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Aug 7-9, Provo, UT. (Can’t attend? Streaming available.)

Joseph Smith

FairMormon Conference Podcast #13 – Special Episode on Saints #1 of 2 – Scott Hales, “Women’s Stories in Saints: The Story of the Church of Jesus Christ in the Latter Days”

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This podcast series features past FairMormon Conference presentations. This is a special episode that contains the first of two presentations given at our conference earlier this month about the new series being published by the Church, Saints: The Story of the Church of Jesus Christ in the Latter Days, the first volume of which will be released on Tuesday, September 4. (If you would like to watch the video of this and the other presentations from the 2018 conference, you can still purchase video streaming.)

More information about Saints is available in the April 2018 Newsroom story and at saints.lds.org.

Scott Hales, Women’s Stories in Saints: The Story of the Church of Jesus Christ in the Latter Days

Scott A. Hales has been a historian/writer for the Church History Department since 2015. He currently works as a writer and story editor for Saints: The Story of the Church of Jesus Christ in the Latter Days, the new four-volume narrative history of the Church. He has a BA in English from Brigham Young University and an MA and PhD in American Literature from the University of Cincinnati. He has published scholarly articles on Mormon and American literature in several academic journals, including Religion and the Arts and The Journal of Transnational American Studies. He currently lives in Eagle Mountain, UT with his wife and five children.

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: 1,001 Facts About the Prophet Joseph Smith

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Available at a discount from the FairMormon bookstore

This is a short (151 pages) paperback book that contains 1,001 numbered paragraphs that chronologically narrate the life of Joseph Smith, essentially constituting a simple biography. “One of the main goals of this book is to tell the real story, while making it simple to read and understand. 1,001 Facts about the Prophet Joseph Smith is a history book for this generation. The entire book can be read in one sitting, or readers can jump around to different moments in the prophet’s life and learn about their favorite and the more fascinating events” (page 2). The author also intends the book to combat the anti-Mormon propaganda being spread on the Internet.

Here are several examples from the book that I thought were of interest: [Read more…] about Book Review: 1,001 Facts About the Prophet Joseph Smith

FairMormon Conference Podcast #12 – Scott Petersen, “Jesus Christ, the Same Yesterday, Today, and Forever: A Restoration of Primitive Christianity”

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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 month, you can still purchase video streaming.

Scott Petersen, Jesus Christ, the Same Yesterday, Today, and Forever: A Restoration of Primitive Christianity

Transcript available here.

Scott is the Executive Director of the Rollins Center for Entrepreneurship & Technology at BYU. Under his leadership the program has been ranked in the top five of all collegiate entrepreneurship programs for each of the past seven years, ranking #2 in 2016. He is also the Founder and Chairman of Omadi, Inc., a venture backed SaaS mobile CRM platform for workforce management, serving the towing/transportation markets. Scott is a long time entrepreneur having co-founded or partnered in building seven companies (harvesting four), including several current ventures. Additionally, he serves on several business and private foundation boards. In 2005, Scott published a significant work, titled Where Have All The Prophets Gone?, a historical, theological book on early Christianity using the Bible, the Pseudepigrapha, the Apocrypha, the Dead Seas Scrolls, the Nag Hammadi Library, and all of the extant early Christian writings. In 2014 Scott published his second book, Do the Mormons Have a Leg to Stand On?: a Critical Look at LDS Doctrines in the Light of the Bible and the Teachings of the Early Christian Church. Scott and his wife Marilyn are the parents of 5 married children and they have 15 grandchildren. Scott serves as Stake President of the Provo Utah YSA 4th Stake.

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.

FairMormon Conference Podcast #11 – Michael Ash, “After the Manner of Their Language: The Key to Wisdom”

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This podcast series features past FairMormon Conference presentations. Please join us for the 2018 FairMormon Conference coming up August 1-3! You can attend in person or purchase the video streaming.

Michael Ash, After the Manner of Their Language: The Key to Wisdom

Transcript available here.

Michael R. Ash is the author of Shaken Faith Syndrome: Strengthening One’s Testimony in the Face of Criticism and Doubt, Of Faith Reason: 80 Evidences Supporting the Prophet Joseph Smith, as well as Bamboozled by the “CES Letter.” A former columnist for the Deseret News’ Mormon Times, he has also been a frequent contributor to the online blogs, Meridian Magazine, as well as the Mormon Hub. Mike has been published in the Ensign, Sunstone Magazine, Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, in the FARMS Review, and most recently contributed a chapter to Kofford Book’s Perspectives in Mormon Theology: Apologetics. Joining FairMormon in the year 2000, Mike delivered a paper at the 2nd annual FairMormon conference and has contributed papers to seven additional conferences (including this one) since. Mike and his wife Chris live in Ogden and are the parents of three daughters and the grandparents of six grandchildren.

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.

FairMormon Conference Podcast #9 – Matthew Bowen, “Semitic Semiotics: The Symbolic, Prophetic, and Narratological Power of Names in Ancient Scripture”

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This podcast series features a past FairMormon Conference presentation each month. Please join us for the 2018 FairMormon Conference coming up August 1-3. You can attend in person or purchase the video streaming.

Matthew Bowen, Semitic Semiotics: The Symbolic, Prophetic, and Narratological Power of Names in Ancient Scripture

Transcript available here.

Matthew L. Bowen is an assistant professor of Religious Education at Brigham Young University–Hawaii where he has taught since 2012. He holds a Ph.D. in Biblical Studies from the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC, where he also earned an M.A (Biblical Studies). He previously earned a B.A. in English with a minor in Classical Studies (Greek emphasis) from Brigham Young University (Provo) and subsequently pursued post-Baccalaureate studies in Semitic languages, Egyptian, and Latin there. In addition to having taught at Brigham Young University–Hawaii, he has previously taught at the Catholic University of America and at Brigham Young University. Bowen is the author of numerous peer-reviewed articles on scripture- and temple-related topics and two forthcoming books on scriptural onomastics. Bowen grew up in Orem, Utah, and served a two-year mission in the California Roseville Mission. He and his wife, the former Suzanne Blattberg, are the parents of three children, Zachariah, Nathan, and Adele.

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.

FairMormon Conference Podcast #7 – Gerrit Dirkmaat, “Lost Teachings of the Prophets: Recently Uncovered Teachings of Joseph Smith and Others from the Council of Fifty Record”

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This podcast series features a FairMormon Conference presentation each month. Please join us for the 2018 FairMormon Conference coming up August 1-3. You can attend in person or purchase the video streaming.

Gerrit Dirkmaat, Lost Teachings of the Prophets: Recently Uncovered Teachings of Joseph Smith and Others from the Council of Fifty Record

Transcript available here.

Gerrit J. Dirkmaat is an assistant professor of Church History and Doctrine at Brigham Young University. He received his PhD in American History from the University of Colorado in 2010 where he studied nineteenth-century American expansionism and foreign relations. His dissertation was titled “Enemies Foreign and Domestic: US Relations with Mormons in the US Empire in North America, 1844–1854.” He worked as a historian and writer for the Church History Department from 2010 to 2014 as historian on several volumes of the Joseph Smith Papers project. Since taking his position at BYU, he continues to work on the Joseph Smith Papers as a historian and writer. He currently serves as Editor of the academic journal Mormon Historical Studies, published by the Mormon Historic Sites Foundation, and on the Church History editorial board for BYU Studies. He is the author of dozens of scholarly articles and is the co-author, along with Michael Hubbard MacKay, of the book From Darkness Unto Light: Joseph Smith’s Translation and Publication of the Book of Mormon, published by Religious Studies Center at Brigham Young University and Deseret Book, 2015. He and his wife Angela have four 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.

The Coming Revolution of Virtual Missionaries: Review of Books by Greg Trimble

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Available from the FairMormon Bookstore at 15% off

If I remember correctly, I first came across Greg Trimble’s blog by seeing his post “Quit Acting Like Christ Was Accepting of Everyone and Everything” shared by a friend on Facebook, apparently some time in 2014. I liked it enough that I shared it in a few places as well. He has since written a bunch of other posts that have also been shared widely, so most LDS people online are probably familiar with his name.

In the last year, Trimble has started publishing books. His first one, Dads Who Stay and Fight: How to Be a Hero to Your Family, showed up on Audible’s website, so I thought I’d give it a listen. It is a book about being a good father written by a young father, so it does have its weak spots. A lot of the chapters could have used fewer stories and more concrete examples. But there were some really good ones that made the whole thing worthwhile, in particular the ones on marriage, technology, and protecting your family from worldly influences.

A few months ago, I saw that he had published another book, The Coming Revolution Inside of Mormonism. I was curious enough about the title that I wanted to take a look at it, and I requested a review copy. When it arrived, it was accompanied by The Virtual Missionary: The Power of Your Digital Testimony, which had also recently been published. Since then, The Coming Revolution Inside of Mormonism has been retitled to The Cultural Evolution Inside of Mormonism, apparently because the original title had caused a lot of confusion. In order to avoid confusion here, I will refer to the book by its new title (and assume that none of the actual content has changed). [Read more…] about The Coming Revolution of Virtual Missionaries: Review of Books by Greg Trimble

Book Review: The Melchizedek Priesthood: Understanding the Doctrine, Living the Principles

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Available from the FairMormon Bookstore at 10% off

There have been some General Conference talks in recent years about the priesthood that have really stuck out for me, such as “Healing the Sick” by Dallin H. Oaks in April 2010, and “The Price of Priesthood Power” by Russell M. Nelson in April 2016. As an elder in the Melchizedek Priesthood, they have been very instructional but have also left me wanting to know more about the priesthood and how to better exercise priesthood power. This book, by apostle Dale G. Renlund and his wife, Ruth Lybbert Renlund, goes a long way towards doing that.

It consists of two parts, titled “Foundations of the Priesthood” and “Doctrine of the Priesthood.” In the first part, it explains what priesthood is, its purpose, the offices and keys, and the oaths and covenants associated with it. The second part talks about putting the priesthood into action and becoming better priesthood holders. At the end of the book there is also a small section of “Chapter Summaries” that can serve as a review of the material contained in the book.

It begins by talking about what the priesthood is. “The offices of the Aaronic and Melchizedek Priesthood do not constitute all of God’s priesthood, His total power and authority. Brigham Young taught that there are many aspects of God’s total priesthood power and authority that are not delegated to men on earth… the authority and power to produce bodies and spirits, create kingdoms, and organize matter.” (pages 12-13) It talks about God’s priesthood power and authority being used on the earth even between New Testament times and the restoration of the priesthood through Joseph Smith. It also addresses the issues of people of African descent being denied priesthood blessings for a time, and priesthood offices only being open to males. “Women in the Church frequently exercise priesthood power and authority, though they are not ordained to priesthood offices.” (page 18) [Read more…] about Book Review: The Melchizedek Priesthood: Understanding the Doctrine, Living the Principles

What Did the Lord Mean When He Said Moses Would Become “God to Pharaoh” During the Plagues of Egypt? (Old Testament Gospel Doctrine Lesson 13A)

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Moses and Pharaoh

An Old Testament KnoWhy relating to the reading assignment for Gospel Doctrine Lesson 13: Bondage, Passover, and Exodus (Exodus 1-3; 5-6; 11-14) (JBOTL013A)

Question: What did the Lord mean when He said Moses would become “god to Pharaoh”? And how did the symbolism of the plagues undermine the worship of the Egyptian gods?

Summary: Surprisingly, Exodus 7:1 does not say that Moses was to be “like a god” to Pharaoh. Rather, the Lord’s words to the prophet in Hebrew read literally: “I have made you God/god to Pharaoh.” To make sense of this statement, it must be remembered that Pharaoh was considered to be a god by his people, “the living embodiment of the god Horus, god of kingship, represented by the falcon.” Thus, to prepare Moses for his summit meeting with the leader of Egypt, the Lord made him not only Pharaoh’s “equal” in rank but in addition also enabled him to demonstrate the greater potency of the true and living God whom he served. Because Pharaoh was divine in the eyes of the Egyptians, “he should have been the one to function as a god to Moses.” However, in a display of power whose symbolism would have been understood both by the Egyptians and the people of Moses, Jehovah, the God of Israel, turned the tables against Ra, the supreme sun-god of Pharaoh. By means of the plagues, the great I AM executed His judgment “against all the gods of Egypt,” a phrase meant to include Pharaoh and his firstborn son. Drawing primarily on the work of Rutgers professor Gary A. Rendsburg, this article will describe the significance of the means by which Jehovah devastated Ra.

 

The full article may be found at the Interpreter Foundation website: KnoWhy OTL13A — What Did the Lord Mean When He Said Moses Would Become “God to Pharaoh” During the Plagues of Egypt?

For Gary Rendsburg’s 8 March 2007 BYU Kennedy Center talk entitled “Light from Egypt on the Exodus Story,” see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iwvTZnwSy0 .

To access Gary Rendsburg’s 2013 video presentation of “Moses the Magician” at the UCSD Exodus Conference “Out of Egypt: Israel’s Exodus Between Text and Memory, History and Imagination,” see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYhNo1jC9Fg .

FairMormon Conference Podcast #3 – Elizabeth A. Kuehn, “Finances and Faith in the Kirtland Crisis of 1837”

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This podcast series features a FairMormon Conference presentation each month. If you would prefer to watch the videos, they can still be purchased here for the 2017 conference. Older conference presentation videos are available on our YouTube channel and FairMormon TV for Roku, Amazon Fire TV, and Android TV.

Elizabeth A. Kuehn, Finances and Faith in the Kirtland Crisis of 1837

Transcript available here.

Elizabeth A. Kuehn is a historian with the Joseph Smith Papers at the Church History Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She is a co-editor on two volumes of the Joseph Smith Papers to be published in 2017: Documents, Volume 5: October 1835–January 1838 and Documents, Volume 6: February 1838–August 1839. She is a PhD. Candidate at the University of California, Irvine. She earned her MA in History from Purdue University and her BA in History from Arizona State University. She specializes in nineteenth-century financial records and women’s and gender history.