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The CES Letter Rebuttal — Part 30

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Part 30: CES Letter Prophet Questions [Section D]

by Sarah Allen

 

This week we’re revisiting polygamy, since Jeremy does love to repeat himself. And in a few weeks, it looks like we’ll be going back to the Book of Abraham briefly, too. Honestly, if you were to cut out all of the repetition in this Letter, I bet it’d be only half as long at most.

Anyway, the CES Letter continues:

Brigham Young taught the doctrine that polygamy is required for exaltation:

“The only men who become Gods, even the Sons of God, are those who enter into polygamy.” – Journal of Discourses 11:269

Once again, the full quote shows that Jeremy’s interpretation of this line is incorrect: [Read more…] about The CES Letter Rebuttal — Part 30

FAIR Conference Podcast #68 – Keith A. Erekson, “Real Vs. Rumor”

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Podcast: Download (11.1MB)

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This podcast series features past FAIR Conference presentations. This presentation is from our 2021 conference held in August. If you would like to watch all the presentations from the conference, you can still purchase the video streaming.

Keith A. Erekson, Real Vs. Rumor

Keith’s book is available in the FAIR bookstore.

Keith Erekson is an award-winning author, teacher, and public historian who has published on topics including politics, hoaxes, Abraham Lincoln, Elvis Presley, and Church history. He grew up in Baltimore, served a mission in Brazil, and earned advanced degrees in history and business. He works for the Church History Department in efforts to encourage outreach and historical engagement.

Come, Follow Me Week 49 – Doctrine and Covenants 137-138

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Heirs of the Celestial Kingdom of God

by David W. Smith

Many people today misunderstand the nature and blessings of God’s love. “God loves me just as I am, so I don’t need to change,” they might say, or “Because God loves me, He will accept me as I am into heaven.” To use a scriptural phrase: “If it so be that we are guilty, God will beat us with a few stripes, and at last we shall be saved in the kingdom of God.”[1]

Elder D. Todd Christofferson explained, “Because God’s love is all-embracing, some speak of it as ‘unconditional,’ and in their minds they may project that thought to mean that God’s blessings are ‘unconditional’ and that salvation is ‘unconditional.’ They are not. Some are wont to say, ‘The Savior loves me just as I am,’ and that is certainly true. But He cannot take any of us into His kingdom just as we are, ‘for no unclean thing can dwell there, or dwell in his presence.’ Our sins must first be resolved.”[2]

President Russell M. Nelson taught, “The full flower of divine love and our greatest blessings from that love are conditional.”[3] This message is a key part of two visions given to two Josephs. These visions are the last two sections in the Doctrine and Covenants. [Read more…] about Come, Follow Me Week 49 – Doctrine and Covenants 137-138

The CES Letter Rebuttal — Part 29

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Part 29: CES Letter Prophet Questions [Section C]

by Sarah Allen

 

Today, we’re going to talk about one of my favorite weird/controversial topics of Church history, Blood Atonement and the way it was so badly misconstrued. You can see a highly biased approach to the topic here for an example of what I’m talking about. It’s such a caricature of the actual teaching, I honestly thought it was facetious satire at first before I realized the author was serious. To be honest, on its own, Blood Atonement is just not that interesting or even very strange. It’s basically just exaggerated rhetoric to make a point.

In my free time, though, I like to write fiction. I love stories: watching them, reading them, writing them, imagining them. It’s one of the reasons I enjoy history so much, because it’s just a compilation of a million different stories. Because of that, I love the larger mythology of Blood Atonement and the way something so simple could become so exaggerated and ludicrous and take on a life of its own. It’s fascinating to me. This is why, later in the post, I also want to touch on the stories of the Danites and also Mountain Meadows, and how they both tie into the folklore surrounding Blood Atonement. I’m going to try to put it all into some historical context for you guys so that it all makes sense. [Read more…] about The CES Letter Rebuttal — Part 29

The CES Letter Rebuttal — Part 28

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Part 28: CES Letter Prophet Questions [Section B]

by Sarah Allen

 

Last week, I focused heavily on the words of Brigham Young. I did this because he’s often seen as a stumbling block to members of the Church today due to some of the comments and policies we’ll be discussing in this set of questions/concerns. I wanted to point out that he frequently exhorted the Saints to pray to receive their own revelation concerning the things he said, and to reject the things he taught if they felt they didn’t come from God.

There are some other things we all need to know and understand about “Brother Brigham” before we can put these subjects in context, though. The first is that he had a very theatrical style, sort of like today’s televangelists. He was fond of the old “fire and brimstone” style of preaching that was so common in his day, where he’d exaggerate and threaten damnation and the Saints going to Hell if they turned away from the Gospel, that kind of thing. He would also often act out the things he was saying—like if he was talking about searching for something, he’d stand there at the pulpit, checking all of his pockets like he couldn’t find what he was looking for. The people loved it; it was like going to a show every time they watched him preach. It was very entertaining, and he would play up the theatrics while he was preaching in response to their reactions. But things like that don’t always translate very well when you’re reading them over a century later, so it’s hard to tell when he was being serious and when he was playing to the crowd or exaggerating for effect.

President Young was also very blunt. He did not beat around the bush, and he could be abrasive and somewhat authoritative, especially in his later years. He sometimes went off on rants when he felt he wasn’t being listened to. He had a notoriously contentious relationship with Emma Smith, among others, and used to claim she was going to Hell and that Joseph would have to go there to get her back. He was fiercely loyal to Joseph and to the restored Gospel, however, and he did not take criticism of them lightly.

He seems to be much like Peter as he tried to step into the Savior’s shoes to lead the Church after His death—they had many of the same personality traits (brashness, impetuousness, stubbornness, loyalty, etc.), they both made clear and obvious mistakes that their predecessors never did, and they were both willing to defend to the death the things of God.

[Read more…] about The CES Letter Rebuttal — Part 28

FAIR Conference Podcast #67 – Brittany Chapman Nash, “Let’s Talk About Polygamy”

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Podcast: Download (10.3MB)

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This podcast series features past FAIR Conference presentations. This presentation is from our 2021 conference held in August. If you would like to watch all the presentations from the conference, you can still purchase the video streaming.

Brittany Chapman Nash, Let’s Talk About Polygamy

The video of this presentation can be watched on our YouTube channel.

Brittany’s books are available in the FAIR bookstore.

Brittany Chapman Nash is a specialist in Latter-day Saint women’s history and coedited the award-winning four-volume Women of Faith in the Latter Days series and Fearless in the Cause: Remarkable Stories of Women in Church History. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Humanities from Brigham Young University and a master’s degree in Victorian Studies from the University of Leicester in England. Brittany worked as a historian for ten years in the Church History Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and has served on committees in the Mormon History Association, Better Days 2020, and Young Women general board. She is a member of the Mormon Women’s History Initiative Team, a group dedicated to popularizing the history of Latter-day Saint women. Brittany lives with her husband, Peter, and two young children in Salt Lake City, Utah, where she enjoys working at home with her little ones. She loves learning people’s stories, helping plants to grow, and watching cooking shows with her husband.

Come, Follow Me Week 48 – Doctrine and Covenants 135-136

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By René Krywult

A view of the bedroom in Carthage Jail where Joseph Smith was martyred

This week’s Come, Follow Me lesson starts with the following words:

The afternoon of June 27, 1844, found Joseph and Hyrum Smith in jail once again, accompanied by John Taylor and Willard Richards. They believed they were innocent of any crime, but they submitted to arrest, hoping to prevent violence against the Saints in Nauvoo.

There were several reasons for this arrest: [Read more…] about Come, Follow Me Week 48 – Doctrine and Covenants 135-136

The CES Letter Rebuttal — Part 27

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Part 27: CES Letter Prophet Questions [Section A]

by Sarah Allen

 

In this section of questions/concerns, we’ll be talking about prophetic fallibility. Jeremy Runnells apparently has some set ideas about what it means to be a prophet that he won’t budge from. Yet again, as we’ve seen over and over throughout this Letter, when something doesn’t fit his very narrow definition of what “it’s supposed to be,” he throws the entire concept out the window instead of admitting that maybe his assumptions were wrong.

As we go through these items one by one, it’s becoming abundantly clear that he has a fundamental lack of understanding of many of these different concepts and doctrines. I don’t know if he became confused as he fell away from the Church or if he was always confused. D&C 76:5-10 teaches us that when we serve God in righteousness, He will teach and enlighten us with all of the mysteries of His kingdom and the wonders of the eternities. However, 2 Nephi 28:30 and Alma 12:9-11 state that when we fall away from the Gospel, even the light and knowledge we already had will be taken away until there’s nothing left. At that point, we become like those described in 1 Corinthians 2:14, who view the things of God as foolishness because they don’t have the Spirit needed in order to discern their truthfulness. So, it’s possible that’s what happened in this case. Or, it’s possible that Jeremy always had a poor understanding of these concepts, and that’s why he fell away from the Gospel. I don’t suppose we’ll ever know.

The reason behind the misunderstandings aren’t important, but the things he claims as fact due to those misunderstandings are. When we listen to those who don’t have the Spirit of Truth and can’t discern the things of God from the things of man, our own understanding begins to falter alongside theirs. We’re putting our own souls in jeopardy by letting them have any sway on our testimonies.

Brigham Young taught the following: [Read more…] about The CES Letter Rebuttal — Part 27

The CES Letter Rebuttal — Part 26

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Part 26: CES Letter Polygamy & Polyandry Questions [Section G]

by Sarah Allen

 

We’re at the close of the Polygamy and Polyandry section of questions/concerns from the CES Letter, so I wanted to take a week to talk about some of the amazing women who lived this law. Since the Letter focuses exclusively on Joseph’s personal practice of plural marriage, I’ll focus only on his wives as well. However, there’s only room for a handful of stories and there are many other wonderful examples of these faithful, strong women who lived this practice, both married to Joseph and to others. I encourage everyone to read about them and their experiences.

One of the themes that comes up over and over and over again in these stories was that initially, people learning of the doctrine allowing for plural marriage were repulsed by the idea, only to have an incredible witness that later changed their minds. Some saw angelic visitors, others had revelatory dreams or visions, and still others had deeply spiritual confirmations that resonated with them throughout their entire lives.

One of these was a woman named Sarah Studevant Leavitt. She was not one of Joseph’s wives, so I’ll only briefly recount her experience here before moving on, but I’m highlighting her revelation because it’s both incredible and also not atypical for the time. The following is taken from her autobiography: [Read more…] about The CES Letter Rebuttal — Part 26

“Ask the Egyptologist” Virtual Fireside for Sustaining Members on Dec. 1

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The Book of Abraham is an incredible book that contains many truths about the gospel. But there are often questions about the Book of Abraham that can be difficult to understand or answer. There is a feeling among some critics that the Book of Abraham is evidence that the Church is not true.

With this in mind, we are pleased to announce a video streaming fireside “Ask the Egyptologist” with Dr. John Gee.  Dr. Gee has a Ph.D. in Egyptology from Yale University and has been prolific in academic publication. The fireside will take place on December 1st at 7 pm Mountain Time. For those in other time zones where it’s not convenient to watch it live, it will be recorded for later viewing.

Please submit your questions to him now, and then he will do his best to answer as many of the questions as possible.

This is, however, an exclusive event that is only available to our sustaining members and to our larger donors. To become a sustaining member you can sign up here for an annual membership, or here for a monthly subscription.

We hope to see you there!

About John Gee:

John Gee is the William (Bill) Gay Research Professor in the Department of Asian and Near Eastern Languages at Brigham Young University. He has authored over one-hundred and fifty publications including three books and editor of eight books and has edited a peer-reviewed international professional journal. He has served on the board of trustees of national and international organizations.

The FAIR Bookstore is currently carrying two of John’s books: An Introduction to the Book of Abraham and Saving Faith: How Families Protect, Sustain, and Encourage Faith