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Faithful Study Resources for Come, Follow Me

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Come, Follow Me with FAIR: Faithful Answers to New Testament Questions – John 1

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Evangelical Questions: Why did Joseph Smith change the meaning to some verses in the Bible?

by Jennifer Roach, MDiv, LMHC

This week we come to a very important verse in scripture.  John 1:1 traditionally translated, “In the beginning was the word.”  You’ll find it that way in almost every translation. It’s often the first verse beginning Greek students learn, “Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος” and straight away they are introduced to the complexities of translating. The text literally says, “In the beginning was the logos.” We look at that verse now, with the benefit of centuries of translation on our side and know “logos” means Jesus in some sense. Translators, theologians and scholars have been settled on this for a very long time. So it’s a fair question to ask, “Why did Joseph Smith step out of the established translation on this verse?”  Now, your Evangelical friends or family members may not be able to point to this specific verse and see the differences, but if you’re in conversation with them about the New Testament the issue of Joseph’s variations in translation are going to come up eventually. Let’s look at how Joseph translated the same verse: [Read more…] about Come, Follow Me with FAIR: Faithful Answers to New Testament Questions – John 1

Come, Follow Me with FAIR: Faithful Answers to New Testament Questions – Matthew 2; Luke 2

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Evangelical Questions: Why are temples still needed?

by Jennifer Roach, MDiv, LMHC

Luke 2:22, 27

And when the days of her (Mary’s) purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished, they brought him (baby Jesus) to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord…And he (Simeon) came by the Spirit into the temple: and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him after the custom of the law.

Again we will be looking at a section of scripture in the Come Follow Me readings that corresponds to a common question Evangelicals have about our faith. Last time we talked about how an Evangelical’s value of showing loyalty to Christ makes them suspicious of some of our claims. This week we’re going to talk about the temple – why Evangelicals are skeptical of the need of a temple, why they think that way, and some of the ways you can have better conversations with them that lead to a natural but confident sharing of your testimony.

What Do Evangelicals Understand About Temples? [Read more…] about Come, Follow Me with FAIR: Faithful Answers to New Testament Questions – Matthew 2; Luke 2

Come, Follow Me with FAIR: Faithful Answers to New Testament Questions – Matthew 1; Luke 1

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Evangelical Questions: Is Jesus God?

by Jennifer Roach, MDiv, LMHC

Matthew 1:21

21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.

Introduction

So, right off the bat we have an interesting point of conversation that could come up with your Evangelical friends: Who do you believe Jesus is? [Read more…] about Come, Follow Me with FAIR: Faithful Answers to New Testament Questions – Matthew 1; Luke 1

Come, Follow Me with FAIR: Faithful Answers to New Testament Questions – Introduction

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Jennifer Roach introduces this new video series that will follow our Come, Follow Me study of the New Testament in 2023.

Each week we’ll talk a look at the CFM readings in the New Testament with a specific eye looking for places where there is either a resonance or a dissonance with what the average Evangelical Christian in the US believes. And each week we’ll look at a specific question an Evangelical might ask if they were in conversation with you about this text.

The idea isn’t to give you ammunition to shoot down your Evangelical friends in debate, but to try to better understand their questions and provide an informed and faithful answer.

We have so much in common with our EV friends and neighbors, but sometimes members of the church get a little shy of talking about scripture because the whole thing can end up in a muddle. This series will give some framework for understanding how they hear the same passage and how to answer questions that might come up.

More Come, Follow Me resources here.

 

Jennifer Roach earned a Master of Divinity from The Seattle School of Theology and Psychology, and a Master of Counseling from Argosy University. Before her conversion to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints she was an ordained minister in the Anglican church. Her own experience of sexual abuse from a pastor during her teen years led her to care deeply about issues of abuse in faith communities.

Come, Follow Me Week 48 – Jonah; Micah

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A Gourd, a Worm, and an East Wind: Discovering God’s Extensions of Love in the Book of Jonah

by Matt Crawford

Jonah called Gath-hepher home—a town which was west of the present-day Sea of Galilee (see 2 Kings 14:25). When the Lord called Jonah on a mission from his comfortable home to the Assyrian city of Nineveh,[1] he did not hesitate to act. Jonah immediately “rose up to flee unto Tarshish” (Jonah 1:3).[2] [Read more…] about Come, Follow Me Week 48 – Jonah; Micah

FAIR Conference Podcast #81 – Craig Foster, “What Under the Banner of Heaven Gets Wrong”

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Audio and Video Copyright © 2022 The Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research, Inc. Any reproduction or transcription of this material without prior express written permission is prohibited.

This podcast series features past FAIR Conference presentations. This presentation is from our 2022 conference. You can still register to watch the entire conference free of charge.

Craig Foster, What Under the Banner of Heaven Gets Wrong

We have more resources responding to Under the Banner of Heaven here, including interviews Craig Foster did with some of the law enforcement officers that were involved.

Craig L. Foster earned a MA and MLIS at Brigham Young University. He is also an accredited genealogist and worked as a research consultant at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City for over thirty years before retiring in December 2021. He has published multiple books and articles about different aspects of Mormon history, including co-editing the Persistence of Polygamy series with Newell G. Bringhurst and co-authored American Polygamy: A History of Fundamentalist Mormon Faith with Marianne T. Watson. Craig is also on the editorial board of the John Whitmer Historical Association Journal.

Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey – Mormon Fundamentalism with Brian Hales and Craig Foster

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Scriptural Mormonism Podcast Episode 14, cross-posted with permission.

Robert Boylan interviews Brian Hales and Craig Foster about Mormon Fundamentalism and the Netflix show “Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey,” and specifically comparing FLDS to LDS, and Warren Jeffs to Joseph Smith.

Also join us at the 2022 FAIR Conference where Craig Foster will speak on “Under the Banner of Heaven,” and Brian Hales will participate in a lunch-time panel (for in-person attendees only) on common criticisms from Reddit. More information at https://www.fairlatterdaysaints.org/conference/august-2022-fair-conference

Under the Banner of Heaven: American Fork Police Chief Randy Johnson interviewed by Craig Foster

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Randy Johnson was the chief of police responsible for the murder investigation of Brenda and Erica Lafferty in 1984, in American Fork, Utah. “I cannot recognize any actual person that I knew or came to know, accurately depicted in the series. The series does not reflect the actual investigation that I oversaw. Nor does it reflect the attitudes, behaviors and conduct of me or any of my officers. It is clearly a work of fiction as indicated by the disclaimer. I affirm that to my knowledge neither I nor any of my officers ever lost our personal faith.” He is interviewed here by Craig Foster.

A rough transcript is available here. More information about the disinformation in Under the Banner of Heaven can be found here.

Audio and Video Copyright © 2022 The Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research, Inc. Any reproduction or transcription of this material without prior express written permission is prohibited.

Under the Banner of Heaven: Utah State Trooper Les Langford interviewed by Craig Foster

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Les Langford served as a Utah state trooper from 1972 – 2002. He was the trooper that arrested Dan Lafferty in 1983 while he (Dan) was a candidate for sheriff. He appeared in a total of 4 trials and stood toe-to-toe with Ron Lafferty as Dan’s followers tried to disrupt the court proceedings. In 1984 when Dan and Ron set out to do the murders, they created a “hit list” that included the stake president that had excommunicated them, the stake relief society president, and others. Brenda Lafferty was about 4th on the list, and Les Langford was 6th on the list. He is interviewed here by Craig Foster.

A rough transcript is available here. More information about the disinformation in Under the Banner of Heaven can be found here.

Audio and Video Copyright © 2022 The Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research, Inc. Any reproduction or transcription of this material without prior express written permission is prohibited.

 

Come, Follow Me Week 27 – 1 Kings 17–19

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by Matt Crawford

The widow of Zarephath is one of my favorite stories from the Old Testament. Perhaps the greatest reason that this story resonates with me is because the widow is an outsider. She is not a member of the house of Israel—a fact the Savior confirms (see Luke 4:24–30)—and she meets Elijah at the gate of the city. That is, she is physically on the outskirts of this village where she lives. At least symbolically, the location of the widow’s initial contact with Elijah infers that she is marginalized. Yet her belonging came as she did one thing: she obeyed a prophet. [Read more…] about Come, Follow Me Week 27 – 1 Kings 17–19