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Mormon FAIR-Cast 109: Response to criticisms of the Book of Mormon

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In a movie entitled “The Bible vs. The Book of Mormon,” the Living Hope Ministries levels a set of common attacks against the Book of Mormon. In this episode of Religion Today that originally aired on May 29, 2011, Martin Tanner discusses various arguments against the Book of Mormon and provides responses to these criticisms.

This recording was used by permission of KSL Radio and does not necessarily represent the views of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or of FAIR.

Boomerang Hits of the Book of Mormon #1

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Native Americans in California and Arizona and the aborigines of Australia anciently used a particularly unique weapon in both hunting and warfare known in today’s English as a boomerang. Presumably adapted from the terms “wumerang” or “boomerit”, which were used by New South Wales Australian native inhabitants to describe a particularly useful throwing stick, the boomerang is a unique tool used to wound or kill prey from a distance.

Designed with a slightly imbalanced hydrofoil design unique for the direction in which it will be thrown, the boomerang has the distinct characteristic of producing a modestly curved flight pattern. When thrown by a master skilled in the properties of the flight of the individual weapon, the potentially deadly tool need not be lost in the distance when it fails to hit its prey. Rather, when skilfully thrown with the proper force, the curved flight pattern will cause the boomerang to circle back to the hunter or warrior who threw it, allowing them to then re-use the weapon for future hunts or battles.

In the constant ideological struggles between LDS scholars and critics, specific issues are often raised that are intended to disprove the authenticity claims of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Book of Mormon. These attacks, like those from the sharp edges of a deadly throwing stick intended to weaken or kill a target, are intended to weaken or kill the faith of individuals in the Restoration. These attacks often take the form of technical criticisms backed by scientific or scholarly studies. They are aimed at discrediting both the plausibility and the probability that the Church and Book of Mormon are precisely what they claim to be.
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FAIR Radio Promotion

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We are encouraged when we receive notes of gratitude from those of you who have used our services. We regularly hear that FAIR has helped to answer difficult questions and strengthen testimonies. However, one of the most difficult things we hear  are the stories of family members of those who have left the Church and the frustration felt by those who wonder whether it would have made a difference if the family had known about FAIR sooner. Too often, it seems that by the time people discover FAIR, it is after a friend or family member has lost faith.

If FAIR is going to be more effective in helping to prevent people from losing their testimonies, people need to know about FAIR before a crisis sets in. For this reason, FAIR is undertaking a more aggressive effort to advertise. Our first step will be to run ads on KSL radio around the time of and during General Conference. We will expand our efforts beyond this in the future, perhaps with television advertising as well, but it takes money!

Due to the generosity of many of you over the past few weeks, we have been able to produce the radio advertisement that accompanies this message. With your continued support, we can continue to spread the word about FAIR to more people. Please consider making a donation of $500, or $300, or $100.  For those who are able, maybe you could donate $1,000. If that is too much of a stretch, maybe $50 or $25. A donation of any amount would be welcome.  Please make a donation now! To do so, go to the FAIR Blog donation page here.

Thank you for your support!

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Nominate the Mormon FAIR-Cast for the People’s Choice Podcast Awards!

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FAIR’s podcast, known as “The Mormon FAIR-Cast” won the People’s Choice Podcast Award for Best Podcast in the Religious Inspiration category in 2011. Please help us win again in 2012.

The Nomination Process: Starting on 1 October 2012, you can go to podcastawards.com to submit your nomination. There are a variety of categories. (Please note that you only get to fill this nomination ballet out one time, if you leave categories blank you cannot go back later and submit those additional categories a second time!) You may not nominate the same show in multiple categories, so only nominate the Mormon FAIR-Cast in the Religious Inspiration category.

To fill out the form, go to the Religion Inspiration category and do the following:

    • For the name of the podcast, type: “Mormon FAIR-Cast”
    • For the podcast URL, type: http://www.fairblog.org/
    • Also include your name and a verifiable E-mail Address
    • Finally, comments are critical so the reviewing team understand why a show is deserving of being nominated to the category.

Nominations will close on October 15, 2012. Ten nominees are chosen for each category. If the Mormon FAIR-Cast is nominated, we will announce further instructions on how to vote. The 8th Annual Podcast Awards Ceremony will be Held at New Media Expo in Las Vegas Jan 2013!

Thanks for your support of the Mormon FAIR-Cast!

Mormon FAIR-Cast 108: Jeffrey Bradshaw on Temple Themes in the Scriptures

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Dr. Jeffrey Bradshaw discusses his book, Temple Themes in the Book of Moses as well as some examples of temple worship among early Christians, and the Jews. He also touches on the Book of Enoch, the Council in Heaven and ancient temple architecture.

Jeffrey M. Bradshaw (Ph.D., Cognitive Science, University of Washington) is a Senior Research Scientist at the Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition (IHMC) in Pensacola, Florida. Formerly, he led research groups at The Boeing Company and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. He has authored hundreds of research articles and edited several volumes on topics relating to human and machine intelligence and interaction. Jeff was a missionary in the Belgium-Brussels mission, and has since served in a variety of teaching and leadership capacities including early-morning seminary teacher, bishop, high councilor, counselor in a stake presidency, stake executive secretary and temple ordinance worker. He and his wife Kathleen are the parents of four children.

Dr. Bradshaw has published a number of books addressing temples themes in the scriptures including “In God’s Image and Likeness,” “Temple Themes in the Book of Moses,” and “Temple Themes in the Oath and Covenant of the Priesthood.” Each is available for purchase at the FAIR Bookstore, here.

Dr. Bradshaw also gave a presentation at the Temple on Mount Zion conference in Provo, Utah on September 23, 2012 regarding temple symbolism in the story of Noah’s ark, and is available for viewing on YouTube.

This recording is posted here by permission of K-Talk Radio. The opinions expressed in this interview do not necessarily represent the views of FAIR or The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

It’s the Interpretation, Stupid!

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A generation ago in a hotly contested election, those seeking to unseat the incumbent president seized upon the effects of a recession as a way to differentiate themselves from their political opponents. A brilliant political strategist coined the phrase “It’s the economy, stupid” as a rallying cry. The phrase had a great deal of power with voters, as it sent a short, pithy message that could not be misunderstood. The incumbent lost, the opposition won, and the era of the Clinton presidency was born.

Some people look at the verbiage used in the phrase—particularly the use of the word stupid—and take offense. They think it is mean. They think it is cruel. They think it is insensitive. They think it is snarky. But, consider two facts: First, the phrase wasn’t directed at the opposition; by some accounts it was directed by James Carville (the political strategist) at the candidate he was advising (Bill Clinton). It was to force focus in his campaign, not to denigrate the opposition’s campaign. Second, the phrase was much more memorable and “focusing” than any alternative. (Could anyone really see “It’s the economy, guys!” or “It really is the economy!” being as successful in forcing focus?)

Fast forward to today, in a different venue only of interest to Mormons on the Internet, and we see a couple of people who are either leaving the Church or threatened with expulsion from the Church because of their participation in and responsibility for the MormonThink website. Only a month or so ago, the founder of MormonThink resigned his membership in the Church after facing the possibility of a disciplinary council for apostasy.
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A New Twist on the Spalding Theory–And Sidney’s Amazing Voice Trick

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For some critics, the story of the lost 116 pages in the coming forth of the Book of Mormon is utterly ridiculous. Some say it shows Joseph was just making things up on the fly and would have all sorts of accidental changes as he went through the fabrication process a second time, so for safety, he just punted with the first part of the record and concocted the story of the small plates. This is the “Joseph was an idiot with bad memory” theory. The story of the 116 pages from that perspective directly challenges the popular theory of “Joseph got help from Sidney Rigdon or some other very smart person” to create the impressive and remarkably self-consistent text of the Book of Mormon. These theories based on plagiarism and texts from the likes of Solomon Spaulding or Sidney Rigdon or both assume that there was some text that had been prepared and carefully edited over many months or even years in preparation for the grand Book of Mormon scheme. When Joseph was dictating the Book of Mormon to his scribes, he must have been reading from the pre-written manuscript. If such a manuscript existed, then it would have been no trouble reading it again exactly as read before.
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Mormon FAIR-Cast 107: Mesoamerican Connections to the Book of Mormon

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Professor Mark Alan Wright reflects on a number of Mesoamerican practices and their possible connection with the Book of Mormon, including “day-keepers,” Shamanism and divine investiture, taking the countenance of a god by wearing deity masks, and the Maya calendar system and prophecy. For Dr. Wright’s presentation on Nephite Daykeepers, see this YouTube video.

Mark Alan Wright earned his BA in Anthropology at UCLA and his MA and PhD in Anthropology (with a subfield of specialization in Mesoamerican Archaeology) from UC Riverside. His dissertation is entitled “A Study of Classic Maya Rulership.” He regularly conducts research in Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and Belize. Dr. Wright is Assistant Professor of Ancient Scripture at Brigham Young University.

This interview appears here by courtesy of the Interpreter. This views expressed in this interview do not necessarily represent the views of FAIR or of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Critical Evidences of the Restoration

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Critics of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are often quick to jump forward with any and all criticisms that they believe might prove the undoing of the testimony of our members. It is not uncommon to see the proverbial “shotgun” approach of bombarding individuals who are young in the gospel with a barrage of information that all seems damning on the surface.

Just as with birdshot that only requires a single pellet to bring down a flying bird, such an approach relies upon the notion that with so many things being claimed, that if only a few – or even one – were proven true, then the Church cannot be true!

Such tactics, also referred to as the “spaghetti” method of “throw it and see what sticks,” do not require depth of thought, or for that matter, even truth or context. It relies exclusively on the notion that if you throw enough at someone, they may just give up under the burden of fending off the attacks.
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Is Defending the Church Against Church Doctrine?

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I was speaking today with a woman who is not a member of the Church who was asking me about apologetics and the work I do with FAIR. She said that recently she discussed Mormon apologetics with a former LDS bishop and was surprised to hear him say that doing apologetics is contrary to the doctrine of the Church. I certainly don’t want to act in any way that is contrary to Church doctrine, and if anyone can convince me that it is contrary to God’s will that I defend the Church, I’ll stop right now.

However, as I read the scriptures, it seems to me that apologetics (defense of the faith) is not only permissible, but required of all believing members. We should “be ready always to give an answer [apologia] to every man that asketh . . . a reason of the hope that is in [us] with meekness and fear: Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of [us], as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse [our] good conversation in Christ.” (1 Pet. 3:15-16.) Likewise, Joseph Fielding Smith once said, “Every member of the Church ought to know that [the Book of Mormon] …is true, and we ought to be prepared with an answer to all those critics who condemn it” (“The Book of Mormon, A Divine Record,” Improvement Era [December 1961], 925.) And Harold B. Lee wrote, “The term ‘elder,’ which is applied to all holders of the Melchizedek Priesthood, means a defender of the faith. That is our prime responsibility and calling. Every holder of the Melchizedek Priesthood is to be a defender of the faith. (Conference Report, April 1970, 54-57).

Rather than wait for a specific calling by a bishop, or for the Church Public Affairs office to issue a statement, or wait for apostles to tell us to defend the Church on the internet (which, incidentally, they have done here and here), all Church members have been told to “be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness; For the power is in them, wherein they are agents unto themselves.” (D&C 58:27-28.) In addition to simply bearing my testimony to others, it is my understanding that I should “reason with them.” (D&C 49:4. See also D&C 66:7 & 68:1.)

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