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David Whitmer, Misinformation, and COVID

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David Whitmer was instrumental in helping Joseph Smith during the translation and publication of the Book of Mormon and in the establishment of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  Today he is primarily remembered as one of the three witnesses of the Book of Mormon plates (The Testimony of the Three Witnesses).

In spite of many powerfully motivating and inspiring spiritual experiences, including hearing the voice of God and seeing an angel, David sometimes struggled with being overly distracted by other obligations such as caring for the family farm. In a revelation given to the prophet Joseph Smith, the Lord chastised David, saying, “your mind has been on the things of the earth more than on the things of me, your Maker, and the ministry whereunto you have been called” (Doctrine and Covenants 30:2). This divine chastisement is one that is probably applicable to every modern man and woman as we struggle to find balance between our ordinary obligations and the demands of devoted discipleship.

If this were the only area of concern for brother Whitmer, it would hardly make him different from any one else. However, the Lord continued his chastisement, adding, “and you have not given heed unto my Spirit, and to those who were set over you, but have been persuaded by those whom I have not commanded” (D&C 30:2).

Here the Lord identifies three areas of concern: 1) not giving heed to the Spirit, 2) not giving heed to authorized leadership, and 3) being persuaded by those who are not authorized by the Lord. David’s problem was that he was listening to voices not authorized by God and that he was persuaded by them more than by what God was telling him through the Spirit and through his authorized priesthood leaders. [Read more…] about David Whitmer, Misinformation, and COVID

Hugh Nibley on Revelation, Reason, and Rhetoric

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Post 3 of 9

by Jeffrey M. Bradshaw

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

This is the third 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.)

Hugh Nibley was a master at taking ancient history and applying its lessons to our day. One of the best examples of this is within his writings on revelation, reason, and rhetoric — or to use Greek equivalents: mantic, sophic, and sophistic views about how we come to know things.[1] Nibley’s perspectives are wonderfully summarized and discussed within BYU professor Eric Huntsman’s chapter of Hugh Nibley Observed.[2] [Read more…] about Hugh Nibley on Revelation, Reason, and Rhetoric

Come, Follow Me Week 16 – Doctrine & Covenants 37-40

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God gathers us to bless us 

The Lord instructed Joseph, “Behold, I say unto you that it is not expedient in me that ye should translate any more until you shall go to Ohio, and this because of the enemy and for your sakes.” (D&C 37:1). At the time of this instruction, Joseph labored on his inspired Biblical commentary, having read Genesis 5. The city of Enoch appears in Moses 7, and Enoch weeps bitterly over the problem of evil. The Lord comforts Enoch by giving him a vision, “And it came to pass that Enoch looked; and from Noah, he beheld all the families of the earth; and he cried unto the Lord, saying: When shall the day of Lord come…And behold, Enoch saw the day of the coming of the Son of Man…and his soul rejoiced, saying: The Righteous is lifted up, and the Lamb is slain from the foundation of the world; and through faith I am in the bosom of the Father, and behold, Zion is with me.” (Moses 7:45, 47).

Seeing all the families of the earth, Enoch also saw how the Savior Jesus Christ would rescue and restore them. Central to gathering, whether it be as families or wards or stakes or friends, is the Savior Jesus Christ. The Lord says, “And again I say unto you that ye shall not go until ye have preached my gospel in those parts, have strengthened up the church, whithersoever it is found.” (D&C 37:2). One of the Lord’s purposes in gathering is so that we can strengthen one another.

Jesus instructed Peter similarly in the New Testament, “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you ,that he may sift you as wheat” but I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.” (Luke 22:31-32). We are gathered because we can learn from one another. This learning is integral to our becoming more like Jesus Christ. [Read more…] about Come, Follow Me Week 16 – Doctrine & Covenants 37-40

“The Book Nobody Wants”: Hugh Nibley and the Book of Mormon

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Post 2 of 9

by Jeffrey M. Bradshaw

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

This is the second 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.)

In an eloquently written chapter of Hugh Nibley Observed, Marilyn Arnold highlighted Nibley’s profound disappointment that most people don’t share his deep love for the Book of Mormon:[1]

He alludes to it ironically as “the Book Nobody Wants,” allowing as how the world acts “as if the Book of Mormon were being forced on [it] against its will.” Then he adds an ironic comment that is pure Nibley: “Only the practiced skill and single-minded determination of the learned has to date enabled them to escape the toils of serious involvement with [the Book of Mormon].”[2]

[Read more…] about “The Book Nobody Wants”: Hugh Nibley and the Book of Mormon

Come, Follow Me Week 15 – Doctrine & Covenants 30-36

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Thomas Marsh and the Individualized Instructions of Doctrine & Covenants 30-36

by Steve Densley

            Various sections of the Doctrine and Covenants consist of instructions to specific individuals. It may be that this is illustrated no better than in sections 30 through 36. In these sections we read about individualized revelations directed to various men who were called on a mission to the Lamanites (Peter Whitmer, Parley P. Pratt, and Ziba Peterson), some called to share the gospel at home and minister in the church in surrounding areas (David Whitmer, John Whitmer, Thomas B. Marsh, Ezra Thayre, Northrop Sweet, Orson Pratt, & Edward Partridge), and one was given a special assignment to be the scribe for Joseph Smith as he worked on his translation of the Bible (Sidney Rigdon).

As we read these sections, we are reminded perhaps of our own patriarchal blessings or other blessings in which we are set apart for some Church service and are given insight and direction as to how to carry out our assignments and generally conduct our lives. These kinds of blessings can come to be more meaningful with time as we look back on specific events of our lives and how those events were perhaps foreshadowed through prophetic instruction.

As we read Section 31, for example, we are left wondering if the life of Thomas B. Marsh may have been much different if he had followed the direction he received more closely. And, of course, the instruction he received can be applied in our personal lives and may similarly make our lives better if we heed the counsel provided here. [Read more…] about Come, Follow Me Week 15 – Doctrine & Covenants 30-36

Who Was Hugh Nibley?: Announcing a New, Landmark Book, “Hugh Nibley Observed”

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Post 1 of 9

by Jeffrey M. Bradshaw

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

This is the first of nine weekly blog posts published in honor of the life and work of Hugh Nibley (1910–2005). Each week our post will be accompanied by interviews and insights in pdf, audio, and video form — some short and some longer.

Today, April 1, is not only April Fool’s Day (an irony Hugh Nibley would appreciate), but also the eleventh anniversary since the appearance of the nineteenth and last volume of the Collected Works of Hugh Nibley, entitled One Eternal Round. This book was Hugh’s master work, decades in the making.

This series is our way of celebrating the availability of a new, landmark publication entitled “Hugh Nibley Observed.”[1] It is available today in softcover, digital, and audio versions, and, in May, a beautiful hardback edition. The book contains many never-before-told anecdotes and stories that weave together Nibley’s life and scholarship. We hope it will not only delight and inspire old friends already familiar with Nibley’s work but also many new friends who may have heard stories about the man but have never read anything by or about him. [Read more…] about Who Was Hugh Nibley?: Announcing a New, Landmark Book, “Hugh Nibley Observed”

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

FAIR Voice Podcast #31: Murder Among the Mormons with Richard Turley

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Richard E. Turley Jr. was named as the new managing director of the Public Affairs Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on April 26, 2016.

Prior to his appointment, he served for eight years as assistant Church historian and recorder. He also served for eight years as managing director of the Family and Church History Department, overseeing the Church Archives and Records Center, the Church History Library, and the Museum of Church History and Art, which collectively contain the world’s largest collection of resources for the study of Latter-day Saint history and one of the richest collections on the settlement of the western United States.

He also oversaw the Church’s worldwide family history operations, which include hundreds of documentary microfilming and digital-imaging projects in dozens of countries; the Family History Library, the largest genealogical library in the world; the Granite Mountain Records Vault, a secure preservation facility for copies of millions of records from around the globe; over 4,000 branch family history centers on six continents; and teams that generated highly acclaimed software and data products.In addition, he supervised the Church Historical Department from 1986 to 2000 and the Family History Department from 1996 to 2000. The two departments were merged in 2000.

Under his guidance in 1999, the Family History Department launched the popular FamilySearch.org Web site, an online resource that provides free access to some of the world’s largest genealogical databases. Under his direction, the department also issued compact disc products containing useful historical data, including the records of the Freedman’s Bank (a treasure trove of information for African-American genealogy); the Mormon Immigration Index; Vital Records Indexes from several European countries and Australia; the 1880 United States Census; the 1881 Canadian Census; and the 1881 British Census, which was awarded the Besterman/McColvin Award from the Library Association of Great Britain. During his tenure, the department furnished data to the National Park Service and the Ellis Island Foundation for populating the Ellis Island database.

Under his editorship in 2002, the Family and Church History Department published Selected Collections From the Archives of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Provo: Brigham Young University Press, 2002), a collection of 74 DVDs containing nearly 500,000 color images of many of the Church’s most important early documents, including the Joseph Smith Collection and Brigham Young’s letterbooks. Critics have hailed Selected Collections as “the most important event in modern Mormon publishing,” “an achievement of such significance that no praise, no matter how effusive, seems sufficiently laudatory.”

Turley received a bachelor’s degree in English from Brigham Young University, where he was a Spencer W. Kimball Scholar. He later graduated from the J. Reuben Clark Law School at Brigham Young University, where he served as executive editor of the law review and was elected to the Order of the Coif. He also received the Hugh B. Brown Barrister’s Award, presented each year to the graduating student who demonstrates the highest standards of classroom performance.

He is a member of the editorial board for The Joseph Smith Papers and general editor of The Journals of George Q. Cannon series. His book Victims: The LDS Church and the Mark Hofmann Case (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1992) is an oft-cited history of the famous Hofmann forgery-murder case of the 1980s. Along with Ronald W. Walker and Glen M. Leonard, he has written Massacre at Mountain Meadows, was published in 2008 by Oxford University Press.

Turley served as president of the Genealogical Society of Utah and was a member of the committee for Fort Douglas Heritage Commons, a “Save America’s Treasures” official project that served as the athlete village for the 2002 Winter Olympics and currently houses University of Utah students. He has also been a vice president of the Small Museum Administrators Committee, American Association of Museums; a member of the Utah State Historical Records Advisory Board, National Historical Publications and Records Commission; and a member of the Copyright Task Force, Society of American Archivists.

In 2004, he received the Historic Preservation Medal from the Daughters of the American Revolution.

Hanna Seariac is a MA student in Greek and Latin at Brigham Young University. She works as a research assistant on a biblical commentary and as a research assistant on early Latter-day Saint history. Her interests thematically center around sacrifice, magic, and priesthood as it pertains to ancient Judaism, early Christianity, ancient Egyptian religion, and early Restoration history.

Come, Follow Me Week 13 – Doctrine and Covenants 29

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The Blessing of Living Prophets

By David W. Smith

Doctrine and Covenants 29 contains powerful teachings. From it we learn important truths regarding the Second Coming and the fall of Adam and Eve.

In this week before general conference, I want to use this section and the context in which it was received to promote confidence in, and emphasize the importance of, living prophets.

Angels to Declare Repentance

Satan tempted Adam and Eve to partake of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. They did so, were cast out of the Garden of Eden, and became subject to physical death. However, the Lord put a condition on that death:

“But, behold, I say unto you that I, the Lord God, gave unto Adam and unto his seed, that they should not die as to the temporal death, until I, the Lord God, should send forth angels to declare unto them repentance and redemption, through faith on the name of mine Only Begotten Son” (verse 42). [Read more…] about Come, Follow Me Week 13 – Doctrine and Covenants 29

New Name and New Directions

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In 1997 a small group of Internet message board warriors started an organization named the Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research, or FAIR. FAIR was staffed by young, strident defenders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

However, our really cool name soon created problems.  People asked, “What does the word “Apologetic” mean?”[1]  “Why are you apologizing?” “What is it that you actually do?”

It was confusing. So that people weren’t always stumbling over our name, in 2013, we changed it to FairMormon. We thought of ourselves as Mormon, and we want the facts to be covered “FAIRly”. The name was perfect! As the then Vice President of FAIR, Steven Densley, exclaimed, “Hopefully this will be easier to remember and will allow us to spend more time doing apologetics rather than spending our time explaining what apologetics is.”[2] [Read more…] about New Name and New Directions