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Celebrating Two New Books in the Book of Mormon Critical Text Project: The Nature of the Original Language of the Book of Mormon

September 12, 2018 by FAIR Staff

Royal Skousen

On Tuesday, September 25, at 7 p.m., BYU Professor Royal Skousen will speak on the just-published The Nature of the Original Language, parts 3 and 4 of volume 3 of the Book of Mormon Critical Text Project. The lecture will include additional commentary by Stanford Carmack, Skousen’s collaborator in authoring and researching these two new books.

The presentation is free and open to the public. It will be held in the Assembly Hall of the Hinckley Center at Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah. Parking is available after 6 p.m. in the large lot east of the Hinckley Center (Lot 16).

The lecture will be videotaped and made available in the weeks following the presentation. The event is sponsored by BYU Studies and the Interpreter Foundation. For further information, contact BYU Studies (801-422-6691 or [email protected]).

The two new books are now available for purchase from BYU Studies, the joint publisher of these books, along with the Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies (FARMS).

The Nature of the Original Language (NOL) continues the analysis of the Book of Mormon [Read more…] about Celebrating Two New Books in the Book of Mormon Critical Text Project: The Nature of the Original Language of the Book of Mormon

Filed Under: Anti-Mormon critics, Apologetics, Book of Mormon, Evidences, Joseph Smith, LDS History, News stories

Charity: “The Greatest of All” (Stories of the Saints in the DR Congo Part 2)

September 11, 2018 by Jeffrey M. Bradshaw

This series shares six stories about members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Each story is framed in the context of a Christlike attribute. This article with examples of charity is an adapted and expanded from part 2 of a presentation given at the FairMormon 2018 Conference.

The video version of the entire FairMormon presentation is available on the FairMormon YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJl9FvLKmjw

The article relating to this story can be found at the Interpreter Foundation website: Charity: “The Greatest of All” — Stories of the Saints in the DR Congo, Part 2

If you would like to watch the other presentations from the 2018 FairMormon Conference, you can still purchase video streaming.

Filed Under: Conversion, LDS History, Power of Testimony, Youth Tagged With: Bernard and Yaya Balibuno, Charity, DR Congo, Vincent Sakala

Da and Angélique Tarr: The Power of Faith (Stories of the Saints in the DR Congo Part 1)

September 4, 2018 by Jeffrey M. Bradshaw

Da and Angélique hold a Family Home Evening on the porch with their daughter Messah after their return to Monrovia, Liberia in 1992

 

This series shares six stories about members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Each story is framed in the context of a Christlike attribute. The story of Da and Angélique Tarr is an adapted and expanded from part 1 of a presentation given at the FairMormon 2018 Conference.

The video version of the entire FairMormon presentation is available on the FairMormon YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJl9FvLKmjw

The article relating to this story can be found at the Interpreter Foundation website: Da and Angélique Tarr: The Power of Faith
Stories of the Saints in the DR Congo, Part 1

If you would like to watch the other presentations from the 2018 FairMormon Conference, you can still purchase video streaming.

Filed Under: Conversion, LDS History, Power of Testimony Tagged With: Da and Angelique Tarr, DR Congo, faith, Liberia, obedience

FairMormon Conference Podcast #14 – Special Episode on Saints #2 of 2 – Steve Harper, “Making Saints: A Look into the Writing of the New Church History”

September 1, 2018 by Trevor Holyoak

https://media.blubrry.com/mormonfaircast/www.fairlatterdaysaints.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Steve-Harper.mp3

Podcast: Download (47.3MB)

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This podcast series features past FairMormon Conference presentations. This is a special episode that contains the second of two presentations given at our conference earlier this month about the new book series being published by the Church, Saints: The Story of the Church of Jesus Christ in the Latter Days. The first volume will be released on Tuesday, September 4. (If you would like to watch the video of this and the other presentations from the 2018 conference, you can still purchase video streaming.)

More information about Saints is available in the April 2018 Newsroom story and at saints.lds.org. A review will be posted here after the book is released.

Steve Harper, Making Saints: A Look into the Writing of the New Church History

Steven C. Harper is a historian for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who has served as an editor of The Joseph Smith Papers, working on volumes in the Documents series and the Revelations and Translations series. He taught religion at BYU from 2002 to 2012 and religion and history at BYU–Hawaii from 2000 to 2001. He earned his PhD in early American history from Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. He is the author of Joseph Smith’s First Vision: A Guide to the Historical Accounts (2012), Making Sense of the Doctrine and Covenants (2008), and Promised Land: Penn’s Holy Experiment, the Walking Purchase, and the Dispossession of Delawares 1600–1763 (2006), as well as multiple published articles on early Mormonism and the early American republic. Two of these were awarded the T. Edgar Lyon and Juanita Brooks awards by the Mormon History Association.

Audio Copyright © 2018 The Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research, Inc. Any reproduction or transcription of this material without prior express written permission is prohibited.

Filed Under: FAIR Conference, FairMormon Conference, Joseph Smith, LDS History, Podcast, Polygamy, Prophets

FairMormon Conference Podcast #13 – Special Episode on Saints #1 of 2 – Scott Hales, “Women’s Stories in Saints: The Story of the Church of Jesus Christ in the Latter Days”

August 29, 2018 by Trevor Holyoak

https://media.blubrry.com/mormonfaircast/www.fairlatterdaysaints.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Scott-Hales.mp3

Podcast: Download (48.7MB)

Subscribe: RSS

This podcast series features past FairMormon Conference presentations. This is a special episode that contains the first of two presentations given at our conference earlier this month about the new series being published by the Church, Saints: The Story of the Church of Jesus Christ in the Latter Days, the first volume of which will be released on Tuesday, September 4. (If you would like to watch the video of this and the other presentations from the 2018 conference, you can still purchase video streaming.)

More information about Saints is available in the April 2018 Newsroom story and at saints.lds.org.

Scott Hales, Women’s Stories in Saints: The Story of the Church of Jesus Christ in the Latter Days

Scott A. Hales has been a historian/writer for the Church History Department since 2015. He currently works as a writer and story editor for Saints: The Story of the Church of Jesus Christ in the Latter Days, the new four-volume narrative history of the Church. He has a BA in English from Brigham Young University and an MA and PhD in American Literature from the University of Cincinnati. He has published scholarly articles on Mormon and American literature in several academic journals, including Religion and the Arts and The Journal of Transnational American Studies. He currently lives in Eagle Mountain, UT with his wife and five children.

Audio Copyright © 2018 The Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research, Inc. Any reproduction or transcription of this material without prior express written permission is prohibited.

 

Filed Under: FAIR Conference, FairMormon Conference, Joseph Smith, LDS History, Podcast, Women

Book Review: 1,001 Facts About the Prophet Joseph Smith

August 27, 2018 by Trevor Holyoak

Available at a discount from the FairMormon bookstore

This is a short (151 pages) paperback book that contains 1,001 numbered paragraphs that chronologically narrate the life of Joseph Smith, essentially constituting a simple biography. “One of the main goals of this book is to tell the real story, while making it simple to read and understand. 1,001 Facts about the Prophet Joseph Smith is a history book for this generation. The entire book can be read in one sitting, or readers can jump around to different moments in the prophet’s life and learn about their favorite and the more fascinating events” (page 2). The author also intends the book to combat the anti-Mormon propaganda being spread on the Internet.

Here are several examples from the book that I thought were of interest: [Read more…] about Book Review: 1,001 Facts About the Prophet Joseph Smith

Filed Under: Apologetics, Bible, Book of Abraham, Book of Mormon, Book reviews, Conversion, Doctrine, First Vision, Joseph Smith, LDS History, Masonry, Politics, Polygamy, Prophets, Temples, Women

FairMormon Conference Podcast #12 – Scott Petersen, “Jesus Christ, the Same Yesterday, Today, and Forever: A Restoration of Primitive Christianity”

August 14, 2018 by Trevor Holyoak

https://media.blubrry.com/mormonfaircast/www.fairlatterdaysaints.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Scott-Peterson.mp3

Podcast: Download (83.2MB)

Subscribe: RSS

This podcast series features past FairMormon Conference presentations. This episode is a presentation from 2017. If you would like to watch the presentations from the conference we had earlier this month, you can still purchase video streaming.

Scott Petersen, Jesus Christ, the Same Yesterday, Today, and Forever: A Restoration of Primitive Christianity

Transcript available here.

Scott is the Executive Director of the Rollins Center for Entrepreneurship & Technology at BYU. Under his leadership the program has been ranked in the top five of all collegiate entrepreneurship programs for each of the past seven years, ranking #2 in 2016. He is also the Founder and Chairman of Omadi, Inc., a venture backed SaaS mobile CRM platform for workforce management, serving the towing/transportation markets. Scott is a long time entrepreneur having co-founded or partnered in building seven companies (harvesting four), including several current ventures. Additionally, he serves on several business and private foundation boards. In 2005, Scott published a significant work, titled Where Have All The Prophets Gone?, a historical, theological book on early Christianity using the Bible, the Pseudepigrapha, the Apocrypha, the Dead Seas Scrolls, the Nag Hammadi Library, and all of the extant early Christian writings. In 2014 Scott published his second book, Do the Mormons Have a Leg to Stand On?: a Critical Look at LDS Doctrines in the Light of the Bible and the Teachings of the Early Christian Church. Scott and his wife Marilyn are the parents of 5 married children and they have 15 grandchildren. Scott serves as Stake President of the Provo Utah YSA 4th Stake.

Audio and Video Copyright © 2017 The Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research, Inc. Any reproduction or transcription of this material without prior express written permission is prohibited.

Filed Under: Apologetics, Apostasy, Bible, Book of Mormon, Dead Sea Scrolls, Early Christianity, FAIR Conference, FairMormon Conference, Faith Crisis, Homosexuality, Joseph Smith, LDS History, Media, Podcast, Prophets, Science

Conversion Story, MTC (Mormon.org) Missionary, and a Stake President – LDS MissionCast Podcast

August 12, 2018 by NickGalieti

https://media.blubrry.com/mormonfaircast/www.ldsmissioncast.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/LMC-GeoffreyAllen-MTCMissionaries.mp3

Podcast: Download (94.6MB)

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Geoffrey Allen - LDS MissionCast - Mormon Convert
Geoffrey Allen (Guest – via FaceTime)

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.”

Emma Wageman - MTC Missionary Cancer
Sister Emma Wageman – During cancer treatment

Emma Wageman Mormon.org referral center missionary
Sister Emma Wageman – Post Cancer Treatment

Nick Galieti and Emma Wageman LDS MissionCast Podcast
Nick Galieti (host) and Sister Emma Wageman (guest)

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.

David F. Holland - LDS MissionCast Mormon Missionary Podcast
Stake President and Harvard Divinity School Professor – David F. Holland

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.

Filed Under: Conversion, Doctrine, General, Hosts, LDS Culture, Nick Galieti, Podcast, Testimonies Tagged With: conversion, convert, Missionary, MTC questions

What Is the Significance of the Unusual Symbolism in Elisha’s Healings? (Gospel Doctrine Lesson 29B)

August 10, 2018 by Jeffrey M. Bradshaw

Triptych of the Cleansing of Naaman: the centre panel depicts Naaman, commander of the Syrian army, washing in the River Jordan to cure his leprosy at the command of the prophet Elisha, who in the background refuses gifts offered to him, 1520

An Old Testament KnoWhy relating to the reading assignment for Gospel Doctrine Lesson 29: “He Took Up … the Mantle of Elijah” (2 Kings 2:5-6) (JBOTL29B)

Question: Elisha’s request of Naaman to immerse himself seven times in the Jordan River in order to be healed and his “stretching himself” upon a child to raise him from the dead seem highly unusual. Was there any special meaning to Elisha’s actions?

Summary:Like some other Old Testament prophets, Elisha’s invocation of God’s power as he taught and blessed his people was accompanied by actions that symbolized sacred realities. As with modern priesthood ordinances, the physical actions themselves do not bring about the resultant blessings. However, such sacred actions, when required by the Lord, invite participants to reflect about resonances of those actions that extend beyond immediate circumstances and teach eternal principles. Symbolic actions that parallel Elisha’s miracles has at times accompanied healing both anciently and today.

The full article may be found at the Interpreter Foundation website: KnoWhy OTL29B — What Is the Significance of the Unusual Symbolism in Elisha’s Healings?

Filed Under: Bible, Early Christianity, Evidences, Lesson Aids, Masonry, Questions, Resources, Temples Tagged With: 2 Kings, Baptism, Elijah, Elisha, Gift of the Holy Ghost, Gospel Doctrine: Old Testament, Healing, Mary Jane Knowlton Coray, Naaman, Ordinances, Sacred Embrace, Symbolism

What Should We Make of the Story of Elisha and the Bears? (Gospel Doctrine Lesson 29A)

August 8, 2018 by Jeffrey M. Bradshaw

Prophet Elisha, Russian icon from first quarter of 18th century. The prophet is often portrayed with an uncovered, bald head. However, such a depiction may be the result of a textual misunderstanding.

An Old Testament KnoWhy relating to the reading assignment for Gospel Doctrine Lesson 29: “He Took Up … the mantle of Elijah” (2 Kings 2:5-6) (JBOTL29A)

Question:One of the most disturbing and incomprehensible accounts in the Old Testament concerns Elisha and the bears who mauled those who jeered at him? What should we make of this strange story?

Summary:The story is one of a sequence of events narrated to emphasize that Elisha was the legitimate successor to his prophetic predecessor, Elijah. Daunted by the prospect of many who would wonder if Elisha could measure up to Elijah’s greatness, Elisha asked for a “double portion” of Elijah’s spirit to rest upon him — figuratively invoking the Deuteronomic law that endows the firstborn and heir of the father with a double portion of his property. As bearer of Elijah’s mantle, Elisha performs similar miracles to Elijah, starting with the parting of the Jordan river, causing those who saw the event to witness, “The spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha.” Subsequently, the two brief episodes of the healing of the waters of Jericho and the much misunderstood mauling of the youths who mock the prophet “demonstrate Elisha’s authority and prove that he is the legitimate prophetic heir of Elijah. He has the capacity to bring life and blessing to those who recognize his authority, or death and judgment to those who reject him.” As elsewhere in the books of Kings, the narrator intends to show in no uncertain terms “that contempt toward divinely called prophets is disastrous for God’s people.”

The full article may be found at the Interpreter Foundation website: KnoWhy OTL29A — What Should We Make of the Story of Elisha and the Bears?

Filed Under: Bible, Lesson Aids, Prophets, Questions Tagged With: 2 Kings, Elijah, Elisha, Gospel Doctrine: Old Testament

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