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FairMormon Conference Podcast #23 – Richard Lloyd Anderson, “Explaining Away the Book of Mormon Witnesses”

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This podcast series features past FairMormon Conference presentations. This episode is a presentation from 2004. If you would like to watch the presentations from our most recent conference, you can still purchase video streaming.

Richard Lloyd Anderson, Explaining Away the Book of Mormon Witnesses

Transcript available here.

Richard Lloyd Anderson (1926-2018) was a Professor Emeritus of Ancient Scripture at Brigham Young University, and senior research fellow at the Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Latter-day Saint History at Brigham Young University. More information about him can be found in this tribute. His book, Investigating the Book of Mormon Witnesses, is available at a discount from the FairMormon Bookstore.

Audio and Video Copyright © 2004 The Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research, Inc. Any reproduction or transcription of this material without prior express written permission is prohibited.

Church Developments and Their Timescales

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I was recently thinking about some of the significant programmatic changes that have happened in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the last few years. People have evaluated them in various ways and labeled them a success or failure, but popular opinion often swings on short-term thinking. For example, when, in October 2012, President Monson announced changes in the age limits for full-time missions, some made the coupled assumptions that this would either result in a proportional increase in convert baptisms or it should be considered a failure. It did not lead to a large increase in convert baptisms and some considered it only on that basis; however, this hasty act of labeling ignores a foundational bad assumption as well as a host of secondary effects that potentially act on a much longer time scale and are interesting in their own right.

The problem started with faulty assumptions. The first of these is that those who convert are in some sense “caused” by missionaries rather than merely facilitated. It is rooted at least partly in the experiences of a past era in which people in the United States and other sociopolitically similar areas could be reached by door-to-door salesmen and, correspondingly, that an increase in the number of people engaged in these activities would result in a proportionate gain in initial interest, teaching, baptisms and so forth. This assumption of course ignores years of entreaties that finding is the duty of the members of the Church while teaching is the responsibility of the full-time missionaries and that we should cease praying only that the missionaries find the honest in heart but rather that we should instead pray to be able to open our own mouths to share the gospel and invite others to come unto Christ. The reality is then that the model upon which the assumption (that more missionaries would lead to proportionately more convert baptisms) was based was largely invalid and the members of the Church should realize that missionary finding only ever constitutes a modest portion of the the success of the Church’s missionary efforts. The reality is members letting their light shine, setting examples of good works in the world and sharing the gospel in their individual circumstances, combined with a certain number who find the Church of Jesus Christ through their own individual searching are together a far more stable and effective source of interest.

[Read more…] about Church Developments and Their Timescales

FairMormon Conference Podcast #22 – Daniel Peterson, “Apologetics: What, Why, and How”

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This podcast series features past FairMormon Conference presentations. This episode is a presentation from our 2018 conference. (If you would like to watch the video of this and the other presentations from the 2018 conference, you can still purchase video streaming.)

Daniel Peterson, Apologetics: What, Why, and How

Transcript available here.

A native of southern California, Daniel C. Peterson received a bachelor’s degree in Greek and philosophy from Brigham Young University (BYU) and, after several years of study in Jerusalem and Cairo, earned his Ph.D. in Near Eastern Languages and Cultures from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA). Dr. Peterson is a professor of Islamic Studies and Arabic at BYU, where he has taught Arabic language and literature at all levels, Islamic philosophy, Islamic culture and civilization, Islamic religion, the Qur’an, the introductory and senior “capstone” courses for Middle Eastern Studies majors, and various other occasional specialized classes. He is the author of several books and numerous articles on Islamic and Latter-day Saint topics–including a biography entitled Muhammad: Prophet of God (Eerdmans, 2007)—and has lectured across the United States, in Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, and at various Islamic universities in the Near East and Asia. He served in the Switzerland Zürich Mission (1972-1974), and, for approximately eight years, on the Gospel Doctrine writing committee for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He also presided for a time as the bishop of a singles ward adjacent to Utah Valley University. Dr. Peterson is married to the former Deborah Stephens, of Lakewood, Colorado, and they are the parents of three sons.

Audio Copyright © 2018 The Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research, Inc. Any reproduction or transcription of this material without prior express written permission is prohibited.

Book Review: Faith is not Blind

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Available at a discount from the FairMormon Bookstore

Bruce C. Hafen was a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy until 2010 when he was given Emeritus status. Prior to that, he was a president of BYU-Idaho and dean of the BYU Law School. He also was recently the president of the St. George Temple. Marie K. Hafen, his wife, taught at BYU-Idaho, BYU, and the University of Utah, as well as serving on the Young Women General Board and on the Deseret News board of directors.

This book is an expansion of a talk they gave together at a BYU-Hawaii devotional on January 24, 2017, which was an updated version of a talk called “Love Is Not Blind: Some Thoughts for College Students on Faith and Ambiguity” at a BYU devotional on January 9, 1979. Since 1979, the Internet has of course come to be a new avenue for people to stumble across things that would destroy their faith, and much of the book focuses on that.

The Hafens suggest a three part model for understanding stages of belief that people might go through. First, is what they call “simplicity.” This is when people have an innocent faith and “tend to think in terms of black or white – there is very little gray in [their] perspective. And many youth and young single adults have a childlike optimism and loyalty that make them wonderfully teachable. They typically trust their teachers, believe what they read, and respond eagerly to invitations for Church service. New adult converts often have similar attitudes” (page 8). [Read more…] about Book Review: Faith is not Blind

FairMormon Conference Podcast #19 – Elder Kevin W. Pearson, “A Sacred and Imperative Duty”

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This podcast series features past FairMormon Conference presentations. This episode is a presentation from our conference earlier this year. If you would like to watch all the presentations from the 2018 conference, you can still purchase video streaming.

Elder Kevin W. Pearson, A Sacred and Imperative Duty

Written talk available here.

Elder Kevin W. Pearson
August 2018

Elder Kevin W. Pearson was sustained as a General Authority Seventy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on April 5, 2008. At the time of his call, he had been serving as the president of the Washington Tacoma Mission. He previously served as a counselor in the Europe East Area, President of the Pacific Area, and as an assistant executive director of the Missionary Department. He is currently serving at Church headquarters as an area assistant with the North America Southwest Area. Elder Pearson also serves on the Communication Services Committee and Strengthening Church Members Committee.

Elder Pearson received a bachelor of science degree in finance from the University of Utah in 1981. In 1983 he received a master’s degree in business administration in corporate finance from Harvard Business School. Prior to his call as a mission president, he was working as the chief executive officer at Ingenix, Inc.

Elder Pearson has served in a number of Church callings, including full-time missionary in the Finland Helsinki Mission, stake missionary, elders quorum president, ward Young Men president, high councilor, counselor in a bishopric, bishop, and mission president.

Kevin Wayne Pearson was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, on April 10, 1957. He married June Langeland in June 1980. They are the parents of six children.

Audio and Video Copyright © 2018 The Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research, Inc. Any reproduction or transcription of this material without prior express written permission is prohibited.

A “Mormon” By Any Other Name

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Editor’s Note: In anticipation of comments and e-mails on the matter, it should be noted that the name ‘FairMormon’ has been licensed from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and we have sought direction from the Church about the appropriateness or need of changing it. We have so far been advised that as we are not a part of the Church and have a different purpose, it is not presently necessary or desirable to do so. We are however in the midst of changing some of our website content to better follow the prophet’s counsel, as we are fully supportive of him and the brethren.

Written by Stephen Smoot and cross-posted from Ploni Almoni

“The ‘Mormon’ Boy” by Evan Stephens (1909)

During the 188th Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, President Russell M. Nelson delivered an address to the membership of the Church in which he stressed the importance of “The Correct Name of the Church.” These remarks came amidst much discussion surrounding an announcement President Nelson had made two months earlier which updated the Church’s preferred style guide on the “Mormon” nomenclature commonly attached to the Church and its members.

Among the points President Nelson made during his General Conference remarks were the following: [Read more…] about A “Mormon” By Any Other Name

FairMormon Conference Podcast #17 – John Gee, “Selling Our Birthright for a Mess of Pottage: The Historical Authenticity of the Book of Abraham”

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This podcast series features past FairMormon Conference presentations. In celebration of the release of the Facsimile Edition of the Joseph Smith Papers Revelations and Translations Vol. 4: Book of Abraham and Related Manuscripts, this episode is a presentation from our conference earlier this year. If you would like to watch all the presentations from the 2018 conference, you can still purchase video streaming. You can also buy John Gee’s latest book, An Introduction to the Book of Abraham, at a discount from our bookstore.

John Gee, Selling Our Birthright for a Mess of Pottage: The Historical Authenticity of the Book of Abraham

Transcript available here.

John Gee is a Senior Research Fellow, and the William (Bill) Gay Research Professor at the Maxwell Institute. He is the editor of eight books and has edited a peer-reviewed international Egyptological journal. He has published over eighty articles and one book. He has served on the board of trustees of national and international organizations.

Audio and Video Copyright © 2018 The Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research, Inc. Any reproduction or transcription of this material without prior express written permission is prohibited.

Some 2018 FairMormon Conference Transcripts Now Available

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Our volunteers have been very busy transcribing the presentations from the conference held in August. The following transcripts are now available:

The transcripts for the remaining presentations will be posted here when they are available.

You can also still order the video streaming so you can watch the presentations on your computer, mobile device, or Roku.

FairMormon Conference Podcast #15 – Scott Gordon, “Mormon Temples and Freemasonry”

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This podcast series features past FairMormon Conference presentations. This episode is a presentation from 2017. If you would like to watch the presentations from the conference we had earlier this year, you can still purchase video streaming.

Scott Gordon, Mormon Temples and Freemasonry

Transcript available here.

Scott Gordon is president of FairMormon and as such has been a writer of several articles and a speaker at firesides. He has a master’s degree in Business Administration from Brigham Young University with a bachelor’s in Organizational Communication. He has held many Church callings, including Bishop, and currently serves as the Ward Mission Leader. He is married to Sheri Farnsworth Gordon and has five children.

Audio and Video Copyright © 2017 The Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research, Inc. Any reproduction or transcription of this material without prior express written permission is prohibited.

Book Review: Saints: The Story of the Church of Jesus Christ in the Latter Days, Volume 1: The Standard of Truth 1815-1846

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Available from the FairMormon bookstore

One of the tactics that critics have used recently to try to destroy faith is to describe a lesser known event in church history in a way that is intended to shock the reader. By sensationalizing and removing it from its context, and often even misrepresenting what actually happened, the victim is left feeling betrayed by the Church, thinking they have been lied to or that the Church has been hiding or whitewashing its history. Sadly, much of this history has been available (though perhaps not readily accessible), but not emphasized in the curriculum that is taught, requiring independent study, which has not been happening as much in recent generations.

The Church has recognized this problem and is producing a solution. The first volume of a projected four-volume series has now been published in 14 languages and is available in paperback and e-book, as well as online text and audiobook formats. It is written in an easy to understand style, which although entirely factual, draws you in like a novel. This was done intentionally by having literary writers on the project, not just historians. For those who want more information, there are extensive footnotes that point you to online resources, including both in-depth essays and videos, as well as original documents from the Joseph Smith Papers.

The book begins with a message from the First Presidency and a preface explaining the purpose of the series. The body of the book continues, contained in four parts, which are broken up by historic periods. There are also maps, but no other illustrations beyond the small ornaments at the head of each chapter. The back of the book has Notes, a Note on Sources, Sources Cited, Acknowledgements, and a fairly good 15-page Index.

The first volume covers the period preceding the First Vision up to two years after the death of Joseph Smith, when the Saints were able to receive the endowment in the Nauvoo Temple. It covers nearly every criticism and puts them in their proper context, where they can be more easily understood. It concentrates on telling stories of the actual men and women involved, rather than just the institutional church, as previous official histories produced by the Church have done. The result is a detailed history of the Church that includes the sensitive issues while building faith, which already has some critics worried that their work will become irrelevant.

An example is the story of how the Word of Wisdom was received: [Read more…] about Book Review: Saints: The Story of the Church of Jesus Christ in the Latter Days, Volume 1: The Standard of Truth 1815-1846