Transcripts
| Speaker | Presentation | Transcript |
|---|---|---|
| Don Bradley | Knowing Brother Joseph: How the Historical Record Demonstrates the Prophet’s Religious Sincerity | Video and Transcript |
| LaJean Carruth | His Accuracy was not What it Ought: Comparing George D. Watt’s Original Shorthand Record to his Published Transcripts in the Journal of Discourses | Video and Transcript |
| Jennifer Roach | Shedding Light on the Complexities: Understanding Abuse within the LDS Church | Transcript and Video |
Transcripts will be added as they become available.
You can still register for the free streaming to watch all presentations on demand.
Right now, on demand streaming is not broken down into individual talks, as we’re waiting for volunteers to have time to do that. In the meantime, here are the time stamps for each presentation:
Wednesday morning:
Dan Peterson 37:00
Michael R. Ash 01:35:45
Kerry Hull 02:31:35
Wednesday afternoon:
Avrahm Shannon 0:10
Derek Westra 29:00
Andrew Young 01:03:3
Stephen Smoot 01:59:30
Jenet Erickson 02:45:09
Don Bradley 03:44:43
Thursday morning:
President Brian Ashton 08:32
George Mitton 01:22:26
Neal Rappleye 01:54:30
Janiece Johnson 02:24:00
Thursday afternoon:
LaJean Carruth 01:21:35
Jen Yorgason Thatcher 02:13:45
Michaelbrent Collings 03:23:48
John W. Welch 04:16:30
Friday morning:
Brant Gardner 10:59
John Gee 01:10:48
Ralph Hancock 01:39:48
Friday afternoon:
Keith Erekson 30:38
Jennifer Roach 01:31:02
Book of Mormon Panel: Brant Gardner, Kerry Hull, Mark Wright 02:47:18
Steve Densley 03:46:32
Speakers
Michael R. Ash
“The apparent genetic discrepancy between Mormon’s narrative and the origin of Native Americans”
Michael R. Ash is a veteran member of FAIR, a former weekly columnist for the Mormon Times (Salt Lake City, Deseret News), and has presented several papers at LDS-related symposiums. Ash is the author of “Of Faith and Reason: 80 Evidences Supporting the Prophet Joseph Smith,” “Shaken Faith Syndrome: Strengthening One’s Testimony in the Face of Criticism and Doubt,” “Bamboozled by the CES Letter,” and “Rethinking Revelation.” Ash has written hundreds of articles defending the faith which have been published by FAIR, FARMS, Sunstone, Dialogue, the Ensign and on several LDS websites. Presenting with Ugo A. Perego
President Brian Ashton
“BYU-Pathway: Serving the Hidden Many”
Brian K. Ashton was appointed by the Board of Education of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as the second president of BYU-Pathway Worldwide in 2021. He had served as the organization’s first vice president of field operations since 2018. President Ashton holds a bachelor of arts degree from Brigham Young University and a master of business administration from the Harvard Business School. He began his career as a management consultant and has been a founder, executive, and board member at several startup companies. From 2015 to 2019, he served as Second Counselor in the Church’s Sunday School General Presidency. He has also been bishop, high councilor, elders quorum president, and missionary in the Peru Lima South Mission.
President Ashton was born in Provo, Utah, the oldest of nine children. He has lived all over the United States during his lifetime. Brian married Melinda Earl in the St. George Utah Temple in 1996 and they are the parents of seven children. Melinda served in the Spain Malaga Mission, graduated from BYU, and later attended medical school in Chicago. Together, she and Brian presided over the Texas Houston South Mission from 2012 to 2015.
Don Bradley
“Knowing Brother Joseph: How the Historical Record Demonstrates the Prophet’s Religious Sincerity”
Don Bradley is an author and independent historian specializing in the beginnings of the Latter-day Saint Restoration. He completed an MA in history at Utah State University University and a BA in history at Brigham Young University. Don performed an internship with the Joseph Smith Papers Project working with the earliest Joseph Smith sources. He was the primary researcher for Brian C. Hales’s Joseph Smith’s Polygamy series from Greg Kofford Books. He has published on the translation of the Book of Mormon, plural marriage before Nauvoo, Joseph Smith’s “grand fundamental principle of Mormonism,” the Kinderhook Plates, and the First Vision. He is the author of The Lost 116 Pages: Reconstructing the Book of Mormon’s Missing Stories.
LaJean Carruth
“His Accuracy was not What it Ought: Comparing George D. Watt’s Original Shorthand Record to his Published Transcripts in the Journal of Discourses”
LaJean Purcell Carruth is a professional transcriber of 19 th and early 20 th century documents written in Pitman and Taylor shorthands and in the Deseret Alphabet at the Church History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah. She has transcribed Mormon and Quaker sermons, minutes, legislative proceedings, court proceedings, journals, letters, and other items. She began this work as a graduate student in 1974, when a manuscripts librarian offered her part time employment if she would learn to read 19 th century Pitman shorthand. Her transcriptions have been quoted in numerous books and articles. She hold Masters degrees from Brigham Young University in Library and Information Science (1974) and Humanities (1978), and a Ph.D. in German, University of Utah (1988). She is currently employed by the Church History Library, Salt Lake City.
LaJean is an avid weaver. She has woven many items for church historic sites, including the tablecloth in which the replica gold plates are wrapped on the translation table in the restored Joseph and Emma Smith home in Harmony, Pennsylvania, to represent the small linen tablecloth that Emma loaned Joseph when he received the plates, towels for the Smith family homes, and a tablecloth for the recently restored Joseph and Emma Smith home in Kirtland. She has six floor looms, including one in her study. She enjoys dyeing cotton yarn to weave. She occasionally wonders if she had lived in Nauvoo, if her looms would have been considered important enough to take across the plains.
Michaelbrent Collings
“Finding Light in the Darkness: The Necessity of Horror in the Gospel”
Michaelbrent Collings is an internationally bestselling novelist, produced screenwriter, speaker, and writing teacher. Best known for horror (and voted one of the top 20 All-Time Greatest Horror Writers in a Ranker vote of nearly 20,000 readers), Michaelbrent has written bestselling thrillers, mysteries, sci-fi and fantasy titles, and even humor and non-fiction. In addition to popular success, Michaelbrent has also received critical acclaim: he is the only person who has ever been a finalist for a Bram Stoker Award (twice), a Dragon Award (twice), and a RONE Award, and he and his work have been reviewed and/or featured on everything from Publishers Weekly to Scream Magazine to NPR. Michaelbrent is also a produced screenwriter and member of the WGA. Starting out by entering the Nicholl Fellowship, he had more scripts reach quarter- and semi-finals in a single year for the Nicholl Fellowship than any other entrant in the fellowship’s history. This opened the doors to Hollywood, and numerous of Michaelbrent’s screenplays were purchased and produced, both by major and independent production companies. He has also optioned scripts and been a finalist or semi-finalist for other major screenplay competitions, including Table Read My Screenplay, the PAGE International Screenwriting Awards, the AAA Screenwriting contest, and more.
Michaelbrent is also the driving force behind Bestseller Life, an online series of courses, lectures, and lessons designed to help people navigate the challenging, ever-changing world of writing and publishing. An engaging and entertaining speaker, he is also a frequent guest at comic cons and on writing podcasts like Six Figure Authors, The Creative Penn, Writing Excuses, and others; and is a mental health advocate and TEDx speaker.
You can find his writing course at BestsellerLife.com, and more about his books at his author website, WrittenInsomnia.com.
Abstract: “Finding Light in the Darkness: The Necessity of Horror in the Gospel,” an exploration of the surprising but profound intersections of horror fiction and Christian religious beliefs (especially those of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints), will delve into the unique ways that horror can deepen our understanding of the Gospel and our personal spiritual journeys. Drawing from various horror literature and media examples, Collings will examine the recurring themes of struggle, redemption, and the human potential for both evil and goodness, that are deeply embedded in the Gospel and in the foundations of horror fiction. Far from being inherently “evil,” horror fiction, though capable of misuse, is one of the most potent genres for describing spiritual growth, as well as being a tool for introspection and a conduit to better understand the complex nature of faith–all while striving to find light amidst the darkness.
Steve Densley
“Proving the Church Is True”
Steve Densley, Jr. is a Utah attorney (J.D., Brigham Young University). He is a trial attorney and has successfully argued before the Utah and Idaho Supreme Courts. He is the author of various changes to the Utah Rules of Civil Procedure and Utah Code. Steve has also appeared on CNN, C-Span, BBC Radio, KUTV, KTVX, KSL Radio, KTKK Radio, and Swiss TV. He graduated with University Honors from BYU with a combined B.A./M.A. in public policy and political science. As an undergraduate, he was an assistant editor of the Pi Sigma Alpha Review. In law school, he was a member of the Law Review and the National Moot Court team. He has published articles in the Utah Bar Journal, the Journal of Law and Family Studies, Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship, Meridian Magazine, and Public Square Magazine. He has been recognized in SuperLawyers Magazine as one of the Mountain States Rising Stars and has been listed numerous times in Utah Business Magazine as among the Utah Legal Elite. He is the current Executive Vice President of The Interpreter Foundation. He was the Executive Vice President of FAIR from 2013-15, recipient of the John Taylor Defender of the Faith Award, and was a producer of FAIR’s podcast when it twice won the People’s Choice Award for Best Podcast in the Religion & Spirituality category. He is also an award-winning photographer and a certified travel agent. He served a Hmong-speaking mission in the California Sacramento Mission. He and his wife Heather are the parents of four children and have two granddaughters.
Keith Erekson
“Making Sense of Your Patriarchal Blessing”
Keith Erekson is an author, teacher, and public historian who has published on topics including politics, hoaxes, Abraham Lincoln, Elvis Presley, and Church history. He grew up in Baltimore, served a mission in Brazil, and earned advanced degrees in history and business. He works for the Church History Department in efforts to encourage outreach and historical engagement.
Your patriarchal blessing is a gift from God and an invitation to draw nearer to Him throughout your life. Several important principles can help make sense of your blessing’s counsel, and observing the experiences of others who wrestled with their blessings can help answer important questions about how to understand God’s promises, make sense of His timing, and find guidance and peace in the present.
Jenet Erickson
“For the Strength of Youth: Moving from Compliance and Defiance to Integrity in Covenant Relationship”
Jenet Jacob Erickson is an associate professor in Religious Education at Brigham Young University, where teaches the Eternal Family (Rel 200) course as well as the Introduction to Family Process (SFL 160) course for the School of Family Life. She received a PhD in Family Social Science from the University of Minnesota, after completing a bachelor’s degree in Nursing, and master’s degree in Linguistics -TESOL at BYU. She is a research fellow of both the Wheatley Institution and the Institute for Family Studies and has been a columnist on family issues for the Deseret News since 2013. She and her husband, Michael, have been blessed with two children, LaDawn (age 13) and Peter (age 10), who provide them unending opportunities for learning and joy.
Brant Gardner
“Reading Over Mormon’s Shoulder: Watching Mormon fulfill the two purposes listed in the Title Page”
Brant A. Gardner did his undergraduate work at Brigham Young University. He received a Master’s in Anthropology from the State University of New York at Albany, specializing in Mesoamerican ethnohistory. He works part time as a Research Associate for Scripture Central. He is the author of the six-volume Second Witness: Analytical and Contextual Commentary on the Book of Mormon, as well as Traditions of the Fathers: The Book of Mormon As History, and The Gift and Power: Translating the Book of Mormon, each published by Kofford Books. His most recent book is Labor Diligently to Write: The Ancient Making of a Modern Scripture, was published serially and then compiled as volume 35 of Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship.
“The Covenant to Defend the Kingdom of God”
John Gee is the William (Bill) Gay Research Professor in the Department of Asian and Near Eastern Languages at Brigham Young University. He has published dozens of scholarly articles and five books, including An Introduction to the Book of Abraham and Saving Faith: How Families Protect, Sustain, and Encourage Faith.
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Ralph Hancock
“The Restored Gospel and the New Liberalism: The Inescapability of Political Apologetics”
Ralph Hancock (PhD Harvard) is a Professor of Political Science at Brigham Young University, where he teaches the tradition of political philosophy as well as contemporary political theory. He has taught three times as Visiting Professor at the University of Rennes, France, and was a Visiting Scholar at Liberty Fund in Indianapolis. He is the author of Calvin and the Foundations of Modern Politics (Saint Augustine’s Press, 2011; Cornell University Press, 1989) as well as The Responsibility of Reason: Theory and Practice in a Liberal-Democratic Age (Rowman & Littlefield 1999) and (with Gary Lambert) of The Legacy of the French Revolution (Rowman and Littlefield 1996) and translator of numerous books and articles from the French including Pierre Manent’s Natural Law and Human Rights (forthcoming from Notre Dame University Press). He has published many academic articles as well as articles in the press and online on the intersection of faith, reason, and politics. Professor Hancock is a Consulting Editor of Perspectives on Political Science and a member of the editorial board of Square Two, an online journal of “Faithful Scholarship by Members of the Restored Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints on Contemporary Issues.” Ralph is also the co-founder of Fathom the Good, a classical homeschool curriculum. Ralph and his wife, Julie, are parents of five and grandparents of nineteen.
Kerry Hull
“Luminosity and the Sacred”
Kerry Hull is a professor in the department of Religion at Brigham Young University. He earned a B.A. in Spanish and B.A. in French in 1992 from Utah State University. He received an M.S. in Applied Linguistics from Georgetown University in 1993. He completed a Ph.D. in Linguistic Anthropology at the University of Texas at Austin in 2003. His academic interests include Maya linguistics, Polynesian linguistics, historical linguistics, and Maya epigraphic studies. He has conducted linguistic, anthropological, ethnobotanical, ethno-ornithological, and archaeological fieldwork in Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, and various areas in Polynesia. He is the author of A Dictionary of Ch’orti’ Mayan published in 2016.
Abstract:
The concept of sacred luminosity was prevalent throughout the ancient Near East. In Mesopotamia, it was known as melammu, puluhtu, or elmešu, which represented a powerful type of divine radiance or “royal shine” that could emanate from a king or a god in Akkadian and Sumerian mythology. Additionally, sacred objects could also be infused with this divine brilliance. In this paper, I explore how this notion of sacred luminosity can be found throughout the Book of Mormon. God and certain individuals (1 Ne. 1:9; Mos. 13:5; Hel. 5:36) can display glory and brilliance. Additionally, the sheen of stones and metals is given considerable attention by Book of Mormon authors, from the brass plates, other Nephite records, the Liahona, the sword of Laban, the sixteen stones of the brother of Jared. It is significant that metal plates, swords, sacred stones, and objects made of brass were particularly said to receive melammu or elmešu in ancient Mesopotamia. I argue that the noted reflective brilliance of these objects may link them to these ancient Mesopotamian and biblical notions of sacred luminosity (e.g., Heb. ḥašmal, kavod). Furthermore, this focus on the divine reflectivity of objects may help to explain specific pericopes in the Book of Mormon, such as Alma’s insistence that the plates “must retain their brightness” (Alma 37:5).
Janiece Johnson
“Convicting the Mormons: The Mountain Meadows Massacre in American Culture”
Janiece Johnson is a transplanted Bay Area, California native who loves history, design, art, good food, and traveling. Dr. Johnson has master’s degrees in American Religious History and Theology and a PhD in American History, taught at BYU-Idaho in Religious Education, and currently teaches and researches at BYU. She is the co-author of Witness of Women (Deseret Book, 2016), general editor of The Mountain Meadows Massacre: Complete Legal Papers (University of Oklahoma, 2017), and the recently published Convicting the Mormons: The Mountain Meadows Massacre in American Culture (University of North Carolina Press, 2023). Dr. Johnson’s current research centers on the Book of Mormon and the relationship of early Latter-day Saint converts to their new American scripture.
Ty & Danielle Mansfield
“Equally Yoked in Love and Truth: Navigating LGBTQ+ Experiences as a Latter-day Saint” (Panel Discussion)
Ty Mansfield is a practicing marriage and family therapist and assistant professor of Church History and Doctrine at BYU. Danielle majored in Spanish at BYU and later went on to earn an MBA, also from BYU. She currently works full-time taking care of their five little humans. Ty and Danielle shared some of their story together as a featured cover story of the May/June 2012 issue of LDS Living magazine and also as part of the Church’s 2012 mormonsandgays.org initiative. Ty is a co-founder and current board member of North Star, a faith-based ministry for Latter-day Saint sexual and gender minorities and their families; a member of the Reconciliation and Growth Project, a dialogue group between LGBTQ affirmative and religious conservative mental health professionals; and the 4 Options Survey research team, a similarly collaborative effort looking at healthy and sustainable life paths for sexual minorities. In addition to his academic and clinical work, Ty is a certified Mindfulness Meditation Teacher and a co-author with Jacob Hess, Carrie Skarda, and Kyle Anderson of the recent book The Power of Stillness: Mindful Living for Latter-day Saints (Deseret Book, 2019). Ty and Danielle and their family live in Spanish Fork, UT.
George Mitton
“Joseph Smith and the Magical Contest”
George L. Mitton was raised in Logan, Utah. Following military service, he served in the British Mission (1949–51) and later in many church callings. He received a master’s degree in political science at Utah State University and did additional graduate studies at the University of Utah and Columbia University. He is retired from a career in education and state government in Oregon and now lives in Utah. He assisted for a decade as an associate editor of the FARMS Review and published there, in Dialogue and in BYU Studies Quarterly. He was a founding member and is on the Board of Advisors of The Interpreter Foundation, and has published in its Journal. His marriage was to the late Ewan Harbrecht Mitton. They have four children, twenty grandchildren and thirty-seven great-grandchildren.
Ugo A. Perego
“The apparent genetic discrepancy between Mormon’s narrative and the origin of Native Americans”
Ugo A. Perego is a native of Italy. He received a BS and MS in Sciences from BYU Provo and a PhD in Genetics and Biomolecular Sciences at the University of Pavia, Italy under the mentorship of Professor Antonio Torroni. His PhD dissertation and a large part of his research work focus on the origin and migrations of Native American populations using different genetic markers. Ugo is currently a full-time Biology instructor at the Southeastern Community College in Iowa. With his family he lives in Nauvoo, Illinois. Presenting with Michael Ash. **Unfortunately, Ugo will be unable to present this year.
Dan Peterson
“Understanding History Backwards”
Daniel C. Peterson is the president of the Interpreter Foundation, which publishes the online periodical Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship, produces books, convenes conferences, and sponsors a weekly radio program. He and his wife were the executive producers of the 2021 theatrical film Witnesses and have served in the same capacity for its 2022 docudrama sequel, Undaunted: Witnesses of the Book of Mormon.
A native of southern California who earned his doctorate at UCLA after study at BYU, in Jerusalem, and in Cairo, he retired on 1 July 2021 as a professor of Islamic studies and Arabic at Brigham Young University, where he had taught since 1985. Formerly director of research and chairman of the board of the Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies (FARMS), now BYU’s Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, he is also a former president of the Society for Mormon Philosophy and Theology and is currently a member of the board of the Foundation for Religious Diplomacy.
Dr. Peterson served in the Switzerland Zürich Mission (1972-1974), and, for approximately eight years, on the Gospel Doctrine writing committee for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He also presided for a time as the bishop of a singles ward adjacent to Utah Valley University. He is married to the former Deborah Stephens, of Lakewood, Colorado, and they have three sons and three granddaughters.
Neal Rappleye
“Material Plates, Spiritual Vision: Martin Harris, Divine Materiality, and Seeing with “Spiritual Eyes”
Neal Rappleye is a research project manager for Scripture Central. He is involved in ongoing research on many facets of the Book of Mormon’s historical context, including ancient Israel, ancient Arabia, and the ancient Near East more broadly, as well as pre-Columbian Mesoamerica and the nineteenth-century witnesses to the discovery and translation of the Book of Mormon plates. He has published with BYU Studies, the Interpreter Foundation, Book of Mormon Central, Greg Kofford Books, and Covenant Communications.
Jenny Reeder
“The Eliza R. Snow Project”
Jenny Reeder is an historian with the Church History Department of Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She has a PhD in American history from George Mason University, and is the co-editor, co-author, and contributor to several important volumes, including, The Witness of Women, At the Pulpit, The First Fifty Years, and Women and Mormonism: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives. Deseret Book recently released her biography, First: The Life and Faith of Emma Smith.
Jennifer Roach
“Shedding Light on the Complexities: Understanding Abuse within the LDS Church”
Jennifer Roach holds dual Masters’ degrees in Counseling Psychology and Theology. She converted to the LDS church 4 years ago but prior to that, she spent most of her life in the Evangelical church. She has been hosting the FAIR podcast called, “Come Follow Me with FAIR: Faithful answers to New Testament Questions.” She teaches in the Home and Family department at BYU-Idaho and works as a mental health therapist in Provo, Utah.
Avrahm Shannon
“Written in the Books of Moses”: Mosaic Authorship and Authority in the Book of Mormon
Dr. Shannon was born in Quantico, Virginia, and spent most of his young life in Virginia. He served a mission first in the Oregon Portland Mission and then in the Washington Kennewick Mission after the Oregon Portland Mission was split. Dr. Shannon earned a BA in ancient Near Eastern studies from Brigham Young University (2007), a master of studies in Jewish studies from the University of Oxford (2008), and a PhD in Near Eastern languages and cultures with a graduate interdisciplinary specialization in religions of the ancient Mediterranean from The Ohio State University (2015). He and his wife, Thora, have nine children. Courses Taught: Book of Mormon, Gospels, Pearl of Great Price, Jesus Christ and the Everlasting Gospel. Areas of Expertise: Rabbinic Judaism, Ancient Mediterranean Religions, Jewish Studies, Ancient Biblical Interpretation.
Stephen Smoot
“Pressing Forward with the Book of Abraham”
Stephen O. Smoot is a doctoral candidate in Semitic and Egyptian languages and literature at the Catholic University of America. He previously earned a master’s degree from the University of Toronto in Near and Middle Eastern civilizations, with a concentration in Egyptology, and bachelor’s degrees from Brigham Young University in ancient Near Eastern studies, with a concentration in Hebrew Bible, and German studies. He is currently an adjunct instructor of religious education at Brigham Young University and a research associate with the B. H. Roberts Foundation.
Skyler & Amanda Sorensen
“Equally Yoked in Love and Truth: Navigating LGBTQ+ Experiences as a Latter-day Saint” (Panel Discussion)
Skyler and Amanda Sorensen are in a mixed-orientation marriage and have been married for 5 years. Skyler came out to Amanda as gay while they were dating. They have 2 children. Their first son, Milo, was born in August 2019 at 24 ½ weeks. After a few weeks of battling for his life in the NICU, he passed away in Amanda’s arms. After battling with infertility after Milo’s death, their daughter, Remi, was born in January of 2022 and is spoiled beyond belief.
Together they host the podcast “Sit Down with Sky and Amanda,” which is dedicated to defending gospel principles through the lens of LGBTQ issues. They tackle difficult issues where church and culture meet, always taking a faith-affirming approach. They live in Utah County, and Skyler just released his book, “Exclude Not Thyself: Thriving As a Covenant-keeping, Gay Latter-day Saint.”
Jen Yorgason Thatcher
“Fostering Resilient Faith In the Midst of Questions, Doubts, and Loved Ones Leaving”
Jen is Adjunct Faculty in the BYU Religion Department and School of Family Life, where she teaches “The Eternal Family”. She received her Masters in the BYU School of Family Life, with a research emphasis on Families and Religion. As a wife and mother, she knows firsthand the many challenges of family life, and our complete reliance on the Savior. She has spoken at various conferences, including BYU Education Week, BYU Women’s Conference, and EFY. She is grateful to share messages of joy, hope, and healing found in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
John W. Welch
“The Seven Seals in the Apocalypse of John: Possible Cultural, Legal, and Imperial Contexts”
John W. Welch is the Robert K. Thomas Professor of Law Emeritus at the BYU Law School and former editor-in-chief of BYU Studies, the premier Latter-day Saint scholarly journal. He practiced law in Los Angeles with O’Melveny & Myers, at which time he founded the Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies in 1979 with John L. Sorenson and Kirk Magleby. From 1988-91, he served as one of the editors for Macmillan’s Encyclopedia of Mormonism, and he has served as the General Editor of the Collected Works of Hugh Nibley. He was one of the organizers of the bicentennial conference for Joseph Smith at the Library of Congress in 2005, and has served on the executive committee of the Biblical Law Section of the Society of Biblical Literature. Welch is among the most prominent pupils of Hugh Nibley, having made several important discoveries and advances regarding biblical studies, LDS scholarship, history, culture, and thought. His publications cover a wide range of topics, including Roman and Jewish law in the trial of Jesus, the use of biblical laws in colonial America, the preamble to the United States Constitution, chiasmus in antiquity, the parables of Jesus, and the Sermon on the Mount, King Benjamin’s Speech, and the New Testament books of Matthew, Acts, 1 and 2 Peter.
Abstract: John W. Welch’s presentation about the Book with Seven Seals, found in the Book of Revelation, will raise new insights and questions to ponder concerning how cultural, legal, religious and imperial contexts would have affected its favorable reception by faithful Christians or its hostile rejection by Jewish and Roman readers.
Derek Westra
“Portrayal of Latter-day Saints in Television”
Derek and his wife Danielle and the proud parents of three girls. Derek works for the Church Communications Department as the Director of Reputation Management, and loves his job. Derek loves DIY and has a goal of acquiring every skill needed to be able to build his own home with his own two hands – whether he ever does it or not. He records and publishes piano albums (which aren’t very good), plays competitive pickleball (but again, not very well), and paints. He and Danielle are foodies and would love to talk fine dining with anyone, anytime.
Andrew Young
“Whistleblowers in the Last Days”
Andrew Young: Creator of DreamWorks Movies, Microsoft Xbox Video Games, Project Veritas Journalism. Youtube Into The Verse Scripture show. Brigham Young’s Great Great Great Grandson. Eagle Scout. Married in the San Diego Temple 15 years. Dad of 3 groms and a princess. Scriptures are the iron rod. God first. Gratitude for the opportunity to speak.
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