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Revelation

FAIR Conference Podcast #73 – Ben Spackman, “Through a Glass, Less Darkly: The 20th Century History of Genesis and Evolution”

January 3, 2022 by Trevor Holyoak

https://media.blubrry.com/mormonfaircast/www.fairlatterdaysaints.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Ben-Spackman.mp3

Podcast: Download (12.6MB)

Subscribe: RSS

This podcast series features past FAIR Conference presentations. This presentation is from our 2021 conference held in August. If you would like to watch all the presentations from the conference, you can still purchase the video streaming.

Ben Spackman, Through a Glass, Less Darkly: The 20th Century History of Genesis and Evolution

Ben Spackman is a PhD candidate in American Religious History at Claremont. His dissertation examines the intellectual roots of LDS creationism and evolution in the 20th century. Prior to his work at Claremont, he received a master’s degree and did PhD work in Old Testament languages and literature at the University of Chicago. He is a guest editor of a special edition of BYU Studies dedicated to biological evolution and LDS faith, and writes at BenSpackman.com.

Filed Under: Bible, FAIR Conference, FAIR Conference, Jesus Christ, Joseph Smith, LDS History, Podcast, Prophets, Revelation, Science

Come, Follow Me Week 1 – Moses 1; Abraham 3

January 1, 2022 by Trevor Holyoak

How did we get the books of Moses and Abraham?

The Come, Follow Me manual poses this question and gives links to articles on the Church’s website about the Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible and the Translation and Historicity of the Book of Abraham. For further information, the following resources are available from FAIR and other trusted sites:

An Introduction to the Book of Abraham – the full text of this book by John Gee is available online for free from the publisher. (Click on the chapter titles to go to the text. You can also download PDF files from within each chapter that include photos and illustrations, which are very helpful.)

YouTube playlist of videos from FAIR on the Book of Abraham

Book of Abraham section of our website with common questions and answers

Book of Moses section of our website with common questions and answers

Interpreter Foundation 2021 Book of Moses Conference videos – Kent P. Jackson’s “How We Got the Joseph Smith Translation, the Book of Moses, and Joseph Smith—Matthew” is a good place to start.

More Come, Follow Me resources here.

 

Filed Under: Bible, Book of Abraham, Book of Moses, Come Follow Me, Joseph Smith, LDS History, Prophets, Revelation

FAIR Conference Podcast #72 – Dan Peterson, “The Book of Mormon Witnesses: Sincerity and Reality”

December 27, 2021 by Trevor Holyoak

https://media.blubrry.com/mormonfaircast/www.fairlatterdaysaints.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Dan-Peterson.mp3

Podcast: Download (11.8MB)

Subscribe: RSS

This podcast series features past FAIR Conference presentations. This presentation is from our 2021 conference held in August. If you would like to watch all the presentations from the conference, you can still purchase the video streaming.

Dan Peterson, The Book of Mormon Witnesses: Sincerity and Reality

The Witnesses film and books by Dan Peterson are available from the FAIR Bookstore.

Daniel C. Peterson (PhD, UCLA) is a professor of Islamic studies and Arabic at Brigham Young University and founder of the university’s Middle Eastern Texts Initiative. He has published and spoken extensively on both Islamic and Mormon subjects. Formerly chairman of the board of the Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies (FARMS) and an officer, editor, and author for its successor organization, the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, his professional work as an Arabist focuses on the Qur’an and on Islamic philosophical theology. He is the author, among other things, of a biography entitled Muhammad: Prophet of God (Eerdmans, 2007). Dan currently serves as the president of the Interpreter Foundation.

Filed Under: Book of Mormon, FAIR Conference, FAIR Conference, Jesus Christ, Joseph Smith, LDS History, Podcast, Revelation

Rethinking Revelation and the Human Element in Scripture

December 23, 2021 by Trevor Holyoak

Available in the FAIR Bookstore

by Michael R. Ash

Those who have read any of my writings in the past several decades will know that I’ve been a volunteer for FAIR for more than twenty years. I’m an active Latter-day Saint who accepts prophets as the divinely called and authorized agents of Christ’s church on earth. And, like many other believing members, scholars, and LDS-scientists, I also try to think rationally and logically, and I embrace the general conclusions of secular science and “objective” history.

Faith-Crisis

In the more than forty years that I’ve been reading and writing about LDS scholarly issues (including the twenty years I’ve been volunteering for FAIR), I’ve spent a lot of time analyzing the intellectual reasons people leave the faith. Obviously, there are many reasons that people leave the Church, but I’ve always been interested in the historical and scientific issues that unseat some LDS testimonies. [Read more…] about Rethinking Revelation and the Human Element in Scripture

Filed Under: Bible, Book of Abraham, Book of Mormon, Book of Moses, Doctrine and Covenants, Faith Crisis, Joseph Smith, LDS History, Michael R. Ash, Prophets, Revelation, Science

Book Review: “In the Hands of the Lord: The Life of Dallin H. Oaks”

December 12, 2021 by Trevor Holyoak

Available from the FAIR Bookstore

This biography of Dallin H. Oaks was written by Richard E. Turley, Jr., who has been associated with Oaks throughout most of his (Turley’s) professional life. Turley has served as the Director of the Church History Department (originally selected to work for the department by Oaks), Assistant Church Historian, and Director of Public Affairs. He has previously written or co-written several other books, including Victims: The LDS Church and the Mark Hoffman Case and Massacre at Mountain Meadows: An American Tragedy.

Dallin Harris Oaks was born August 12, 1932 in Provo, Utah. He got his middle name from his mom’s side of the family, who was descended from a brother of Martin Harris. He grew up in Provo; Twin Falls, Idaho; Payson (where he stayed with his grandparents at times due to the death of his father when he was 7); and Vernal. He came close to dying several times in his childhood, beginning with his birth, with miraculous preservation of his life occurring each time. [Read more…] about Book Review: “In the Hands of the Lord: The Life of Dallin H. Oaks”

Filed Under: Book reviews, Doctrine, General Conference, Jesus Christ, LDS History, Priesthood, Prophets, Revelation, Science, Testimonies

Inspiration, Intellect, and Rethinking Revelation

December 11, 2021 by Trevor Holyoak

by Michael R. Ash

for FAIR Newsletter 2021 1211

Inspiration and Intellect are two sides of the same coin in how Latter-day Saints believe that God communicates with His children. We know that the Spirit testifies to eternal truths, but we often forget (or neglect) the role that intellect plays in uncovering truth. The late Apostle Hugh B. Brown said, “revelation does not come only through the prophet of God nor only directly from heaven in visions or dreams. Revelation may come in the laboratory, out of the test tube, out of the thinking mind and the inquiring soul, out of search and research and prayer and inspiration.”[i] Likewise, the Lord instructed the Saints to “seek learning… by study and also by faith” (D&C 88:118). This counsel was repeated several more times in modern revelations (see D&C 11:22, 90:15, 93:53; and 109: 7, 14), and the admonition led Joseph to establish the “School of the Prophets” (D&C 88:127).

The dual-nature or dual-sources for discovering truth presents some challenges, however. The first challenge is that neither source—neither inspiration nor intellect—can provide infallible and inerrant data.

The Challenge of Inspiration [Read more…] about Inspiration, Intellect, and Rethinking Revelation

Filed Under: Bible, Book of Abraham, Book of Mormon, Faith Crisis, Joseph Smith, Michael R. Ash, Newsletter, Prophets, Revelation, Science

Come, Follow Me Week 49 – Doctrine and Covenants 137-138

November 29, 2021 by Trevor Holyoak

Heirs of the Celestial Kingdom of God

by David W. Smith

Many people today misunderstand the nature and blessings of God’s love. “God loves me just as I am, so I don’t need to change,” they might say, or “Because God loves me, He will accept me as I am into heaven.” To use a scriptural phrase: “If it so be that we are guilty, God will beat us with a few stripes, and at last we shall be saved in the kingdom of God.”[1]

Elder D. Todd Christofferson explained, “Because God’s love is all-embracing, some speak of it as ‘unconditional,’ and in their minds they may project that thought to mean that God’s blessings are ‘unconditional’ and that salvation is ‘unconditional.’ They are not. Some are wont to say, ‘The Savior loves me just as I am,’ and that is certainly true. But He cannot take any of us into His kingdom just as we are, ‘for no unclean thing can dwell there, or dwell in his presence.’ Our sins must first be resolved.”[2]

President Russell M. Nelson taught, “The full flower of divine love and our greatest blessings from that love are conditional.”[3] This message is a key part of two visions given to two Josephs. These visions are the last two sections in the Doctrine and Covenants. [Read more…] about Come, Follow Me Week 49 – Doctrine and Covenants 137-138

Filed Under: Come Follow Me, Doctrine and Covenants, Gospel Doctrine: D&C, Jesus Christ, Joseph Smith, LDS History, Prophets, Revelation

FAIR Conference Podcast #67 – Brittany Chapman Nash, “Let’s Talk About Polygamy”

November 23, 2021 by Trevor Holyoak

https://media.blubrry.com/mormonfaircast/www.fairlatterdaysaints.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Brittany-Chapman-Nash.mp3

Podcast: Download (10.3MB)

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This podcast series features past FAIR Conference presentations. This presentation is from our 2021 conference held in August. If you would like to watch all the presentations from the conference, you can still purchase the video streaming.

Brittany Chapman Nash, Let’s Talk About Polygamy

The video of this presentation can be watched on our YouTube channel.

Brittany’s books are available in the FAIR bookstore.

Brittany Chapman Nash is a specialist in Latter-day Saint women’s history and coedited the award-winning four-volume Women of Faith in the Latter Days series and Fearless in the Cause: Remarkable Stories of Women in Church History. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Humanities from Brigham Young University and a master’s degree in Victorian Studies from the University of Leicester in England. Brittany worked as a historian for ten years in the Church History Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and has served on committees in the Mormon History Association, Better Days 2020, and Young Women general board. She is a member of the Mormon Women’s History Initiative Team, a group dedicated to popularizing the history of Latter-day Saint women. Brittany lives with her husband, Peter, and two young children in Salt Lake City, Utah, where she enjoys working at home with her little ones. She loves learning people’s stories, helping plants to grow, and watching cooking shows with her husband.

Filed Under: FAIR Conference, FAIR Conference, Joseph Smith, LDS History, Podcast, Polygamy, Prophets, Questions, Revelation, Women

FAIR Conference Podcast #66 – Mike Ash, “Rethinking Revelation and the Human Element in Scripture: The Prophet’s Role as Creative Co-Author”

November 16, 2021 by Trevor Holyoak

https://media.blubrry.com/mormonfaircast/www.fairlatterdaysaints.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Mike-Ash.mp3

Podcast: Download (11.0MB)

Subscribe: RSS

This podcast series features past FAIR Conference presentations. This presentation is from our 2021 conference held in August. If you would like to watch the presentations from the conference, you can still purchase the video streaming.

Mike Ash, Rethinking Revelation and the Human Element in Scripture: The Prophet’s Role as Creative Co-Author

Mike’s book is available from the FAIR bookstore.

Michael R. Ash, a FairMormon member for more than twenty years, has been featured in nearly 90 podcasts and 30 videos. In more than two decades of writing LDS-themed material, and as a former weekly columnist for Mormon Times (owned by the Deseret News), his works include over 160 on-line articles, as well as articles in periodicals such as the Ensign, Sunstone, Neal A. Maxwell Institute’s FARMS Review, and Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought.

Michael is also the author of four LDS books. In 2008 FAIR published his book Shaken Faith Syndrome: Strengthening One’s Testimony in the Face of Criticism and Doubt (which is available in English, German, and Italian). Mike quickly followed this publication with his second book, Of Faith and Reason: 80 Evidences Supporting the Prophet Joseph Smith. In 2015 Michael published Bamboozled by the CES Letter: An honest response to the .pdf pamphlet entitled “Letter to a CES Director”, and this year he has introduced his newest book, Rethinking Revelation and the Human Element in Scripture: The Prophet’s Role as Creative Co-Author.

Filed Under: Book of Abraham, Book of Mormon, Book of Moses, Doctrine and Covenants, FAIR Conference, FairMormon Conference, Joseph Smith, LDS Scriptures, Michael R. Ash, Perspective, Podcast, Prophets, Revelation

FAIR Conference Podcast #64 – Jeffrey Thayne, “Worldview Apologetics: Revealing the Waters in Which We Swim”

November 1, 2021 by Trevor Holyoak

https://media.blubrry.com/mormonfaircast/www.fairlatterdaysaints.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Jeffrey-Thayne.mp3

Podcast: Download (10.9MB)

Subscribe: RSS

This podcast series features past FAIR Conference presentations. This presentation is from our 2021 conference held in August. If you would like to watch the presentations from our 2021 conference, you can still purchase the video streaming.

Jeffrey Thayne, Worldview Apologetics: Revealing the Waters in Which We Swim

A transcript is available here.

Jeffrey’s book, Who Is Truth: Reframing Our Questions for a Richer Faith, is available from our bookstore.

Dr. Jeffrey Thayne graduated from BYU with a bachelor’s and master’s degree in psychology. He completed his doctorate in Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences at Utah State University. He runs the popular Latter-day Saint Philosopher blog, and spends time engaging in worldview apologetics (articulating and exploring the worldview assumptions that inform our faith). He currently resides in Washington state with his wife and two children.

Filed Under: Apologetics, Apostasy, Conversion, FAIR Conference, FAIR Conference, FairMormon Conference, Faith Crisis, Jesus Christ, Podcast, Prophets, Revelation

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