In this entry, I’d like to get through as much of the next few pages of the CES Letter as possible, so that we can wrap up the Witnesses section soon and move on to the next topic. There are a lot of different accusations to go through, many of which we’ve already covered, so I’m just going to dive right in.
The Letter picks up, again in big, red, capital letters: [Read more…] about The CES Letter Rebuttal — Part 51
by Matthew L. Bowen
Bad things happen to good people, of course. What’s more, sometimes terrible things happen to the best people even when they are striving with the utmost diligence to do what is right. The entire book of Job is “the paradigmatic literary case of the innocent sufferer, afflicted by the Deity through no fault of his own, and forever kept in the dark concerning the actual cause of his misery.”[1] Nobody ever suffered more for doing so much good for so many than Jesus Christ himself, who never once committed sin.[2] Like Job, Joseph in Egypt represents an antetype or foreshadowing of the Savior with respect to unmerited suffering. As with Jesus and his atoning sacrifice, what happens to Joseph ultimately sets up the divine means of saving the house of Israel alive. This short study will explore the typology of Joseph as the life-saving sufferer (as opposed to a hapless victim of suffering) and the far-reaching impact of the divine deliverance accomplished through him. [Read more…] about Come, Follow Me Week 11 – Genesis 37–41
We’re continuing the saga of James Strang today, addressing Jeremy’s various concerns and comments. If you read the prior post, you know that this is a crazy story and Strang was a rather colorful character. Jeremy Runnells, of course, does not go into any of that history or the clear signs of deception, and only focuses on the few similarities between Strang and Joseph Smith—namely, that he claimed to translate some plates by the power of God and that he had some witnesses for those plates. We’ll go through those similarities and the differences in more detail as we go through Jeremy’s questions/comments.
Jeremy begins: [Read more…] about The CES Letter Rebuttal — Part 50
The stories we find in Genesis 28-33 are rich with covenant imagery, from Isaac’s blessing that Jacob would receive the promises of the Abrahamic covenant in the first verses of chapter 28, to Jacob’s building of an altar in the last verse of chapter 33. In between, we find the dramatic stories of Jacob’s vision of the ladder to heaven and Jacob’s wrestle with God, both episodes that remind us of the temple. [Read more…] about Come, Follow Me Week 10 – Genesis 28–33
In this post, we’ll be talking about the absolutely insane story of James J. Strang. He faked his own death, claimed to have been appointed Joseph’s successor by a letter he produced, claimed ordination to the role by an angel, formed a breakaway sect of the Church referred to as the Strangites which many of the Book of Mormon witnesses as well as members of Joseph Smith’s family temporarily joined after his death, claimed to find and translate a set of plates of his own supposedly taken from the Book of Laban, became a State Representative, claimed there was a sea monster in Lake Michigan, crowned himself the earthly king of the Kingdom of God while residing on Beaver Island, Michigan, fired a canon at his detractors, cozied up to John C. Bennett, and led an infamous band of Mormon pirates before he was murdered by a group of his own former followers. [Read more…] about The CES Letter Rebuttal — Part 49
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(This is from a presentation given at the 2021 FAIR Conference)
Introduction
Let’s imagine two roommates, James and Greg, who both attend BYU. They live under the same roof, they are both practicing Latter-day Saints, and they both claim to believe in the doctrines taught by the Proclamation on the Family about sexuality and gender. However, despite these shared beliefs, the way they experience Church culture, policies, practices, and traditions couldn’t be more different. [Read more…] about Come, Follow Me Week 9 – Genesis 24–27
for FAIR Newsletter – Black History Month Edition 4 2022
I am a white male. Well, I really have more of a ruddy complexion that looks red most of the time, but that still counts as “white.” I have found no one in my family history who owned slaves. One family line came from Scotland after the Civil war, and the other family line was simply too poor to be participating in anything like that. So why am I writing about black history? The Church is often criticized for having a “racist past” because of the priesthood ban, plus I think that we currently participate in a lot of unconscious racism and dismissive behavior that doesn’t help welcome our brothers and sisters into the Church.
So, let’s step away from the political rhetoric, tightly held positions, and defensiveness just for a moment. Let’s agree that black lives matter (of course they do – we aren’t talking about the political group), and we aren’t going to talk about Critical Race Theory (CRT) in this article. Let’s breathe deeply and step into this. [Read more…] about Answers to a Few Questions for Black History Month
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(From a presentation originally titled “A Reconciliation of Polygamy,” given at the 2011 FAIR Conference; edited here for clarity and length)
Today we are going to talk about polygamy but probably in a different way than you have heard about it before. That is, we are going to talk about the doctrinal ins-and-outs of it rather than historical practices.
During the period of time when the restored Church was commanded by the Lord to practice polygamy, some practiced it without any discernible hardship and still others with great pain. Contemporary Church members may look back upon that period with acceptance, or indifference, or discomfort, and I would like to say at the outset that I don’t see that diversity of feelings is harmful that people differ in their reactions to polygamy I don’t think is the issue. Rather, since the new and everlasting covenant of marriage is at the heart of the work of eternal life and godhood; confusion about the nature and form of lawful marriage ordained by God is harmful. [Read more…] about Come, Follow Me Week 8 – Genesis 18–23
Can the Book of Mormon be the Word of God and inspired fiction? Did Joseph Smith’s cultural worldview influence the way he understood the relationship between New World people and the 10 Lost Tribes? How might have Joseph’s worldview influenced his understanding of both the Nephite Interpreters and his own seer stone? What did the Nephite Interpreters look like and how did they resemble “spectacles”? Did Joseph use a seer stone, Interpreters, or the Urim and Thummim to translate the Nephite records? Discussions on these issues begin (to a great degree) in Chapter 23 of my book, Rethinking Revelation and the Human Element in Scripture: A Prophet’s Role as Creative Co-Author.
Chapter 23 is entitled, “‘Translating’ Restoration Scripture,” and is currently available as a FREE pdf file to download here (for a limited time). Meanwhile, my book, Rethinking Revelation, is available in print in the FAIR bookstore, or in print and Kindle format from Amazon. [Read more…] about FREE BOOK CHAPTER: “‘Translating’ Restoration Scripture”
The claim that the Book of Mormon witnesses didn’t actually see the plates except through “spiritual eyes,” which critics take to mean “imagination,” is one of the more common claims against them that you’ll see. Jeremy’s hardly the first to make this accusation, and it has been answered many, many times over the years. Once you see how flimsy these quotes are, and how dishonest the CES Letter is in packaging them, you’re going to realize that this bit only works if you don’t investigate it at all. [Read more…] about The CES Letter Rebuttal — Part 48
