News from FAIR
Tracing Ancient Threads in the Book of Moses
2020 Interpreter Foundation Conference
Tracing Ancient Threads in the Book of Moses
September 18-19, 2020
Brigham Young University, Tanner Building, Room 251
(If temporary COVID-19 restrictions preclude gathering on campus, we will hold the conference virtually. For late-breaking news, watch this website.)
Presented by
The Interpreter Foundation
Brigham Young University Department of Ancient Scripture
Book of Mormon Central
FairMormon
Because we believe that the Book of Moses includes authentic history, the possibility of evidence for that belief interests us as scholars. Although the primary intent of Joseph Smith’s translations is to meet the needs of modern readers, not to provide precise matches to texts from other times, we consider significant patterns of resemblance to ancient manuscripts that the Prophet could not have known and of unexpected conformance to conditions imposed by an archaic setting as potential indicators of antiquity that are best explained when the essential element of divine revelation is acknowledged. [Read more…] about Tracing Ancient Threads in the Book of Moses
2020 Interpreter Foundation Conference
This has now been postponed until September or October. Additional updates will be on the Interpreter, FairMormon, and Book of Mormon Central websites.
Donate to FairMormon on Facebook for #GivingTuesday on Nov. 27 and it will be matched!
Thanks for all the donations! We couldn’t exist without you! We were able to raise a total of $5,233 (before matching)!
If you would still like to donate, you can do it here at any time. Thanks for your help!
Today is #GivingTuesday! Facebook and PayPal are matching a total of up to $7 million of donations made through Facebook. Help us today by donating at https://www.facebook.com/donate/262507577691633/
There are no fees on donations — 100% of the donations go to FairMormon!
Shop our Thanksgiving Bookstore Sale and Support FairMormon While Getting 25% off!
Remember the FairMormon Bookstore as you plan your “Black Friday” shopping, and you can save 25% on some great new releases while helping to financially support FairMormon!
Sale titles include:
- Scripture Study Made Simple: The New Testament by Thomas Wayment
- Led By Divine Design by Ronald A. Rasband
- The New Testament Study Guide: Start to Finish by Thomas R. Valetta
- Faith is Not Blind by Bruce C. and Marie K. Hafen
(Please note that all titles listed are preorders.)
Most other titles available in our bookstore are also below retail price, so take some time to find other great selections, as well!
“Alexa, play FairMormon Radio”
You can now listen to FairMormon Radio on your Amazon Echo, Dot, or other Alexa device! There are also Alexa apps available for Android, iOS, and Windows 10.
You must first enable the skill, either by visiting the Amazon web site, or through your Alexa app (just look for FairMormon Radio).
With FairMormon Radio, you can listen to past FairMormon Conference presentations, podcast episodes, and other uplifting content from FairMormon, Book of Mormon Central, and the Interpreter Foundation.
You can also listen to FairMormon Radio in several other ways:
- In your web browser
- With the FairMormon app on Android or Kindle Fire
- Through the FairMormon TV channel on Roku or Amazon Fire TV
Upcoming November 10 Temple on Mount Zion Conference at BYU
The Fourth Temple on Mount Zion Conference
in memory of Matthew B. Brown
10 November 2018
251 Tanner Building, Brigham Young University
Stephen Ricks: Session chair
9:00 Welcome and prayer
9:15 S. Kent Brown: Jesus’ First Visit to the Temple
9:45 Kerry Muhlestein: On Earth WhenIt Was in Heaven: Sacred Time and its Protection in Egyptian Temples
10:15 15-minute break
10:30 Thomas Wayment: Recovering the Language of Purity after the First Revolt
11:00 Matthew Bowen: “They Shall Be Joined unto Thee”: Levi, Levites, and the Importance of Joinings in Temple Architecture and Ritual
11:30 Jeffrey M. Bradshaw: Beauty and Truth in Moses 1
12:00–1:30 Lunch break
Jeffrey M. Bradshaw, section chair
1:30 Ryan Davis: Bearing Testimony in Hebrew: A Comparison of Ancient Israelite Temple Worship with Modern Latter-day Saint Testimony Meetings
2:00 John Thompson: The Two Ways in Ancient Egyptian Religion and Israelite Temple Theology
2:30 Avram Shannon: Consecration and Sacrilege in Early Rabbinic Judaism
3:00 15-minute break
3:15 Stephen Smoot: The Symbolism of the Cupped Hand in Ancient Egypt and Israel: Iconography, Text, and Artifact
3:45 John Gee: “Put Off Thy Shoes from Off Thy Feet”
4:15 Matt Roper: “Fixed and Unmovable”: Joseph Smith and the Eternal Nature of the Priesthood
4:45 Closing
Some 2018 FairMormon Conference Transcripts Now Available
Our volunteers have been very busy transcribing the presentations from the conference held in August. The following transcripts are now available:
- Taunalyn Rutherford, “For We Shall See Him as He Is”: Understanding Mormon Women in India
- Brad Wilcox, “Have You Been Saved By Grace?” How Do We Respond?
- Randall Spackman, Chronological Structure and Symbolism in the Small Plates of Nephi (a handout is also available)
- Elder Kevin W. Pearson, A Sacred and Imperative Duty
- Daniel Peterson, Apologetics: What, Why and How?
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.
The 2018 FairMormon Conference in Review
We had another great conference last week (it was our 20th!). This time it ran for 3 days. Some of the topics covered were lesser-known women’s stories in church history, the Gospel Topics Essays, stories of members of the church in India and Africa, the new Saints church history series coming out from the church, grace, the Book of Abraham, homosexuality, horses in the Book of Mormon, and how to help people having a faith crisis. We also had a general authority speak for the first time. Elder Kevin W. Pearson spoke about the good that FairMormon and other organizations are doing to help correct misunderstandings about the church, and that more voices are needed in the effort. Awards were given to Scott Gordon, Louis Midgley, and Michael Hickenbotham for their service, and a painting of “Mary Whitmer and Moroni” in honor of Lynne Hilton Wilson was unveiled.
Each day, one presentation was live-streamed free on Facebook, where you can still watch the recordings. You can also watch them here:
- Jenny Reeder: “Fire In My Bones”: Women’s Stories on churchhistorianspress.org
- John Gee: Selling Our Birthright for a Mess of Pottage: The Historical Authenticity of the Book of Abraham
- Elder Kevin W. Pearson: A Sacred and Imperative Duty
It’s not too late to purchase the streaming and watch the videos of the entire conference. After purchase, they will be available to view on any device with a web browser, as well as on a Roku box. You can buy it here.
We have had several articles published about the conference (this section will be updated as more appear):
- Church News: FairMormon conference sheds light on impact women have had on the Church, why it needs to be talked about
- Mormon Newsroom: Elder Pearson Says Independent Voices Are Needed to Sustain Faith
- Church News: “Your Voice Matters” on Social Media to Share Truth, Clarify Beliefs, Seventy Says
- LDS 365: Members’ Help Needed to Create Gospel Messages Online
Mike Ash, one of our volunteers who is a great photographer, has posted photos from the conference on our Facebook page.
Transcriptions of the presentations will be posted on our website after they are prepared by our volunteers.
The full conference schedule can be reviewed here.
Stephen H. Webb, 1961–2016
Dr. Stephen H. Webb, retired Professor of Religion and Philosophy at Wabash College, passed away unexpectedly on March 5, 2016. He was a speaker at the 2015 FairMormon Conference in Provo, Utah, where he delivered his remarks on “Why Mormon Materialism Matters.”
Dr. Webb earned his Ph.D. at the University of Chicago and, since 2007, was a practicing Roman Catholic. In recent years he had become interested in the Latter-day Saint faith, and published two books on Mormonism through Oxford University Press: Mormon Christianity: What Other Christians Can Learn from the Latter-day Saints (2013) and, with Alonzo L. Gaskill, Catholic and Mormon: A Theological Conversation (2015).
FairMormon volunteers are deeply saddened by his passing, and express our sympathy to his family and loved ones.
You may read Dr. Webb’s obituary and sign the online guest register on the Legacy.com website.
