect! As the then Vice President of FAIR, Steven Densley, exclaimed, “Hopefully this will be easier to remember and will allow us to spend more time doing apologetics rather than spending our time explaining what apologetics is.”[2] [Read more…] about New Name and New Directions

2020 Interpreter Foundation Conference

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Tracing Ancient Threads in the Book of Moses

September 18-19, 2020
Due to the COVID-19 situation, this will be a live-streaming-only conference. For updates on conference details, watch this page

Presented by
The Interpreter Foundation
Brigham Young University Department of Ancient Scripture
Book of Mormon Central
FairMormon

[Read more…] about 2020 Interpreter Foundation Conference

Tracing Ancient Threads in the Book of Moses

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2020 Interpreter Foundation Conference

 

Tracing Ancient Threads in the Book of Moses

September 18-19, 2020
Brigham Young University, Tanner Building, Room 251
(If temporary COVID-19 restrictions preclude gathering on campus, we will hold the conference virtually. For late-breaking news, watch this website.)

Presented by
The Interpreter Foundation
Brigham Young University Department of Ancient Scripture
Book of Mormon Central
FairMormon

Because we believe that the Book of Moses includes authentic history, the possibility of evidence for that belief interests us as scholars. Although the primary intent of Joseph Smith’s translations is to meet the needs of modern readers, not to provide precise matches to texts from other times, we consider significant patterns of resemblance to ancient manuscripts that the Prophet could not have known and of unexpected conformance to conditions imposed by an archaic setting as potential indicators of antiquity that are best explained when the essential element of divine revelation is acknowledged. [Read more…] about Tracing Ancient Threads in the Book of Moses

Donate to FairMormon on Facebook for #GivingTuesday on Nov. 27 and it will be matched!

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Thanks for all the donations! We couldn’t exist without you! We were able to raise a total of $5,233 (before matching)!

If you would still like to donate, you can do it here at any time. Thanks for your help!

 

Today is #GivingTuesday! Facebook and PayPal are matching a total of up to $7 million of donations made through Facebook. Help us today by donating at https://www.facebook.com/donate/262507577691633/

There are no fees on donations — 100% of the donations go to FairMormon!

 

Shop our Thanksgiving Bookstore Sale and Support FairMormon While Getting 25% off!

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Remember the FairMormon Bookstore as you plan your “Black Friday” shopping, and you can save 25% on some great new releases while helping to financially support FairMormon!

Sale titles include:

(Please note that all titles listed are preorders.)

Most other titles available in our bookstore are also below retail price, so take some time to find other great selections, as well!

“Alexa, play FairMormon Radio”

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You can now listen to FairMormon Radio on your Amazon Echo, Dot, or other Alexa device! There are also Alexa apps available for Android, iOS, and Windows 10.

You must first enable the skill, either by visiting the Amazon web site, or through your Alexa app (just look for FairMormon Radio).

With FairMormon Radio, you can listen to past FairMormon Conference presentations, podcast episodes, and other uplifting content from FairMormon, Book of Mormon Central, and the Interpreter Foundation.

You can also listen to FairMormon Radio in several other ways:

Upcoming November 10 Temple on Mount Zion Conference at BYU

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Model of Herod’s Temple

The Fourth Temple on Mount Zion Conference

in memory of Matthew B. Brown

10 November 2018

251 Tanner Building, Brigham Young University

Stephen Ricks: Session chair

9:00                 Welcome and prayer

9:15                 S. Kent Brown: Jesus’ First Visit to the Temple

9:45                 Kerry Muhlestein: On Earth WhenIt Was in Heaven: Sacred Time and its Protection in Egyptian Temples

10:15               15-minute break

10:30               Thomas Wayment: Recovering the Language of Purity after the First Revolt

11:00               Matthew Bowen: “They Shall Be Joined unto Thee”: Levi, Levites, and the Importance of Joinings in Temple Architecture and Ritual

11:30               Jeffrey M. Bradshaw: Beauty and Truth in Moses 1

12:00–1:30     Lunch break

Jeffrey M. Bradshaw, section chair

1:30                 Ryan Davis: Bearing Testimony in Hebrew: A Comparison of Ancient Israelite Temple Worship with Modern Latter-day Saint Testimony Meetings

2:00                 John Thompson: The Two Ways in Ancient Egyptian Religion and Israelite Temple Theology

2:30                 Avram Shannon: Consecration and Sacrilege in Early Rabbinic Judaism

3:00                 15-minute break

3:15                 Stephen Smoot: The Symbolism of the Cupped Hand in Ancient Egypt and Israel: Iconography, Text, and Artifact

3:45                 John Gee: “Put Off Thy Shoes from Off Thy Feet”

4:15                 Matt Roper: “Fixed and Unmovable”: Joseph Smith and the Eternal Nature of the Priesthood

4:45                 Closing

 

 

Some 2018 FairMormon Conference Transcripts Now Available

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Our volunteers have been very busy transcribing the presentations from the conference held in August. The following transcripts are now available:

The transcripts for the remaining presentations will be posted here when they are available.

You can also still order the video streaming so you can watch the presentations on your computer, mobile device, or Roku.

The 2018 FairMormon Conference in Review

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We had another great conference last week (it was our 20th!). This time it ran for 3 days. Some of the topics covered were lesser-known women’s stories in church history, the Gospel Topics Essays, stories of members of the church in India and Africa, the new Saints church history series coming out from the church, grace, the Book of Abraham, homosexuality, horses in the Book of Mormon, and how to help people having a faith crisis. We also had a general authority speak for the first time. Elder Kevin W. Pearson spoke about the good that FairMormon and other organizations are doing to help correct misunderstandings about the church, and that more voices are needed in the effort. Awards were given to Scott Gordon, Louis Midgley, and Michael Hickenbotham for their service, and a painting of “Mary Whitmer and Moroni” in honor of Lynne Hilton Wilson was unveiled.

Each day, one presentation was live-streamed free on Facebook, where you can still watch the recordings. You can also watch them here:

  • Jenny Reeder: “Fire In My Bones”: Women’s Stories on churchhistorianspress.org
  • John Gee: Selling Our Birthright for a Mess of Pottage: The Historical Authenticity of the Book of Abraham
  • Elder Kevin W. Pearson: A Sacred and Imperative Duty

It’s not too late to purchase the streaming and watch the videos of the entire conference. After purchase, they will be available to view on any device with a web browser, as well as on a Roku box. You can buy it here.

We have had several articles published about the conference (this section will be updated as more appear):

Mike Ash, one of our volunteers who is a great photographer, has posted photos from the conference on our Facebook page.

Transcriptions of the presentations will be posted on our website after they are prepared by our volunteers.

The full conference schedule can be reviewed here.