Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Latter-day Saint
Revisiting Forgotten Voices

Revisiting Forgotten Voices

Last updated on: January 16, 2021 at 12:19 am by Dan Peterson

Revisiting Forgotten Voices 2021-01-16T00:19:38-07:00 Dan Peterson

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

On 10 February 2017, we finished two days of interviews with Richard Lloyd Anderson (1926-2018), the great pioneer scholarly authority on the witnesses to the Book of Mormon. Shown here at the conclusion of the interviews: Richard Lloyd Anderson, seated; behind him, from left to right, James Jordan, Mark Goodman, Russell Richins, Deborah Peterson, and Daniel Peterson. (Pella Media photograph)

If you missed Sunday night’s Meridian Magazine interview with Mark Goodman, the director of the Interpreter Foundation’s forthcoming Witnesses theatrical film, and Caleb J. Spivak (who plays Oliver Cowdery), Mark Zuccola (the younger David Whitmer), and you don’t have Facebook, you can watch it on YouTube:

The program begins and ends with the official Witnesses trailer.

And, please, don’t forget to go to the Witnesses.com website and sign in at the button marked Bring Witnesses to Your City. This will be very, very helpful to the Witnesses effort.

***

“Book of Moses Essays #37: Moses 1 in Its Ancient Context: Moses Ascends to Heaven (Moses 1:24)”

***

I’ve resolved to remind people of the rich menu of materials that Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship has published over the past eight-plus years. Accordingly, here are the first six articles from Interpreter’s second volume:

Daniel C. Peterson, “The Role of Apologetics in Mormon Studies”

The following essay was presented on 3 August 2012 as “Of ‘Mormon Studies’ and Apologetics” at the conclusion of the annual conference of the Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research (FAIR) in Sandy, Utah. It represents the first public announcement and appearance of Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture, which had been founded only slightly more than a week earlier, on 26 July. In my view, that rapid launch was the near-miraculous product of selfless collaboration and devotion to a cause on the part of several people—notable among them David E. Bokovoy, Alison V. P. Coutts, William J. Hamblin, Bryce M. Haymond, Louis C. Midgley, George L. Mitton, Stephen D. Ricks, and Mark Alan Wright—and I’m profoundly grateful to them. This essay, which may even have some slight historical value, is something of a personal charter statement regarding that cause. It is published here with no substantial alteration.

Cassandra S. Hedelius, “Attacking Rather Than Explaining”

Abstract: In his book on Mormonism, the Reverend Andrew Jackson claims to explain “the teaching and practices of the LDS Church,” with an intended audience of non-Mormon Christians but also “interested Mormons.” He doesn’t succeed well. Although his presentation of Mormon history is mostly fair, his discussion of the faith of Latter-day Saints devolves into the usual anti-Mormon tropes, to which he adds a celebration of a simplified evangelical theology. What might have been a useful, straightforward account of The Church of Jesus Christ and its history ended up, instead, as a clumsy attack. Reverend Jackson eventually re-released his book under a different title as a warning against what he considers Mitt Romney’s reticence to publicly explain his faith to the Reverend’s specifications. The later iteration of Reverend Jackson’s opinions was not even revised beyond a new introduction, making plain his basic antagonistic agenda.

Review of Andrew Jackson, What Latter-day Saints Teach and Practice: Mormonism Explained*, Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books [a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers], 2008. 208 pp., with four appendixes, name index, and scripture index. $29.64 (paperback).*

Steven C. Harper, “Evaluating Three Arguments Against Joseph Smith’s First Vision”

Abstract: Historically there have been just three basic arguments against the authenticity of Joseph Smith’s first vision. They all begin with the a priori premise that such a vision simply could not have happened. The arguments originated with the Methodist minister to whom Joseph related his vision, author Fawn Brodie, and the Reverend Wesley Walters. The minister’s critique is explained by Methodism’s shift away from ecstatic religious experience. Fawn Brodie is shown to have made innovative yet flawed arguments within the narrow scope allowed by her conclusion that Joseph was a charlatan—a conclusion that did not allow for alternative interpretations of new evidence. Walters is shown to make fallacious arguments of irrelevant proof and negative proof in his understandably determined effort to undermine Joseph Smith’s credibility. Close-minded believers in Joseph’s vision are similarly likely to make unfounded assumptions unless they become open to the rich historical record Joseph created. Belief in the vision should correspond to Christian empathy for and civility toward critics.

Louis C. Midgley, “Christian Faith in Contemporary China”

Review of Lian Xi. Redeemed by Fire: The Rise of Popular Christianity in Modern China. New Haven: Yale University, 2010. 352 pp., with glossary, bibliography and index. $45.00 (hardcover).

Jeffrey M. Bradshaw, Jacob A. Rennaker, and David Larsen, “Revisiting the Forgotten Voices of Weeping in Moses 7: A Comparison with Ancient Texts”

Abstract: The LDS Book of Moses is remarkable in its depiction of the suffering of the wicked at the time of the Flood. According to this text, there are three parties directly involved in the weeping: God (Moses 7:28; cf. v. 29), the heavens (Moses 7:28, 37), and Enoch (Moses 7:41, 49). In addition, a fourth party, the earth, mourns—though does not weep—for her children (Moses 7:48–49). The passages that speak of the weeping God and the mourning earth have received the greatest share of attention by scholars. The purpose of this article is to round out the previous discussion so as to include new insights and ancient parallels to the two voices of weeping that have been largely forgotten—that of Enoch and that of the heavens. ((An expanded and revised version of material contained in this study will appear as part of Jeffrey M. Bradshaw and David J. Larsen, Enoch, Noah, and the Tower of Babel (Salt Lake City, UT: Eborn Publishing, forthcoming, 2014). All translations from non-English sources are by the first author unless otherwise specifically noted.))

John A. Tvedtnes, “Variants in the Stories of the First Vision of Joseph Smith and the Apostle Paul”

Abstract: Some critics of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have noted that the different accounts of Joseph Smith’s first vision, though written by the prophet himself, vary in some details. They see this as evidence that the event did not take place and was merely invented to establish divine authority for his work. They fail to realize that the versions of Paul’s vision on the road to Damascus, in which the risen Christ appeared to him, also differ from one another. Indeed, they vary more than Joseph Smith’s accounts of his experience. This article examines those variants.

***

There is, of course, an anti-Trump element to the item below. So, having vowed to forego partisan political statements here on my blog, I’ve hesitated to post a link to it. I know that some, perhaps many, will criticize me for doing so. But, in a very real sense, it’s actually bipartisan, even non-partisan. It transcends partisanship. And it’s so powerful and, to me, even so moving, that I think everybody ought to watch it.

As I’ve mentioned here many times before, I am the son of a man who, as a non-commissioned officer in the Eleventh Armored Division of General George A. Patton’s Third Army, participated in the liberation of the Nazi death camp at Mauthausen, Austria. I grew up with his accounts (and his photographs) of that horrible experience, and with his admonitions to never let the evils of Nazism and of Hitler’s Final Solution be forgotten. I’ve felt a moral and a filial duty to take him seriously in this regard.

Accordingly, here’s the link:

“Arnold Schwarzenegger Compares Hill Attackers To Nazis”

Uncategorized

Cassandra Hedelius

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

First Vision

Hedelius

Interpreter

Interpreter Foundation

Interpreter journal

Interpreter Journal Latter-day Saint Faith Scholarship

Jacob A. Rennaker

Jeffrey M. Bradshaw

Jeffrey Mark Bradshaw

Previous Post

January 10, 2021

Religion's War Against Science? (Plus a Second Chance)

Next Post

January 11, 2021 "The Pleading Bar of God"

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 March 2014 August 2013 February 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

According to Romans 3:23, who has sinned?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Only those who break the Ten Commandments Everyone Those who do not accept Christ The Gentiles