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<\/a>(Wikimedia CC: David A. Baird\/Historical Arts and Castings)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Newly published in Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship<\/em>: \u00a0\u201cNurture and Harvest: A Continued Conversation with The Annotated Book of Mormon<\/em>,\u201d<\/a> written by Kevin Christensen<\/a><\/p>\n Abstract:<\/strong> Because Grant Hardy\u2019s important book deliberately contextualizes the Book of Mormon in light of \u201cthe generally agreed upon findings of modern biblical scholars and historians,\u201d it invites further discussion on points in which the Book of Mormon and other significant biblical scholars and historians challenge those findings. Hardy also declares that his commentary \u201cis consistently focused on the plain meaning of the text,\u201d which is understandably appealing, but which is in tension with Joseph Smith\u2019s foundational observation that \u201cthe different teachers of the religion understood the same passages of scripture so differently as to destroy all confidence in settling the question by an appeal to the Bible.\u201d I argue on several key issues that a different contextualization can radically change meaning.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n I was very pleased to hear a presentation at this afternoon\u2019s portion of the 2024 FAIR LDS conference by Professor Steven C. Harper<\/a>. \u00a0He introduced the audience to a new website called CES Letters: What do you know and how do you know it<\/a>. \u00a0I think that it\u2019s going to be quite helpful:<\/p>\n Seekers Wanted: Welcome to CES Letters. Your resource for seeking and finding answers to gospel questions and discovering what you know, and how you know it.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Every once in a while, I feel moved to post this item, which I first wrote many years ago. \u00a0I feel impressed to do so yet again. \u00a0Other books and materials could easily be added to this list, addressing these and scores of other specific topics, but these will do for starters:<\/p>\n I\u2019m sometimes contacted by people who\u2019re experiencing doubts about the claims of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints<\/a> or whose spouse or father or daughter has lost faith. \u00a0I always ask what the specific issues might be, and I then try to address those or to locate colleagues or published\u00a0resources that might help resolve their concerns.<\/p>\n I think that such efforts are extraordinarily important. \u00a0The late Elder Neal A. Maxwell, of the Quorum of the Twelve, was fond of Austin Farrer\u2019s praise of the great C. S. Lewis: \u201cThough argument does not create conviction,\u201d Farrer wrote, \u201clack of it destroys belief. What seems to be proved may not be embraced; but what no one shows the ability to defend is quickly abandoned. Rational argument does not create belief, but it maintains a climate in which belief may flourish.\u201d \u00a0(See Austin Farrer, \u201cGrete Clerk,\u201d in Jocelyn Gibb, comp., Light on C. S. Lewis<\/em>\u00a0[New York: Harcourt and Brace, 1965], 26.)<\/p>\n Farrer\u2019s words \u00a0long served as a kind of unofficial motto for several of those who were associated with the Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies (FARMS), which later became the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship. \u00a0I think that motto was entirely appropriate.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t, however, like to play only defense. \u00a0I don\u2019t want to spend all my time putting out brushfires, playing catch-up, responding to crises. To use a very popular modern buzzword, I much prefer to be proactive. \u00a0I want to build faith to such a strength that crises will be less common, to create conditions under which such brushfires will be much more difficult to kindle. \u00a0Back to the sports metaphor: \u00a0If the defense is always out on the field, it may be able to keep the opposing team from scoring. \u00a0But if the offense doesn\u2019t eventually come out to play, the prospects of victory will be very low. \u00a0A single error by the defense, simple growing weariness, one moment of inattention or poor execution, will be enough to lose the game.<\/p>\n One way that I choose to be proactive is to suggest a basic packet of books that I would like as many Latter-day Saints to read as possible, a set that I especially wish faltering members to be familiar with. I offer a few nominations here:<\/p>\n Richard Lloyd Anderson,\u00a0<\/strong>Investigating the Book of Mormon Witnesses\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>(Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1981)<\/a>. \u00a0I was once, I confess, sitting at the back of a rather unexciting church class, rereading\u00a0Investigating the Book of Mormon Witnesses<\/em>, when an academic colleague of mine from BYU sat down beside me. He looked over at what I had been reading. \u00a0\u201cNext to the scriptures,\u201d he commented, \u201cthat\u2019s the most faith-promoting book I\u2019ve ever read.\u201d<\/p>\n I\u2019m inclined to agree with him. Richard Anderson, who earned a law degree from Harvard before receiving a doctorate in ancient history from the University of California at Berkeley, was one of the finest scholars the church has ever produced. \u00a0In this book, he subjected the Book of Mormon witnesses to meticulous examination. \u00a0They emerge from the process as sane, lucid, honest, reliable men\u2014a fact of perfectly enormous importance because of the way their testimony directly corroborates central claims of Joseph Smith and Mormonism.<\/p>\n Brother Anderson wrote many other very important articles on the witnesses\u2014and on other relevant topics\u2014after Investigating the Book of Mormon Witnesses<\/em> was published. \u00a0These were once available online at the Maxwell Institute website, and and can still presumably be found elsewhere: \u00a0These include but are not limited to \u201cAttempts to Redefine the Experience of the Eight Witnesses,\u201d<\/a>\u00a0Journal of Book of Mormon Studies<\/em>\u00a014\/1 (2005): 18\u201331; \u201cPersonal Writings of the Book of Mormon Witnesses,\u201d <\/a>in\u00a0Book of Mormon Authorship Revisited: The Evidence for Ancient Origins<\/em>, ed. Noel B. Reynolds (Provo, UT: FARMS, 1997), 39\u201360; and \u201cThe Credibility of the Book of the Mormon Translators,\u201d<\/a> in\u00a0Book of Mormon Authorship: New Light on Ancient Origins<\/em>, ed. Noel B. Reynolds and Charles D. Tate (Provo, UT: BYU Religious Studies Center, 1982), 213\u201337. \u00a0But\u00a0Investigating the Book of Mormon Witnesses<\/em>\u00a0remains, I think, the place to start on this vital subject.<\/p>\n John W. Welch, ed.,<\/strong>\u00a0Opening the Heavens: Accounts of Divine Manifestations, 1820\u20131844<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0(Provo, UT: Brigham Young University Press, 2005)<\/a>. \u00a0In this book, the prolific polymath John W. Welch has assembled an impressive collection of original documents relating to six foundational topics in Mormon history: (1)\u00a0the first vision, (2)\u00a0the coming forth of the Book of Mormon, (3)\u00a0the restoration of the priesthood, (4)\u00a0Joseph Smith\u2019s visionary experiences generally, (5)\u00a0the restoration of temple keys, and (6)\u00a0succession in the presidency (specifically the \u201ctransfiguration\u201d of Brigham Young in Nauvoo).<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a>