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

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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.

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.

Rethinking Revelation and the Human Element in Scripture

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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

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

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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”

Inspiration, Intellect, and Rethinking Revelation

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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

96% of US physicians have done something to stay healthy. Only 57% of US adults have followed their lead.

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What is this “pro tip” that is almost universally practiced by doctors?  Receiving the COVID-19 vaccine.

In addition to being a faithful Latter-day Saint, I’m a physician. I have many doctor friends. The statistic referenced in the title (which came from this AMA survey) matches what my anecdotal experience tells me — doctors are getting vaccinated.  Among my doctor friends there is a wide range of political opinions, ranging from avowed socialists to gun-toting libertarians and everything in between.  On a host of other COVID-19 related topics, these friends have extremely diverse opinions. And yet when it comes to getting the vaccine, there is broad consensus.

This might seem like a strange topic to discuss on a Latter-day Saint apologetics blog, but given the reaction by some members of the church to the recent First Presidency statement urging vaccination, I’d like to offer some thoughts on why I believe there is near-universal vaccination among US physicians.

In this post, I’ll discuss three factors I believe contribute: (1) Understanding the science behind the vaccine; (2) anecdotal experience of physicians, and (3) awareness of public health data. In each of these three areas, physicians have a unique perspective worth taking a closer look at. [Read more…] about 96% of US physicians have done something to stay healthy. Only 57% of US adults have followed their lead.

“Worlds Without Number”:[1] Hugh Nibley on Science and Religion

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Post 1 | Post 2 | Post 3 | Post 4 | Post 5 | Post 6 | Post 7 | Post 8 | Post 9

Post 8 of 9

by Jeffrey M. Bradshaw

For more information on the book, visit https://interpreterfoundation.org/books/

This is the eighth of nine weekly blog posts published in honor of the life and work of Hugh Nibley (1910–2005). The series is in honor of the new, landmark book, Hugh Nibley Observed, available in softcover, hardback, digital, and audio editions. Each week our post is accompanied by interviews and insights in pdf, audio, and video formats. (See the links at the end of this post.)

Somehow, in addition to his continual immersion in ancient records and the pressing religious and social issues of the day, Hugh Nibley managed to keep up with important new developments in an impressive range of scientific subjects: cosmology, physics, and brain science — to name but a few of his chief interests. And one of his lesser-known gems is an essay entitled “Science Fiction and the Gospel.” The expansive framework of the Restored Gospel accommodated new findings in nearly all of these fields without a hitch. However, on the subjects of death before the Fall of Adam and Eve and the origins of humankind, faithful members sometimes disagreed.[2]

Leaders and members of the Church who made statements strongly expressing the view that no death existed on earth before the Fall generally were not intrinsically unsympathetic to science, but naturally resisted any views that might be seen as compromising authoritatively expressed doctrines relating to the Creation, the Fall, and the Atonement. Likewise, scientifically-trained leaders and members were not typically seeking to subordinate the claims of faith to the program of science, but understandably desired to circumscribe their understanding of truth into “one great whole.”[3] [Read more…] about “Worlds Without Number”:[1] Hugh Nibley on Science and Religion

A Skeptical Believer

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[Cross-posted from Mike Ash’s personal blog.]

Why my skeptical nature doesn’t thwart my faith.

It’s Who I Am

I’m a skeptic at heart. While this claim might give pause to those who are either critical of my LDS beliefs or are critical of any belief in the supernatural (such as in a God, or a hereafter), I have no other way to understand myself without including a noticeable degree of skepticism.

I wasn’t always this way. Like many (if not most) youngsters, I believed what I was told by my parents, teachers, and adults of authority. Like a number of other people, however, time proved that all people are fallible, are sometimes wrong, and don’t know everything. Maturity taught me that just because someone smart knows something about X, doesn’t necessarily mean they are also an expert on Y. [Read more…] about A Skeptical Believer

Come, Follow Me Week 14 – Easter

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I was raised by two parents who loved science. My father was a biology teacher. He was a favorite at the high school, with lots of silly and whacky exercises that helped the students remember the material. I recall one phone call from a Yale university student who called to thank my dad for his help passing his Yale biology exams. He said that he just had to think back on the play they performed in his high school class when the students acted out the various parts of cellular mitosis. My father did try his hand at teaching college classes as well, but he said it wasn’t as much fun. He claimed he would try to crack a biology joke, but the college students would respond by dutifully writing it into their notes as if it were fact.

My mother was also a teacher. She taught grade school, and then later middle school. Her favorite magazine was Scientific American. Each month, she would read the magazine from cover to cover. She would read every single article. Then she would want to discuss it. Imagine my groan and eye roll as a 13 year old when she would start reading the latest article to me and state how it would change everything. Even as she moved into her 80s, she still read it. When I visited, she would want to talk about dark matter, gene splicing, or some other current science issue. She would also read to us as kids when we went on road trips to the coast, or over to Utah. We live in California. She wouldn’t read novels. No, she would read the latest psychology book, or book on mind science.

I believe every student should study science even if they have no plans to go into it. Science teaches us to ask questions. Asking questions is good. Asking questions is important. Science also teaches us how to evaluate evidence. Understanding how to evaluate evidence is very good, and very important.

How Does Science Relate To My Faith? [Read more…] about Come, Follow Me Week 14 – Easter

Interpreting Scripture, History, Science, and Creation

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Ben Spackman is a Latter-day Saint scholar who works in American religious history, history of science, and Biblical interpretation. He is writing a dissertation at Claremont on LDS creationism/evolution conflict in the 20th century, and has spoken at the FairMormon Conference in 2017 and 2019. This is cross-posted at his site, BenSpackman.com

May 4th holds significance in LDS history: it’s the day Joseph Smith introduced temple ordinances in the upper room of the red brick store in 1842. The temple ties together a number of questions, like: [Read more…] about Interpreting Scripture, History, Science, and Creation

FairMormon Conference Podcast #48 – Ben Spackman, “A Paradoxical Preservation of Faith: LDS Creation Accounts and the Composite Nature of Revelation”

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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.

Ben Spackman, A Paradoxical Preservation of Faith: LDS Creation Accounts and the Composite Nature of Revelation

Transcript available here.

Ben Spackman did ten years of undergraduate (BYU) and graduate work in ancient Near Eastern studies and Semitics (University of Chicago) before moving on to general science (City College of New York). Currently a PhD student in History of Christianity at Claremont Graduate University, Ben’s focus is the intertwined histories of religion, science, and scriptural interpretation; most specifically, he studies the intellectual history of fundamentalism, creationism, and religious opposition to evolution in connection with interpretations of Genesis.

Ben taught volunteer Institute and Seminary for a dozen years in the Midwest, New York, and California, taught Biblical Hebrew, Book of Mormon, and New Testament at BYU, and TA’d a course on “God, Darwin, and Design” at Claremont. He has contributed to BYU Studies, Religious Educator, the Maxwell Institute, Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture, Religion&Politics, the Salt Lake Tribune, and blogs at benspackman.com (previously at Timesandseasons) where he writes extensively about Gospel Doctrine, evolution, and Genesis, among other things. He has presented lectures, firesides, and papers at various conferences, including the Joseph Smith Papers, the Mormon History Association, the Society for Mormon Philosophy and Theology, the Maxwell Institute Seminar on Mormon Culture, the Mormon Theology Seminar, Mormon Scholars in the Humanities, BYU’s Sperry Symposium, BYU Late Summer Honors (lecture on Genesis and evolution), and this year, Education Week (Aug 21-24), on Reading the Bible in Context. He is a contributor to BYU’s ecumenical Reconciling Evolution project.

Ben has appeared on various podcasts: LDS Perspectives (on genre in the Bible, and Genesis 1), LDS MissionCast (on missionaries, prooftexting, and the Bible), and GospelTangents (on evolution, scripture, and religious history).

He typically juggles half a dozen writing projects at once, currently including a book on Genesis 1 for an LDS audience, a dissertation on post-1970 creationism/evolution conflict in the LDS Church and its early 20th century roots, a chapter on the Cain/Abel story in Genesis, and a paper on the intellectual background of early 20th-century LDS attempts to reconcile science with scripture (fossils, dinosaurs, pre-adamites, evolution, age of the earth, etc.) He recently received a grant from the Redd Center for research on LDS understandings of dinosaurs and the establishment of BYU’s two museums.

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.