by Jennifer Roach
Note: Jennifer Roach will be speaking on this topic at the annual FAIR Conference being held in Provo, Utah, on August 2-4. More information here.
The rate of abuse that occurs at churches of all denominations is much too high. And while it’s true that children are at much higher risk of abuse at school, churches can and should hold themselves to a higher standard. [Read more…] about I Know How to Lower Church Abuse Rates by 75%
by Jennifer Roach
Note: Jennifer Roach will be speaking on this topic at the annual FAIR Conference being held in Provo, Utah, on August 2-4. More information here.
On April 19, 2023, The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) announced they had cleared the final hurdle before emerging from Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. The U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals approved their plan for compensating victims of sexual abuse. That plan included an agreement with their insurers, all the local councils, and some of their sponsoring organizations to create a $2.4 billion settlement trust to compensate victims. This is the largest sexual abuse compensation fund ever. [Read more…] about Latter-day Saint Enigma: Their Unexpected Troop Abuse Rates
Podcast: Download (37.2MB)
Subscribe: RSS
by Jennifer Roach, MDiv, LMHC
Welcome back to Come Follow Me with FAIR: Faithful Answers to New Testament Questions. My name is Jennifer Roach and today we’re going to talk about baptism for the dead. As you know we’re going through the Come Follow Me readings and addressing common questions that Evangelicals ask about our faith as we go along. Our purpose here is not to fuel debate but to help you understand where your Evangelical friends and family are coming from so that you can have better conversations with them, and perhaps even be able to offer them a bit of our faith in a way they can understand. [Read more…] about Come, Follow Me with FAIR: Faithful Answers to New Testament Questions – Matthew 28; Mark 16; Luke 24; John 20–21
By Emma Hadfield
“It is a startling idea to think we are worshiping a God that once was in the situation that we are in ourselves,” Brigham Young stated in June of 1851. In this sermon recorded by Wilford Woodruff, President Young continued, “[He] had to pass through a probation of pain, suffering and the fall like ourselves.”1
Jesus Christ understands what it’s like to feel pain, to feel alone, forgotten, and scared, because He has walked the path we’re on now. In spite of what He knew He would endure, Christ suffered and died for us. All because of His perfect love for us. As Nephi wrote, “And the world, because of their iniquity, shall judge him to be a thing of naught; wherefore they scourge him, and he suffereth it; and they smite him, and he suffereth it. Yea, they spit upon him, and he suffereth it, because of his loving kindness and his long-suffering towards the children of men.”2
Podcast: Download (32.6MB)
Subscribe: RSS
by Jennifer Roach, MDiv, LMHC
Welcome back to Come Follow Me with FAIR: Faithful Answers to New Testament Questions. My name is Jennifer Roach and today we’re going to talk about Atonement Theories. As you know we’re going through the Come Follow Me readings and addressing common questions that Evangelicals ask about our faith as we go along. Our purpose here is not to fuel debate but to help you understand where your Evangelical friends and family are coming from so that you can have better conversations with them, and perhaps even be able to offer them a bit of our faith in a way they can understand. [Read more…] about Come, Follow Me with FAIR: Faithful Answers to New Testament Questions – Matthew 27; Mark 15; Luke 23; John 19
Podcast: Download (35.5MB)
Subscribe: RSS
by Zachary Wright
Introduction
In the last article in this series, we discussed some elementary ideas behind critical thinking. We showed how critical thinking skills like asking questions and evaluating worldviews may help deal with controversial topics behind LDS theology and history. Now, those skills are essential for approaching a controversial topic. Even so, we still have a long way to go to improve our critical thinking skills and achieve our goal to learn “by study and by faith.” That prompts some questions though: What should we be asking questions about? What worldviews can we practice identifying? The short answer to these questions is “You can use these skills on whatever you want,” but to do that, we need to first go over how to evaluate which sources are good and which ones are not. We’ll be focusing on that topic today. Specifically, I’ll be going over what makes a good source in general, what makes a good source from a historical perspective, and then give an example of how I would deal with a historical source. Let’s get into it. [Read more…] about By Study and Faith – Episode 2: Evaluating Sources
Mission Leadership Q&A on June 25, 2023, at 7 p.m. MST
Do you have a question you’ve been hoping to ask mission leaders? Now is your chance! Join us for a fun evening of questions and answers right from your own couch!
By Maddie Christensen
The “Asking Big Questions” series is made in cooperation with the Wilford Woodruff Papers Project.
In today’s digital age, the Internet has become an indispensable tool for accessing information on any topic imaginable. With just a few keystrokes and a click of a button, one can easily find answers to any question that comes to mind. Googling questions has become a ubiquitous activity that many of us engage in on a daily basis. [Read more…] about Asking Big Questions: How Can I Find Answers to Gospel Questions on the Internet?
One of the Church history topics I find the most fascinating is that of the Nauvoo Expositor and the lead-up to and aftermath of the martyrdom.
My first real exposure to the story of the Expositor was as a sophomore in high school in Utah. An anti-LDS substitute math teacher decided to take it upon himself to lecture us on the evil censorship of the church many of us in the class belonged to. Looking back now, I can see how wildly inappropriate it was for a substitute teacher to bring this up in order to harass and criticize the religious beliefs of a bunch of teenagers who were just trying to learn pre-calculus. But unfortunately, at the time it wasn’t that unusual for us to have teachers who didn’t like the church. It didn’t occur to us that these teachers were crossing way over the line by actually vocalizing that dislike in class.
[Read more…] about Letter For My Wife Rebuttal, Part 19: The Early Church – Polygamy [D]
Podcast: Download (32.8MB)
Subscribe: RSS
by Jennifer Roach, MDiv, LMHC
Welcome back to Come Follow Me with FAIR: Faithful Answers to New Testament Questions. My name is Jennifer Roach and today we’re going to talk about Gethsemane and the crucifixion. As you know we’re going through the Come Follow Me readings and addressing common questions that Evangelicals ask about our faith as we go along. Our purpose here is not to fuel debate but to help you understand where your Evangelical friends and family are coming from so that you can have better conversations with them, and perhaps even be able to offer them a bit of our faith in a way they can understand. [Read more…] about Come, Follow Me with FAIR: Faithful Answers to New Testament Questions – Luke 22; John 18
