"Journey Of Faith"

Muhammad never saw this dam — In modern day Saudi Arabia, at Wadi Najran (Wikimedia Commons)

I wonder how many people out there are aware of the two Journey of Faith films and of the book, bearing the same title, that was published to accompany the first of them. Not many, I would guess.

The first film, which appeared in 2006, featured a number of scholars and focused on Lehi’s journey from Jerusalem down through Arabia to the coast of the Arabian Sea. The second covered the Book of Mormon in the New World

They were products of the glory days of the old Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies (or FARMS), which eventually became the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship and then, in 2012, under different management, radically changed its course from what, in 1979, it had been founded to do.

Here’s the promotional statement on the Deseret Book website about the first of the two films:

Filmed on location in the Middle East, Journey of Faith chronicles the courage and faith of Lehi’s family with the eye of the camera and the insights of scholars from a broad range of expertise. The film shows the land of Nahom, where Ishmael was buried, and the most likely location for Bountiful, where Nephi built his ship. Insightful and inspiring, Journey of Faith shows how God molded Lehi’s family in the wilderness to become a new people of God.

I very much regret the fact that, as I perceive the current state of things anyway, these films and the associated book are now unknown to many members of the Church.

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And here are some links to stories relating to either Islam or the Middle East. Some of them will probably play into the remarks that I’ll be preparing for the Seventh Annual Religious Liberty Lecture at the University of Notre Dame in Sydney, Australia, on 27 November 2018:

“Opposition Is Growing in Denmark Against an ‘Anti-Muslim’ Plan to Make New Citizens Shake Hands”

“Most Western Europeans favor at least some restrictions on Muslim women’s religious clothing”

“Massive ancient building discovered in Egypt”

“An Iconographic Treasure Unearthed in Jordan”

“Can Islamist moderates remake the politics of the Muslim world? The era of political Islam appears to be waning in some regions. But as some Islamists broaden their appeal, there’s an opportunity to increase our understanding of the nuances of Islam in politics.”

“Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Theologians Find Common Moral Ground”