{"id":112256,"date":"2025-08-07T19:43:17","date_gmt":"2025-08-08T01:43:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?p=112256"},"modified":"2025-08-07T19:43:17","modified_gmt":"2025-08-08T01:43:17","slug":"a-report-from-the-floor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2025\/08\/a-report-from-the-floor.html","title":{"rendered":"A report from the floor"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Abraham<\/a>
The patriarch Abraham in an anonymous icon
(Wikimedia Commons public domain image)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Interpreter Foundation\u2019s Thursday chapter reprint has appeared: \u00a0Seek Ye Words of Wisdom<\/em>: \u201cAll Kindreds Shall Be Blessed: Nephite, Jewish, and Christian Interpretations of the Abrahamic Covenant,\u201d<\/a> written by Noel B. Reynolds<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Part of our book chapter reprint series, this article originally appeared in Seek Ye Words of Wisdom: Studies of the Book of Mormon, Bible, and Temple in Honor of Stephen D. Ricks<\/em>, edited by Donald W. Parry, Gaye Strathearn, and Shon D. Hopkin. For more information, go to https:\/\/interpreterfoundation.org\/books\/seek-ye-words-of-wisdom\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cOver the last two decades there has been a small, but important, revival of scholarly interest in the ancient promises God made to Abraham. The resurgence of scholarly study on this topic appears to be a natural consequence of the major transitions taking place in Old Testament studies across the board. As the last two centuries\u2019 dominance by source criticism fades faster and faster, scholars favoring holistic and literary approaches to the canonical texts are taking new looks at old materials that had been thought by most to have been exhausted long since.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"The<\/a>
The most prominent symbol of Thanksgiving Point stands just to the west of I-i5. (Wikimedia Commons public domain image)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Deseret News ran an article today about Aaron Sherinian\u2019s keynote address at the 2025 FAIR Conference, which he gave last night (Wednesday night): \u00a0\u201cLatter-day Saint communications manager asks church members to \u2018move off the sidelines\u2019:\u00a0Communication Department director shared statistics he called a \u2018wondrous reality check\u2019 about faith and the church\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

I\u2019m up at Thanksgiving Point again today, at the 2025 FAIR Conference, and I\u2019ll probably be here until well into the evening. \u00a0You can look at the Thursday program, as well as at abstracts of the presentations and at the biographies of the speakers, here<\/a>. \u00a0But I want to share some of my own brief and inadequate comments about the events of the day:<\/p>\n