FAIR

Faithful Study Resources for Come, Follow Me

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Fair Issues 73: Is the Tower of Babel historical or mythological?

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MAIn this podcast brother Ash discusses the Jaredites and the Tower of Babel, and how the story might be reconciled for those who believe that science and religion do not necessarily conflict.  Some people, for instance, believe that the story of Tower of Babel falls into the realm of fantasy rather than history.  There are historical indicators, however that suggest that the story is a myth in the scholarly sense.

The full text of this article can be found at Deseret News online.

Brother Ash is author of the book Shaken Faith Syndrome: Strengthening One’s Testimony in the Face of Criticism and Doubt, as well as the book, of Faith and Reason: 80 Evidences Supporting the Prophet Joseph Smith. Both books are available for purchase online through the FairMormon Bookstore. Tell your friends about the Mormon Fair-Cast. Share a link on your Facebook page and help increase the popularity of the Mormon Fair-Cast by subscribing to this podcast in iTunes, and by rating it and writing a review.

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

 

Mormon fair-cast 307: #6, Is the Bible an authentic source of truth?

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i-believe-podcast-karen-239x300This is the sixth installment on the authenticity of the Bible series of podcasts.

Many scholars, skeptics, and Bible students alike may wonder about the authorship of the four Gospels: were they really written by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John? How old are they really? How accurate are the versions we have today–after 2000 years? D.M. Johnson and I are back discussing these very issues relating to the eyewitness testimony in the Gospels. They talk about the following points: ◾How ancient writers recorded biographies; ◾Why it’s important to be intellectually consistent; ◾Differences between the Gnostic and Canonical Gospels; ◾Why legendary development didn’t happen in the four Gospels; ◾Why the “telephone myth” of how we got the New Testament isn’t accurate; ◾Evidence that Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are the actual authors of their gospels. Please join us for this sixth installment on the authenticity of the Bible!

The full transcript of this podcast can be found here.

This series of podcasts were produced by the “I Believe” podcast group. They are used by permission of Karen Trifiletti the author of this work.

As always the view and opinions expressed in this podcast may not represent those of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint or that of FairMormon

 

Fair Issues 72: How did the Book of Mormon people travel to the New World?

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MAIn this podcast brother Ash discusses how the Lehites weren’t the only Book of Mormon people to come from the Old to the New World.  The Mulekites (or people of Zarahemla) and the Jaredites (who preceded the Lehites) also begin their journeys from the Old World.  The next few issues will examine the world of the Jaredites and their journey to the New World.

The full text of this article can be found at Deseret News online.

Brother Ash is author of the book Shaken Faith Syndrome: Strengthening One’s Testimony in the Face of Criticism and Doubt, as well as the book, of Faith and Reason: 80 Evidences Supporting the Prophet Joseph Smith. Both books are available for purchase online through the FairMormon Bookstore. Tell your friends about the Mormon Fair-Cast. Share a link on your Facebook page and help increase the popularity of the Mormon Fair-Cast by subscribing to this podcast in iTunes, and by rating it and writing a review.

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

 

Fair Issues 71: Were there transoceanic voyages in ancient times?

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MAWhile LDS scholars agree with non-LDS scholars that the New World was populated primarily by humans who traversed the Bering Strait thousands of years ago, a growing number of non-LDS scholars agree with LDS scholars that there was transoceanic contact between the Old World and the New Worlds in ancient times.

In the podcast brother Ash explores the evidences for cultural, linguistic and botanical discoveries that confirm such voyages did take place in both directions between the 7th millennium B.C. and the European age of discovery.

The full text of this article can be found at Deseret News online.

Brother Ash is author of the book Shaken Faith Syndrome: Strengthening One’s Testimony in the Face of Criticism and Doubt, as well as the book, of Faith and Reason: 80 Evidences Supporting the Prophet Joseph Smith. Both books are available for purchase online through the FairMormon Bookstore. Tell your friends about the Mormon Fair-Cast. Share a link on your Facebook page and help increase the popularity of the Mormon Fair-Cast by subscribing to this podcast in iTunes, and by rating it and writing a review.

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

 

4th Watch 17: A Broken Vessel – What is anxiety and PTSD?

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4thWatch SmallIn the last podcast I talked about depression and now add anxiety and PTSD will be added to the mix of mental and emotional issues we may have to deal with in this life.

These issues can cause cognitive dissonance in our relationship with the Lord and His Church and create unintended consequences from our perceptions of world.  We often don’t see the world the way it is.  We see it more as we are.  If we are viewing our life as full of danger and threats it may be because we have experienced events in our lives that foster those feelings.

In this podcast we look at possible causes of anxiety and post traumatic stress and the counsel we have received from Elder Jeffery R. Holland of the counsel of the twelve apostles.

The book “When Bad Things Happen to Good People” by Harold S. Kushner along with other books he has written is available here.

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

 

Mormon Fair-cast 297: #5, Is the Bible an authentic source of truth?

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i-believe-podcast-karen-239x300In this fifth of nine podcasts with D.M Johnson, we’ll examine the various methods historians use when studying ancient texts. D.M. and I address the following methods:

  • Multiple attestation: having multiple ancient sources talking about the same event

  • Early attestation: having an ancient source or sources that date close to the time an event is thought to have happened

  • Disinterested testimony: having a source from a writer who was completely detached and unbiased

  • The criterion of dissimilarity: when a historical figure does something against the social norms of his/her time period

  • The principle of embarrassment: when something embarrassing or incriminating is recorded about a historical person

  • Enemy attestation: when an enemy of a cause or group writes something about that cause or group

We’ll talk about each of these methods and how using them with the Bible can help give us confidence that it is true.

Click here to view the complete transcript.

This series of podcasts were produced by the “I Believe” podcast group. They are used by permission of Karen Trifiletti the author of this work.

As always the view and opinions expressed in this podcast may not represent those of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint or that of FairMormon

Fair Issues 70: What was Nephi’s ship like?

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MABrother Ash discusses how Nephi was instructed to build a ship to take his family to their new land.  The ship was not to be built “after the manner of men” but according to the Lord’s instructions.  There are few clues in the text as to what this ship may have looked like but several types are explored in this episode.

The full text of this article can be found at Deseret News online.

Brother Ash is author of the book Shaken Faith Syndrome: Strengthening One’s Testimony in the Face of Criticism and Doubt, as well as the book, of Faith and Reason: 80 Evidences Supporting the Prophet Joseph Smith. Both books are available for purchase online through the FairMormon Bookstore. Tell your friends about the Mormon Fair-Cast. Share a link on your Facebook page and help increase the popularity of the Mormon Fair-Cast by subscribing to this podcast in iTunes, and by rating it and writing a review.

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

 

Mormon Fair-cast 294: #4, Is the Bible an authentic source of truth?

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i-believe-podcast-karen-239x300This is the 4th in a series of 9 interviews, D.M. Johnson, author and Bible scholar, and I discuss the archaeological evidence for the Bible. We’ll discuss the following archaeological evidence:

  • The Dead Sea Scrolls

  • Ossuaries and inscriptions which corroborate Biblical figures

  • Archaeological sites, including the Western Wailing Wall, the Parthenon, and Mars Hill

  • The Cyrus Cylinder

  • Clay cuneiform tablets from ancient Mesopotamia

Once again, our discussion invites you to consider the evidences supporting the Bible.

We also invite you to read the Bible for yourself, because in addition to these physical evidences of its historicity, you can also obtain a spiritual witness from God concerning its truthfulness.

Click here to view the complete transcript.

This series of podcasts were produced by the “I Believe” podcast group. They are used by permission of Karen Trifiletti the author of this work.

As always the view and opinions expressed in this podcast may not represent those of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint or that of FairMormon

 

Announcement: 2014 Temple on Mount Zion Conference

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–––From the Interpreter website–––

The Interpreter Foundation would like to announce a forthcoming conference, the 2014 Temple on Mount Zion Conference to be held in 251 TNRB (N. Eldon Tanner Building) on the campus of Brigham Young University, in Provo, Utah, on 25 October, 2014. This conference is sponsored by the BYU College of Humanities and Department of Asian and Near Eastern Languages as well as The Interpreter Foundation.

The conference focuses on LDS conceptions of ancient and modern Temple theology as reflected in the Bible and LDS scripture. There will be thirteen presenters. You can see a list of presenters and schedule on the Program & Schedule page.

Program & Schedule

2014 Temple on Mount Zion Conference
Saturday, 25 October 2014, 8:45 am–5:45 pm
251 TNRB (N. Eldon Tanner Building)
Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah

8:45 am           Opening Prayer, Greeting—Donald W. Parry, presiding

9:00 am           Jeffrey Bradshaw: “What Did Joseph Smith Know about the LDS Endowment by 1836?”

9:30 am           Dan Belnap: “‘Let the Beauty of the Lord our God be Upon Us’: The Role of Visual Aesthetics in Ancient Israel’s Temple Worship”

10:00 am         Carli Anderson: “Enthroning the Daughter of Zion: The Coronation Motif of Isaiah 60-62”

10:30 am         Break

 

10:45 am         Carli Anderson, presiding

Stephen D. Ricks: “Prayer with Uplifted Hands”

11:15 am         David Calabro: “Joseph Smith and the Architecture of Genesis”

11:45 am         Stephen Smoot: “The Book of the Dead as a Temple Text and the Implications for the Book of Abraham”

12:15 pm         David J. Larsen: “Psalm 24 and the Two Yahwehs at the Gate of the Temple”

12:45 pm         Lunch break

 

1:55 pm           Greeting—David J. Larsen, presiding

2:00 pm           Ann Madsen: “Temples in the Margins: The Temple in Isaiah”

2:30 pm           Donald W. Parry: “Temple Themes in Cities of Refuge Texts”

3:00 pm           Matthew L. Bowen: “‘I Have Done According to My Will’: Reading Jacob 5 as a Temple Text”

3:30 pm           Break

 

3:45 pm           Stephen D. Ricks, presiding

John W. Welch: “Leviticus as an Archetypal Temple Template”

4:15 pm           John S. Thompson: “How John’s Gospel Portrays Jesus as the Way of the Temple”

4:45 pm           Shon D. Hopkin: “The Day of Atonement, the Mosaic Temple, and the Christian Sacrament of Communion: Links and Symbols”

5:15 pm           Daniel C. Peterson: “The Cosmic Mountain in Canaan and the Qur’an”

5:45 pm           Concluding Remarks, Closing Prayer

This conference is sponsored by the BYU College of Humanities, the Department of Asian and Near Eastern Languages, and the Interpreter Foundation

Fair Issues 69: Where is the land Bountiful?

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MAIn this podcast brother Ash discusses possible locations for the land Bountiful.

Current research supports the view presented in the Book of Mormon. In the southern Arabia country of Oman near the border of Yemen is a costal province known a Dhofar which has a fertile region – only a few miles wide – on the coast of the Arabian Sea.  This mountainous area covers more than 38,000 miles square miles and historically was the chief source of frankincense in the world.

The full text of this article can be found at Deseret News online.

Brother Ash is author of the book Shaken Faith Syndrome: Strengthening One’s Testimony in the Face of Criticism and Doubt, as well as the book, of Faith and Reason: 80 Evidences Supporting the Prophet Joseph Smith. Both books are available for purchase online through the FairMormon Bookstore. Tell your friends about the Mormon Fair-Cast. Share a link on your Facebook page and help increase the popularity of the Mormon Fair-Cast by subscribing to this podcast in iTunes, and by rating it and writing a review.

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