FAIR

Faithful Study Resources for Come, Follow Me

Doctrine

4th Watch 12.5: Flexibility

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4thWatch SmallIn this podcast brother Scarisbrick relates our understanding of the gospel of Jesus Christ through the principle of being flexible in our understanding and the growth that can take place when we allow the Lord to bend us towards His will for His purposes. This freedom allows us to grow and deal with the vicissitudes of life and avoid the pain of a ridged belief system based on preconceived ideas or misunderstandings that may have clouded our values.  The continual growth that the Lord has intended for us will be strengthened by this short but important reminder that the principle of flexibility is designed to increase our strength.

The views and opinions expressed in this podcast may not represent those of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or that of FairMormon.

Mormon Fair-Cast 204: What is a Christian?

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Joseph_Smith_first_vision_stained_glassWhat does it mean to be a “Christian?” Does a Christian believe in the literal resurrection of Jesus? Does a Christian believe in prophets? Do Christians believe everything that is in the Bible? What if they believe things that are not in the Bible? Do Christians believe that one must repent in order to be saved? These questions are addressed in this episode of Religion Today, with Martin Tanner, which originally aired on KSL Radio on April 7, 2013.

This recording was used by permission of KSL Radio and does not necessarily represent the views of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or of FairMormon.

Mormon Fair-Cast 203: Odds are you are Going to be Exalted

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Odds_Are___Exalted_detailAlonzo GaskillMany Latter-day Saints worry whether they’re capable of reaching the celestial kingdom. Are these anxieties born of a sense of unworthiness, or is it that we just don’t think we can “do it all?” Author Alonzo L. Gaskill believes that such pessimism results from misunderstanding God’s great plan of happiness and what it is that the Lord actually requires of us. In this hope-filled book, he reviews the teachings of the scriptures and modern prophets to instill in readers a greater sense of God’s unfailing love and mercy and of His power and desire to exalt His children. Exaltation may be not only possible but probable!

Dr. Alonzo L. Gaskill was reared near Indepence, Missouri, and joined the Church in the fall of 1984. One year later, he served a mission to England. He has attended several schools and universities, earning a master’s degree in theology and a Ph.D. in biblical studies.

He has taught graduate and undergraduate religious education courses at the University of California (at both Berkeley and Santa Cruz) and Idaho State University. He was the director of the LDS institute of religion adjacent to Stanford University, and is an assistant professor of Church history and doctrine at Brigham Young University. He is a frequent presenter at BYU’s Campus Education Week and Know Your Religion seminars.

Dr. Gaskill and his wife, Lori, are the parents of four children and reside in Payson, Utah.

This book is available through the FairMormon Bookstore here.

You may also be interested in his blog here.

The views and opinions expressed in this podcast may not reflect those of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or that of FairMormon.

Mormon Fair-Cast 202: Barry R. Bickmore, “Restoring the Ancient Church”

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Barry R. Bickmore Restoring the Ancient Church 2nd EditionBarry R. BickmoreMills Chrenshaw who is the host of the program “Drive Time Live” on K-Talk AM 630 radio in Salt Lake City Utah interviews Barry Robert Bickmore about his book “Restoring the Ancient Church: Joseph Smith and Early Christianity.”  In this interview brother Bickmore relates how the teachings of the early Church are reflected in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

This book meticulously examines the earliest teachings of Christianity and how some of those teachings were modified, abandoned, or forgotten in the centuries following the death of the Apostles. By exploring the writings of early Christian leaders, Dr. Bickmore is able to recover those early teachings while illustrating the significance they played in the theology and Christology of the pristine Christian Church. Most importantly for Latter-day Saints, Dr. Bickmore demonstrates that many of forgotten early Christian teachings were restored through the prophet Joseph Smith.

This 2nd edition is enlarged and revised.  This book is available through the FairMormon bookstore here .

A written review of Barry R. Bickmore’s first edition from a non-LDS perspective is also available at FairMormon here.

This interview was used by permission of Mills Crenshaw and K-TALK radio. The opinions expressed in this interview do not necessarily represent the views of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or of FairMormon.

 

Best of FAIR 15: The Temple as a Place of Ascent to God

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christ-ascension-munich-ivoryAside from what Joseph Smith taught, is there evidence that modern temples represent a restoration of ancient practices and beliefs? In this address from the 2009 FAIR Conference, Dr. Daniel Peterson discusses ascension motifs from around the world and talks about the temple as a place of ascent to God, as a model of reality, and as a reality of things to come. He notes that “the temple represents a model, which itself represents a cosmic reality, a reality that involves access to divine mysteries, access to the waters of life, access to cleansing and ascension, access to the presence of God. [The temple provides] a symbolic representation of admission into the presence of God, an endowment of power that goes with that, with the ultimate culmination of a blessing of exaltation in the presence of God.”

The text of his presentation, along with slides, can be found here.

Dr. Peterson is a professor of Islamic Studies and Arabic at BYU and founder and the editor-in-chief of the University’s Middle Eastern Texts Initiative (METI). He is a past chairman of the board of the Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies (FARMS) and, until very recently, served as Director of Advancement for its successor organization, the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship. From 1988, when he founded it, through mid-June of 2012, he edited the FARMS Review, which was renamed the Mormon Studies Review in late 2011. A former bishop, Dr. Peterson served in the Switzerland Zürich Mission, and, for approximately eight years, on the Gospel Doctrine writing committee for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He currently serves as a Gospel Doctrine teacher in his home ward. He the author of many books and articles, including Offenders for a Word, which is available, along with other talks by Brother Peterson, at the FAIR Bookstore.

The opinions expressed in this address do not necessarily reflect the opinions of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or of FAIR.

To purchase tickets to the 2013 FAIR Conference, visit this page. This short video clip also provides more information: FAIR Conference video clip.

Mormon FAIR-Cast 151: God is a Spirit?

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One of the primary reasons evangelicals give when they say that Mormons are not Christians is that Mormons believe in “a different Jesus.” They claim that the Jesus of Mormonism is not Biblical. In this episode of Religion Today, which originally aired on KSL Radio on April 14, 2013, Martin Tanner discusses the physical and spiritual natures of God.

This recording was used by permission of KSL Radio and does not necessarily represent the views of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or of FAIR. Listeners will note that the first part of this recording is missing.

4th Watch 6: Presentism, Idiomsm, Homonyms and other Scams

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hieroglyphics
Throughout the history of mankind we have endeavored to explain the world in which we live in through a variety of media.  Rather than pointing to something and saying ugh, ugh,  over time we invented language and the written word to communicate more effectively with each other.  In this podcast we will look at how the true meaning or original intent of a text can or has changed from generation to generation, and from an original source language to translations in other languages to express ideas, concepts, and principles. 
 

4th Watch 5: The theology of John & Jacobus

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4th Watch
4th Watch

The topic of predestination has been debated from the days of the early Church fathers and continues to energize gospel discussions regarding the level of responsibility and personal accountability for our behavior. In this podcast the teachings of John Calvin and Jacobus Arminius, two of the most prominent theologians of the protestant reformation, are compared  to the teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

4th Watch 3: Salvation–Are Mormons Saved?

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4th Watch
4th Watch

In this podcast, Brother Scarisbrick illustrates the various stages of life and how our choices determine what we receive in the life to come from an LDS perspective.  From our entrance into the world of spirits when we pass from this life into the next, to the final judgment at the last day, Brother Scarisbrick uses common sense answers in a conversational style that makes this topic easy to understand.

4th Watch 2: Testimony and Lifelong Conversion

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4th Watch
4th Watch

The 4th Watch is a new series of podcasts based on the 14th chapter of Matthew in which the Savior meets the apostles by walking on the water.  Brother Ned Scarisbrick talks about how he received his testimony while serving in the U.S. Navy in Vietnam.

Brother Scarisbrick also reviews an article written by Vicky Gilpin on the anti-Mormon website called “Mormonism Investigated UK,” regarding Chapter 3 of the Lorenzo Snow Manual, “Lifelong Conversion: Continuing to Advance in the Principles of Truth.”  Brother Scarsbrick’s discussion reveals a common set of misunderstandings and false assumptions regarding what we teach.  He uses a simple question and answer format to allow us to draw our own conclusions on what is being taught in this lesson.