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Gospel Doctrine apologetics: D&C lesson 35

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This week: Lesson 35, “A Mission of Saving.”

Subjects covered: The rescue of the Martin and Willie handcart companies.

Potential issues:

There are no FAIR articles that deal directly with the Martin and Willie handcart rescue, but there others that cover issues that took place during the same time period, including:

If you can think of any other issues from this week’s lesson, please comment below so we can add more links.

PLEASE NOTE: This information is a preparatory resource for gospel doctrine teachers to help them formulate answers to questions that might arise during their class. It is not in any way a substitute for the Gospel Doctrine manual, nor should instructors make these topics the focus of class instruction. This information is provided with the understanding that it is an additional resource only.

Equity: The Proverbial Achilles Heel

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In an excellent tome, which has been criticized far too much for an inaccurate quotation of Irenaeus, LDS scholar Stephen E. Robinson wrote:

It is not my purpose in these pages to prove, or even to argue, that the LDS church is true or that its doctrines are correct, even though I believe both of those propositions. Rather, I will attempt to show why the arguments used to exclude Latter-day Saints from the “Christian” world are flawed. The operating principle behind most of my arguments will not be rectitude but equity—what is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. That is, if Augustine or Luther or John Paul II can express opinions or insist on beliefs that differ from the Christian mainstream and yet still be considered Christians, then Joseph Smith and Brigham Young cannot be disqualified from bearing that title when they express the same or similar opinions. If theological or ecclesiastical diversity can be tolerated among mainstream Christian churches without charges of their being “non-Christian,” then diversity of a similar kind, or to a similar degree, ought to be tolerated in the Latter-day Saints. This is simply an issue of playing on a level field. (Stephen E. Robinson, Are Mormons Christians? (Salt Lake City, UT: Bookcraft, 1991), p. viii.)

In my conversations with those critical of LDS beliefs I have come to the realization that Professor Robinson’s approach is really the Achilles heel of most detractors. Philosophically it is quite sound, for it is logically fallacious to accept an idea or criticism when applied to an opponent’s argument but reject it when applied to one’s own argument. Yet more to the point the clear demonstration of a double-standard demonstrates a fundamental weakness within arguments meant to undermine the faith of the Saints. [Read more…] about Equity: The Proverbial Achilles Heel

Gospel Doctrine apologetics: D&C lesson 34

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This week: Lesson 34, “Faith in Every Footstep” (D&C 136).

Subjects covered: The pioneer trek across the Great Plains to the Salt Lake Valley.

Potential issues:

If you can think of any other issues from this week’s lesson, please comment below so we can add more links.

PLEASE NOTE: This information is a preparatory resource for gospel doctrine teachers to help them formulate answers to questions that might arise during their class. It is not in any way a substitute for the Gospel Doctrine manual, nor should instructors make these topics the focus of class instruction. This information is provided with the understanding that it is an additional resource only.

Notice of Discretionary Authority

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I recall while on my mission in southern California being told at one door “You don’t know what you believe; let me tell you what you believe.” Stephen E. Robinson wrote in 1997:

I am very happy to discuss my beliefs with anyone, but it is absurd—and a sure sign of bad faith—to argue with me that I do not really believe what I think I believe! Any religious group, whether Jewish, Mormon, Baptist or whatever, ought to be able to define itself rather than be defined by its antagonists. (Stephen E. Robinson, How Wide the Divide?[Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1997], p. 12)

I believe one can extend this principle to not merely include a “religious group” but the members of that religious group as well. Every individual Jew, Mormon, Baptist, etc. “ought to be able to define” his/her beliefs rather than have such defined by antagonists. [Read more…] about Notice of Discretionary Authority

“The Earliest Text” Versus the 1981 Edition

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I have received several questions from friends and associates in relation to the recent release of Royal Skousen’s The Book of Mormon : The Earliest Text (New Haven, CT: Yale, 2009). This volume is the culmination of the Critical Text Project, an effort to reproduce through textual criticism, inasmuch as it is possible, the original text of the Book of Mormon as dictated. Most of the questions tend to revolve around what relationship this text might eventually have to the official edition (1981) presently in use. Will such a text usurp the present official edition? Will the selections made by Skousen ever find there way into a future official edition? Etc.
[Read more…] about “The Earliest Text” Versus the 1981 Edition

Mormon Think

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FAIR announced its review of MormonThink.com during its annual conference held the first week of August.  A response to that review was recently posted at that site. What follows are some of my observations, which are not necessarily shared by other FAIR volunteers,  about the response

MormonThink does a good job at posing questions to their readers to get them to reconsider the plausibility of LDS truth claims. The authors, a coalition of Mormon and ex-Mormon skeptics [1] (some operating under a cloak of anonymity while accusing the Church of less than complete transparency), find previous faithful attempts by unofficial apologists to answer similar questions “unsatisfactory.” A FAIR review demonstrated that MormonThink’s own predominately negative answers were ill-informed, highly slanted (not objective as advertised), and fail to more than superficially engage faithful answers. MormonThink’s response to FAIR’s rebuttal is a mixed. On one hand, the response shows a commitment to accuracy and correcting some of its more egregious errors. On the other hand, the response justifies its failure to take FAIR more seriously by making an appeal to authority. MormonThink seeks the attention of General Authorities and they believe FAIR is usurping the Brethren’s role. This suggests to me that they are less concerned about answers and more concerned about getting attention for dissent. [Read more…] about Mormon Think

Gospel Doctrine apologetics: D&C lesson 33

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This week: Lesson 33, “President Brigham Young Leads the Saints.”

Subjects covered: Joseph Smith gave the keys to the Twelve Apostles, who then led the Church until Brigham Youn was sustained as President; the Saints received their temple ordinances before proceeding west.

Potential issues:

If you can think of any other issues from this week’s lesson, please comment below so we can add more links.

PLEASE NOTE: This information is a preparatory resource for gospel doctrine teachers to help them formulate answers to questions that might arise during their class. It is not in any way a substitute for the Gospel Doctrine manual, nor should instructors make these topics the focus of class instruction. This information is provided with the understanding that it is an additional resource only.

FAIR’s Front Page news service

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We’re pleased to announce FAIR’s Front Page, a daily news digest of Mormon-related stories delivered by email to your inbox.

The news stories include anything said about Mormons and the Church — positive, negative, or neutral. It’s designed to be an unbiased source, delivering whatever is being said about us in the online news media.

To sign up for FAIR’s Front Page, go to the home page of the main FAIR web site and enter your email address in the Front Page box on the right:

fair_front_page_signup

Apologetics Book Review

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This is your chance to share those gems you have on your bookshelves, or to see what books others have enjoyed, delighted in, and now cherish.

And as all have not faith, seek ye diligently and teach one another words of wisdom; yea, seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom; seek learning, even by study and also by faith.—D&C 88:118

One idea is to route categories such as Early Christianity, LDS History, Temples, etc.

The format could be as done in grad school:  a precis, a commentary or a full-fledged review.  Or we could simply comment.  It’s up to those who would like to participate.

Any suggestions for the first book?

Thanks!

Carolyn