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Revelation

What Is the Meaning of the Samuel’s Reply: “Here Am I”? (Gospel Doctrine Lesson 21A)

May 29, 2018 by Jeffrey M. Bradshaw

Eli and Samuel

An Old Testament KnoWhy relating to the reading assignment for Gospel Doctrine Lesson 21: “God Will Honor Those Who Honor Him” (1 Samuel 2-3; 8) (JBOTL21A)

Question: Within the short space of one chapter, the boy prophet Samuel speaks the phrase “Here am I” five times. Is there something more than meets the eye in his repeated reply?

Summary: Yes, when spoken in a spirit of meekness in response to a call from the Lord, it is not a simple assertion of availability but rather of humility and moral readiness. In this article, we will review a few instances of the phrase “Here am I” in scripture. With the these examples in mind, we will examine the story of Samuel’s call verse-by-verse — and its implications for our own responses to God’s invitations to serve. Modern photographs and descriptions of the ancient site of Shiloh, where the building housing the Tabernacle once stood, are included at the end of the article.

The full article may be found at the Interpreter Foundation website: KnoWhy OTL21A — What Is the Meaning of the Samuel’s Reply: “Here Am I”?

Filed Under: Bible, Book of Abraham, Book of Moses, LDS Scriptures, Lesson Aids, Prophets, Questions, Resources, Temples Tagged With: Abraham, Eli, Gospel Doctrine: Old Testament, Here am I, Revelation, Samuel, Satan, Shiloh

What Can We Learn About Patriarchal Blessings from a Congolese Patriarch? (Old Testament Gospel Doctrine Lesson 12B)

April 5, 2018 by Jeffrey M. Bradshaw

Laurent Clément Shambuyi Biaya Katembwe, patriarch in DR Congo

 Photo Essay and Video Shorts for Gospel Doctrine Lesson 12:“Fruitful in the Land of My Affliction”(Genesis 40-45) (JBOTL12B)

Summary: This photo essay with accompanying video shorts are intended to supplement the study of Jacob’s blessings to his twelve sons as recorded in Genesis 49. As part of an assignment to gather oral histories for the Church History Library in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), I was accompanied by Brother Daniel Tusey Kola on a visit to Laurent Clément Shambuyi Biaya Katembwe, one of the first members of the Church in the DRC. Brother Shambuyi has served diligently in many leadership assignments and has now been called as a stake patriarch. The video shorts, subtitled in English, Brother Shambuyi’s answers to three questions: “What is a patriarchal blessing?” “What is the significance of the declaration of lineage?” And “What is the role of revelation in patriarchal blessings?”

The photo essay and video shorts may be found at the Interpreter Foundation website: KnoWhy OTL12B — What Can We Learn About Patriarchal Blessings from a Congolese Patriarch?

Filed Under: Bible, Lesson Aids, Questions, Racial Issues Tagged With: Congo, Genesis, Gospel Doctrine: Old Testament, Israel, Jacob, Patriarchal Blessings, Revelation, Shambuyi

Articles of Faith Podcast: Dan Peterson – Reason, Experience, and the Existence of God

November 11, 2014 by NickGalieti

https://media.blubrry.com/mormonfaircast/www.fairlatterdaysaints.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/AOF-DanPeterson-ReasonExperienceandtheexistenceofgod.mp3

Podcast: Download (46.7MB)

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DanPetersonBio: Daniel C. Peterson holds a Ph.D., University of California at Los Angeles, is a professor of Islamic studies and Arabic at Brigham Young University, and is the founder of the University’s Middle Eastern Texts Initiative, for which he served as editor-in-chief until mid-August 2013. He has published and spoken extensively on both Islamic and Mormon subjects. He is the author, among other things, of a biography entitled Muhammad: Prophet of God.

Formerly chairman of the board of the Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies (FARMS) and an officer, editor, and author for its successor organization, the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, his professional work as an Arabist focuses on the Qur’an and on Islamic philosophical theology. Peterson is most recently, although it may not seem so recent anymore, Chairman and President of the Interpreter found at Mormon Interpreter dot com. He is here to today to talk about an article that he recently released for The Interpreter Journal entitled Reason, Experience, and the Existence of God.

Questions and topics addressed in the interview:

Dan Peterson, loved by some, agitating to others, and probably a variety of opinions in between. But how does Dan Peterson view Dan Peterson?

You have a blog on Patheos entitled Sic et Non. What does it really mean and how does that frame your writing on that blog?

When you are not blogging, you have other irons in many fires it seems. One of those efforts is the Interpreter. I don’t know that enough people are aware of what The Interpreter is or what it’s goals are as a foundation. Perhaps you could take a minute to offer a brief introduction.

Both your professional work at BYU and the subject of the articles we are going to be addressing today centers around Islam, which uses the Qur’an as its central scripture. When did you first say, “This Islam stuff, I think I ought to check this out. Qur’an, yeah that sounds like a light read.” What was the genesis of your interest in Islamic studies?

What value is there in the average Latter-day Saint in picking up the Qur’an and at least giving it a read let alone dedicate and study time to it? Is there tempering caution with such a thing?

Referring somewhat back to the title of your blog Sic et Non, your article in the interpreter essentially asks the main question Must human faith be completed by reason, or not? Is reason the genesis of faith or the other way around? Please set the stage for how this article came into being.

This article takes the reader on quite a journey so I want to try and help navigate that read. What I mean by that is the article starts out with what you’ve said, then it refers somewhat back to your work and studies with Islamic literature, and commentaries on it, then hits on alien radio transmissions, then back to Faith and Reason. So, let’s take the next step in the article

In Robert Reilly’s book, The Closing of the Muslim Mind, the case is brought up that Reason is the pre-requisite for revelation which you feel is a problematic foundation for the development of faith. Why is that?

A quote was repeated by Riley in his book, but the original quote was from Qadi ‘Abd al-Jabbar, an Islamic theologian that lived about 1000 years ago who said, “Reason first needs to establish the existence of God before undertaking the question as to whether God has spoken to man. Natural theology must be antecedent to theology.” On the surface that sounds fairly convincing, but you find this also problematic, in what way? Can reason alone establish the existence of God?

Is the assumption here that if one can reason that there is a God, then from there the idea of revelation becomes more approachable, less of a deceptive thing where the individual is just fooling themselves into believing in God is talking with them?

What then is the role of reason in authenticating revelation? Is faith, as was taught in Alma 32, the seed, and reason is the fertilizer or perhaps the soil for what grows up into revelation and, symbolically, the Tree of Life? It seems to me that works because reason has produced a variety of symbolic plants, but the seed that reason must foster is one that leads to eternal life.

As your article is a journey that seems to end where it began, only coupled now with reason and experience, this interview is brought back around to the Interpreter and its core value. You end your article with the following:
“The Interpreter Foundation was established on the premise that both reason and revelation have their place in determining religious truth. We believe reasoned investigation to be essential, but we will not discount revelation.”

Moving forward, how will we see this evident in the works of The Interpreter? I believe you have some new titles coming out in joint effort with Eborn Books. What are those?

Daniel C. Peterson is the Chairman and President of The Interpreter found at Mormon Interpreter dot com. A link to this article Reason, Experience, and the Existence of God will be found at the posting for this episode at blog.fairmormon.org.

Click here to read Daniel C. Peterson’s article in the Interpreter – Reason, Experience, and the Existence of God.

Filed Under: Articles of Faith, Hosts, Nick Galieti, Podcast Tagged With: Reason, Revelation

“In their weakness, after the manner of their language”

October 21, 2009 by bhodges

Joseph Smith’s Revelations, Revisions, and Canonization

The latest volume of the Joseph Smith Papers project is a massive work, and I’m not just talking about its bulky physical dimensions. It is pregnant with possibilities for Mormon scholarship.

Robin Jensen is a member of the Church History Department staff and an editor of the recent JSP volume. While making transcriptions of Joseph Smith’s revelations Jensen has identified “Many additions, revisions, deletions, or other types of redactions were made by multiple people on the manuscript” between the time they were recorded, edited for publication, and updated as the needs of the Church grew.1 Jensen explains that many “simple minor changes” were made in addition to “significant changes made to the text…sometimes entire phrases were added.” For Jensen, this indicates the “non-static” nature of the revelations which were adapted to language and understanding of the recipients and the changing needs of the Church.2

[Read more…] about “In their weakness, after the manner of their language”

Filed Under: Doctrine Tagged With: Canon, exegesis, Revelation

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