As I reflected upon the relationship between faith and scholarship, I have come to realize something I feel is crucial in regards to historicity of scripture: we should evaluate historicity as a matter of faith; not as a matter of scholarship. When examining whether or not the Book of Mormon, Book of Abraham, or Book of Moses contain any historical truth, we often overlook necessity of the fundamental principle of it: “it rests first upon faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.”[1] Satan moves scriptures wholly to a secular sphere because it invites skepticism. While many evidences exist in favor of the historicity of the Book of Mormon[2] and Book of Abraham[3], there exists much to explore and uncover. Indeed, we do not have a complete picture of any ancient civilization, especially not in the Americas. By transitioning the conversation about historicity into an entirely secular sphere, we do not encounter scriptures on the terms that they must be encountered upon. [Read more…] about Historicity: Not By Scholarship Alone
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FAIR Voice Podcast #4- Sunday Special: CES Letter, and Come Follow Me
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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 covers the CES letter in the scope of broader anti-Mormonism. She begins with a brief history of anti-Mormon literature and dives into how the CES letter represents broader methodological problems of critics, who neglect basic warrants of history, religion, and analyzing truth claims. She then offers some thoughts about faith and study in assessing anti-Mormon literature before closing with a brief Come Follow Me study and testimony of Jesus Christ.
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 really good ice cream.
FAIR Voice Podcast #2 – Sunday Special: Overview of Historicity, and Come Follow Me with Alicia Settle
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On this first Sunday segment, we begin with a discussion of what historicity is as a preview for future interviews that will address Book of Abraham historicity. We talk about the methods of determining historical authenticity and how to respond to different claims. Then, we transition to our first Come Follow Me segment. This segment is done with Alicia Settle.
Alicia Settle is a BYU graduate in Psychology. She plans on being a social worker and is passionate about helping people, particularly with respect to mental health.
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 really good ice cream.
From Anglican Minister to Relief Society Sister – Interview with Jennifer Roach
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Early on in life, Jennifer Roach was raised in a broadly Evangelical Christian setting. Being taught the Bible early on, Jennifer has had a love for sacred scripture. Her inquisitive nature and her spiritual passion took her to Divinity School, where she earned a Masters Degree in Divinity. Through her studies, she became interested in the Anglican faith where she became an ordained Anglican Minister.
Through interactions with a Latter-day Saint reporter that was covering a story to which Jennifer was involved earlier in life, Jennifer would ask questions about the faith she was taught was evil and should be avoided. Her inquisitive nature brought her to ask several questions over email, and to begin a study of the Pearl of Great Price and Book of Mormon.
One day as she was driving to work, she stopped and saw some Sister Missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, walking the side of the road. She felt impressed to stop and connect with them. She took a selfie with the Sisters and sent it to her reporter friend, Garth Stapley, to show that she was actually going to talk with the missionaries.
Over the next 9 months Jennifer would go through some amazing experiences, address a number of questions both at Church and with the Missionaries, before being baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Listen to this episode of the Latter-day Saint MissionCast to hear the full story.
Jennifer would encounter a number of online sources about the Church, some positive, some negative, including the CES Letter. She would use sources, like FairMormon and the Gospel Topics essays to help her navigate the many questions she had. Her research brought her to a faithful position, and one that has helped her endure the challenges that have come to her life as a result of her decision.
This episode is the first time that Jennifer has told this story to the general public in a podcast. If you want to follow her blog and connect with Jennifer, visit her blog myconvertlife.com
This episode was produced and first released on the Latter-day Saint MissionCast. The Latter-day Saint MissionCast is not a production of FairMormon.
Tad Callister Interview – A Case For The Book of Mormon
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[A review of the book can be found here.]
Tad R. Callister is author of the book “A Case For The Book of Mormon. Tad Callister received a bachelor of science degree in accounting from Brigham Young University, a Juris Doctorate degree from the University of California–Los Angeles, and a master’s degree in tax law from New York University Law School. He spent most of his professional career practicing tax law. He and his wife Kathryn Saporiti are the parents of six children.
Brother Callister was serving in the Presidency of the Seventy and as a member of the Second Quorum of the Seventy when he was called as the 21st Sunday School general president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He has served in a number of Church callings including full-time missionary in the Eastern Atlantic States Mission, bishop, stake president, regional representative, mission president, and Area Seventy.
Brother Callister was released as Sunday School General President in the April 2019 General Conference where he gave his 6th and possibly last General Conference talk. 1/3 of his General Conference talks were about our subject on this podcast episode, The Book of Mormon. He is the author of the book “A Case For The Book of Mormon”, published by Deseret Book. He is scheduled to speak at the 2019 FairMormon Conference in August. This Podcast Episode is published from the Latter-day Saint MissionCast podcast with Nick Galieti.
Faith is Not Blind – Interview with Elder and Sister Hafen
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Faith is Not Blind is a book by Elder Bruce C. and Sister Marie Hafen and published by Deseret Book. This book addresses the many ways that individuals encounter the challenges to developing faith or the language of testimony. In preparing to serve missions, while on a mission, or when someone returns from missionary service, we all encounter stages of faith progression. But how do we manage those experiences in such a way to come out the other side with greater faith?
In this book, and with this interview, Elder and Sister Hafen discuss their mission, temple, and personal experiences dealing with difficult issues about how to travel the trials of faith, the challenges of life, and develop a stronger relationship with God as a result. This podcast comes courtesy of Latter-day Saint MissionCast, and carries a missionary slant to the content.
To purchase a copy of Faith is Not Blind, by Elder and Sister Hafen, click here. Purchase the Audio CD click here.
A NEW New Testament Translation and Study Bible!
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A NEW New Testament? Finally!
Do you find that reading King James Version of the New Testament English feels old, out dated, or just hard to understand? Have no fear, Thom Wayment is here. Our guest on this episode of the Latter-day Saint MissionCast is the translator of a NEW translation, a more modern translation of the New Testament Study Bible for Latter-day Saints! Brother Wayment is a professor of Classics at Brigham Young University. He joined the faculty of Religious Education in June of 2000 after completing a PhD in New Testament studies at the Claremont Graduate School, and he later joined the faculty of Comparative Arts and Letters at BYU in 2018. His recent research interests focus on Christian literary papyri, Oxyrhynchus, and the Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible. He served as the publications director of the Religious Studies Center from 2013 until 2018.
In this episode we learn about the translation process he took, the history of the King James Version of the New Testament, and how the study hints and helps that he brings forth makes a tremendous impact on the way we study the Bible. This is great content considering the 2019 Curriculum with the Come, Follow Me – For Individuals and Familiesas well as Come, Follow Me – For Sunday School and Primary that will be featuring the New Testament. This is also a great resource for missionaries looking to study the gospel on or off their missions. The New Testament is our bridge to other Christian Faiths, and it contains the words of Christ. This new edition is being published by BYU and Deseret Book, released in November 2018.
THE BOOK IS NOW AVAILABLE THROUGH Deseret Book! CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE A COPY!
Jaxon Washburn – Interfaith Work, and Being called on a Mission
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Jaxon Washburn is a remarkable young man that has done a great deal of outreach work as part of being on interfaith councils, and other organizations that support religious practice. His story is unusual in that, while Jaxon was raised for the first 12 years in what he describes as a traditional Latter-day Saint household, following his mother’s decision to leave the Church, he began to live a sort of double religious life studying and experiencing two different faith traditions on a regular basis.
Jaxon also shares how previous FairMormon Podcasts were instrumental in helping him to navigate his faith crisis and come to a testimony of the truth claims of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Having faithful and scholarly answers to critical questions provided him with a path through his questions, and have answers where anti-mormon literature was suffocating and depressing.
This unique experience led Jaxon to study many of the worlds religions, and, like Joseph Smith, found himself with the designs of finding out which of all the sects was the one God wanted him to align himself. Through considerable study, including listening to some past podcasts by host Nick Galieti for the FairMormon organization, Jaxon felt that he had gained a testimony of the truthfulness of the Restored Gospel, of its claims to prophetic leadership and the validity of the Book of Mormon as Scripture.
Jaxon came to the decision to place on hold his religious studies path in the halls of higher learning to serve a mission. In this episode he announces where he has been called, as well as some of the pilot program that he is involved with regarding language learning through the MTC. This episode features an powerful story of love, the importance of study in coming to a conversion, as well as the remarkable ways that life experience can guide us in the path that leads us back to our Heavenly Father.
To learn more about the mission where Jaxon will be serving his mission – click here.
Conversion Story, MTC (Mormon.org) Missionary, and a Stake President – LDS MissionCast Podcast
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This week’s episode is a listener generated story that involves a convert, an MTC Missionary from the Mormon.org referral center, a ministering Stake President, and so much more. This episode shows the perpetual motion that missionary work can have throughout the world. I received this email from recent convert, Geoffrey Allen, that reads:
“I listened to your most recent podcast with Sister Bringhurst and loved it. At one point I thought I was going to get a good story about the MTC missionaries, but she didn’t have one. I’d love to hear one, as the MTC missionaries from mormon.org played a vital role in my conversion 188 days ago. I’m still in contact with that missionary, now returned. I have an odd story that I believe is a testament to Heavenly Father’s Divine Guidance and includes both MTC and field missionaries. I probably make it much longer than it needs to be, but I believe the MTC missionary who helped bring me to conversion has an exceptional story to tell that includes illness, missed missionary callings, and early returns. If you’d like to talk to her I’d be happy to ask her. She has quite the story and is a very special person. My family is lucky to have “met” her.”
I exchanged a few more emails and spent some time arranging the multiple guests that we have on this show. We will first hear from the man that sent this email to me, Geoffrey Allen, to get his inspiring conversion story. His story is filled with the challenges encountering questions about various gospel topics and doctrines, and how he was able to find peace through prayer and study. Following Brother Allen, we will hear from Sister Emma Wageman, the missionary referred to in his email who has an incredible story of her own, that fills out this wonderful example of the hand of the Lord guiding this work. Finally, we will hear from Geoffrey’s Stake President, David Hollandwho is just one of the many people that have played a part in bringing Geoffrey into the church. It was a joy to learn of this story and I hope you are able to find inspiration in us sharing that story in this episode of the podcast.
Thank you for listening to LDS MissionCast, we hope you enjoyed this episode. Select episodes of the LDS MissionCast Podcast can be heard through the FairMormon Podcast stream. Please subscribe to the FairMormon Podcast by clicking here.
Proof texting and Using the Bible as a Missionary Tool with Ben Spackman – LDS MissionCast
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What is Proof Texting?
LDS MissionCast is an independently produced podcast shared by FairMormon. The Host and Presenters speak independently of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and FairMormon. LDS MissionCast a podcast to educate and inspire in the great cause of Missionary Work. This episode is hosted by Nick Galieti.
Ben Spackman is an interesting type of scholar. He spent some time teaching at BYU, but has since continued his formal education towards his PH.d. His educational background is so varied that I am not sure there is anyone who has repeated his same course of study. As a result I find his insights to be good food for thought. His area of expertise deals a lot with ancient scripture. Sometimes we don’t spend much time as missionaries considering the role of ancient scripture in our lives, but we don’t always know what the Bible means or how the Bible is used in other faith traditions. I am sure we can all admit that there are good and bad ways to use the Bible in missionary work. Ben Spackman helps us to not only help us learn how to use the Bible better in our own lives, but how to understand its use by other religions, so that we might be able to better build bridges of understanding between different faiths.
When we use scriptures to teach the gospel, we sometimes get confused when others don’t see the Bible the same way that we do as Latter-day Saints. Missionaries tend to follow the practice of proof texting (or prooftexting) which does very little to help teach people the true gospel of Jesus Christ. So, again, Brother Spackman is here to help us know how to better use the Bible as a teaching tool in missionary work.
Links and content mentioned in this episode:
Benjamin the Scribe (Ben Spackman’s Patheos Blog)
Ben Spackman on LDS Perspectives Podcast – Genre in the Bible
Ben Spackman on LDS Perspectives Podcast – Genesis Chapter 1
Why Bible Translations Differ – BYU’s Religious Educator publication
Article by Grant Hardy on The King James Bible and the Future of Missionary Work – Dialogue Journal
