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How to Build Resilient Faith

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[Cross-posted from Ben Spackman’s blog, where background is given about how this almost became an Ensign article.]

While rereading the Book of Mormon, I discovered something surprising: Captain Moroni took time away from constructing important physical defenses in order to prepare “the minds of the people to be faithful” (Alma 48:7). As a volunteer institute teacher, I’m engaged in a spiritual struggle for hearts and minds,[1] so the idea of “preparing minds to be faithful” stuck out to me. I wondered what Moroni had done, so I began looking for principles and prophetic teachings I could use to prepare “the minds of the people to be faithful.”

Since then, I have identified six broadly applicable principles that can help build resilient faith—whether in our students, our children, or ourselves.

1. Study the Scriptures Deeply

We can miss out on scripture’s full potential when we just skim over the surface or only read that which is familiar or easy. Do we read the scriptures or really study—taking notes, looking for patterns, asking questions, researching contexts, and so on? [Read more…] about How to Build Resilient Faith

A Guide to the First Century Apostasy

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As my contribution to your home centered study of 1 and 2 Thessalonians this week, I theorize about what happened to early Christianity after the death of the apostles. As leadership in the early Church transitioned from apostles to local bishops, the priesthood keys[1] bestowed on Peter(Matthew 16:19)  and the apostles (Matthew 18:18) were lost. The primary evidence of the apostasy is modern revelation. Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery claimed to have received visits from heavenly messengers and we are challenged to prayerfully seek after their own spiritual witness of claims regarding authority. An examination of ancient history can at best demonstrate plausibility and not proof of the apostasy. Those expecting the latter-day church is a carbon copy of an ancient church organization will be disappointed.[2]

Here are 10 thematic variations exploring the loss of priesthood keys. [Read more…] about A Guide to the First Century Apostasy

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.

FairMormon Conference Podcast #39 – Matthew McBride, “Answering Historical Questions with Church History Topics”

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

Matthew McBride, Answering Historical Questions with Church History Topics

Matthew McBride is the Director of Publications for the Church History Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He is the author of A House for the Most High: The Story of the Original Nauvoo Temple, co-editor of Revelations in Context: The Stories behind the Sections of the Doctrine and Covenants, and a contributor to Saints: The Story of the Church of Jesus Christ in the Latter Days. He and his wife Mary and their four children live in American Fork, Utah.

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

Book Review – Who is Truth? Reframing Our Questions for a Richer Faith

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Available in the FairMormon Bookstore

Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). We take this literally for the words “way” and “life,” but what if we also took it literally for the word “truth”? In their book Who What is Truth? Reframing Our Questions for a Richer Faith, that is exactly what authors Jeffrey L. Thayne and Edwin E. Gantt encourage us to do, changing our way of thinking from truth as an idea (this turns out to be rooted in Greek philosophy) to truth as a person (Hebrew thought).

The chapter headings give a good summary of what is covered: “What if truth is a person?,” “The ancient roots of person-truth,” “Faith in ideas, or faithfulness to a Person?,” “Knowing God vs. believing ideas about Him,” “Person-truth does not give us control,” “Knowing person-truth through covenant,” “Our on-and-off relationship with person-truth,” “What it means to be an authority on truth,” “The archnemesis of person-truth,” “What is sin, if truth is a person?,” “Rethinking the atonement of Christ,” and “Person-truth in a world of science and reason.” There is also a conclusion chapter, a list of further readings, and appendixes with more on Greek and Hebrew thought and questions and answers.

I was initially skeptical when offered this book to review. But it claimed to offer help for those having a faith crisis, and to strengthen faith in Jesus Christ and the Restoration, so I thought it would be worth a look. I was pleasantly surprised, and found myself agreeing with the conclusions (the good fruit being brought forth), even as I am still processing the explanations that led up to them. The authors anticipated skepticism, and they addressed all the potential red flags that came up in my mind as I read. [Read more…] about Book Review – Who is Truth? Reframing Our Questions for a Richer Faith

Responding to Abuse

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The Gospel of Jesus Christ is a message of peace and good will.  The healing of relationships is an important goal of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

The General Authorities of The Church of Jesus Christ do not condone abuse of any type.  General Conference talks over the last several decades have made clear that abuse is not the Lord’s way and is never acceptable for members in good standing [a search for “abuse” in the General Conference section of lds.org produces many talks which address this concern].

Before 1995, training provided to local leadership was less formalized, leaving local leaders to determine how to deal with offenders and how to counsel victims. Since that time, the governing handbooks have clarified the strong position of the church that protection of victims is a primary priority for local leadership.

In 1995, a Handbook* was published concerning this issue. In one of the sections, the stance of the Church against abuse was given teeth by instructing that abusers should not be given callings or have a temple recommend until they have repented. [Read more…] about Responding to Abuse

Book Review: Faith is not Blind

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Available at a discount from the FairMormon Bookstore

Bruce C. Hafen was a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy until 2010 when he was given Emeritus status. Prior to that, he was a president of BYU-Idaho and dean of the BYU Law School. He also was recently the president of the St. George Temple. Marie K. Hafen, his wife, taught at BYU-Idaho, BYU, and the University of Utah, as well as serving on the Young Women General Board and on the Deseret News board of directors.

This book is an expansion of a talk they gave together at a BYU-Hawaii devotional on January 24, 2017, which was an updated version of a talk called “Love Is Not Blind: Some Thoughts for College Students on Faith and Ambiguity” at a BYU devotional on January 9, 1979. Since 1979, the Internet has of course come to be a new avenue for people to stumble across things that would destroy their faith, and much of the book focuses on that.

The Hafens suggest a three part model for understanding stages of belief that people might go through. First, is what they call “simplicity.” This is when people have an innocent faith and “tend to think in terms of black or white – there is very little gray in [their] perspective. And many youth and young single adults have a childlike optimism and loyalty that make them wonderfully teachable. They typically trust their teachers, believe what they read, and respond eagerly to invitations for Church service. New adult converts often have similar attitudes” (page 8). [Read more…] about Book Review: Faith is not Blind

It’s the Final Four in the Bookstore!

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It’s the Final Four! (Days to ship for Christmas Delivery, that is!)

Remember the FairMormon Bookstore as you round out your gift giving!  

Special deals include:

Most other titles available in our bookstore are also below retail price, so take some time to find other great selections, as well! And giving a gift from the FairMormon Bookstore gives TWICE – all Bookstore proceeds directly support FairMormon!

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!
The New Testament - Latter-day Saint Study Bible