In a recent blog David Bokovoy has claimed that “what this [dispute] is all really about is what style of apologetics the MI should pursue.” This is, to put it mildly, a gross oversimplification. David would be well advised to actually ask us what our objections are to the New Direction at the MI. I have hardly been reticent or vague about the matter. The fact that the new regime may object to what they feel are overly harsh apologetic articles... Read more
David Bokovoy advises that we should Remind youth … that [Church] leaders have made mistakes in the past and that if [liberal Mormons are] correct, that supporting same-sex marriages is the correct moral path, then the Church will eventually make changes similar to those related to the Priesthood ban. Of course, I don’t believe Church leaders are infallible. But there are two different approaches to prophetic fallibility. The conservative approach is that they might be mistaken about some things, the liberal approach is... Read more
At the risk of being accused of shameless sycophancy, I agree with virtually everything Dan Peterson says here regarding a recent blog by David Bokovoy. Read more
I have come to despair of ever having a coherent discussion with liberal Mormons. Conservatives and Liberals each accuse the other of misrepresentation, while constantly talking past one another. (Note, I consider myself an LDS moderate, since I believe in evolution, billions of years of the Earth’s existence, etc. So even at the beginning there is confusion when liberal Mormons call me a conservative.) The latest example come from David Bokovoy here. Among many other things, David misrepresents my position on biblical and... Read more
More important insights from Ralph Hancock on the issue of “new directions” in Mormon studies. http://www.patheos.com/blogs/soulandcity/2014/12/intellect-and-affection-how-to-be-a-faithful-mormon-intellectual/ The issues Hancock raises deserve–but as yet have not received–serious and coherent answers. Read more
More excellent insights from Ralph Hancock about the controversies related to the new direction of the Maxwell Institute (from his Patheos blog). Read more
Ralph Hancock’s important insights into the controversy surrounding the new direction at the Maxwell Institute. Ralph Hancock, “To Whom Shall We Go? From ‘Apologetics’ to ‘Mormon Studies’” from Expand on Meridian. Read more
The Maxwell Institute expands the boundaries on the forefront of the “new” of Mormon Studies. “In the long run, a uniform and dominant-white-male, straight gaze hinders new avenues of self-discovery as Mormonism studies comes of age in a multicultural, multiethnic, gendered, queer America.” Roy Whitaker, “Religious Dialogue across Lines of Difference: Mormons, Evangelicals, and Others Agreeing to Disagree,” Mormon Studies Review 2 (2015): 114. The entire article can be found online here at Professor Whitaker’s academia.edu web page. Read more
Anti-Mormons, liberal Mormons, and secular historians have posited many different models and sources to explain the Restoration. Magic, esotericism, Freemasonry, American interpretations of the origins of Indians, nineteenth century biblical studies, American political theory, and revivalist or primitivist Protestantism, opposition to Enlightenment philosophy etc. have all been proposed as models. Each of these proposed models or theories have received detailed response and criticism by LDS scholars. But whatever the relative explanatory merits of these individual theories, one important fact must be... Read more
Without clarity there can be no understanding. Human language is inherently ambiguous. We’ve all experienced being misunderstood as well as misunderstanding. Generally misunderstanding is sincere. Sometimes, however, it is intentional. Throughout the internet I have been repeatedly vilified for supposedly intentionally misrepresenting Ben Park’s position. That is not true. I may have misunderstood him, but it was a sincere misunderstanding. I accept Ben Park at his word that he believes in the historicity and antiquity of the Book of Mormon.... Read more
Enigmatic Mirror
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