See part 1 here. This post is super quote-heavy and light on analysis. I simply want to convey a sense of Roberts’s presentation and get his argument on the table for discussion (as well as point out that his argument was virtually ignored at the time it was first explained and seems to have been largely forgotten since). Roberts rejected Smith’s scriptural exegesis regarding the condition of Eve and Adam in the Garden of Eden on logical grounds, and in... Read more

I have recently read two posts on testimony the I have loved: Ronan’s beautiful “On these three thing hangs my testimony.” And Enoch’s thought provoking post on sharing “nuancimony.” In honor of these posts (and the addition of Enoch as a permablogger to FPR), I share with you this testimony: Read more

Among a certain class of LDS biblical scholars, there exists a definite nostalgia for earlier eras of biblical scholarship.  It has been reported to me that one senior scholar has repeatedly professed his preference for 19th century  biblical scholarship in terms of the methods, questions, and assumptions on which it was based.  A recent Mormon Times report about an Education Week presentation by a FARMS employee emphasized early Christian methods for studying the scriptures, including personal imagination, historical literalism, and... Read more

This image from San Apollinare Nuovo, the 6th c. basillica in Ravenna, Italy has been the foundation of wide spread folk speculation in Mormonism.  It appears to be a veil with a hand sticking out in a welcoming gesture to follow the hand inside.  Furthermore, the robes of some of the figures coming out of this place (seen below) are white and have familiar markings (though in different places than LDS might expect).  LDS members have promoted this image as... Read more

It is my great pleasure to introduce our new guest blogger: BHodges. He is a familiar name and face around the bloggernacle and Mormon Studies circles. A recent graduate of the University of Utah (GO UTES!) in communications with a minor in religious studies, BHodges blogs at Life on Gold Plates. Blair has published reviews and articles in a number of places (he really makes me look bad in this regard), including an article titled “All Find What They Truly... Read more

Word. I’m BHodges. I blog at lifeongoldplates.com and currently host the FAIR podcast. I was invited to do a few guest posts over here at faithpromotingrumor this month. I’m starting with a bit about B.H. Roberts’s “The Truth, The Way, The Life.” B.H. Roberts considered his manuscript The Truth, The Way, The Life (TWL) to be “the most important work that I have yet contributed to the Church, the six-volumed Comprehensive History of the Church not omitted.”1 TWL aimed to be “the... Read more

Now that I live in Wyoming, I feel that I must speak out on something. The title of rodeo clown is being misused and abused for a vile purpose. A certain somebody claims that he is just a rodeo clown. Does he know what rodeo clowns do? I doubt it because rodeo clowns put their lives on the line. After a bull rider has been tossed from the bull, the rodeo clown leaps into action. Their goal is to draw... Read more

I started thinking about writing this post last testimony meeting. I do still bear my testimony, and several people usually comment on it, though I think only my wife hears what I am really saying. But I wanted the chance to write out what I really believe, to express my nuanced testimony. Several factors motivated this post. As I stated, I rarely get the chance to lay out what I sincerely believe, and have never done so in writing. I... Read more

In case you are feeling overwhelmed with the beginning of the new semester and need a shot of encouragement, here you go. (NB I am not a new professor and so have no business reading this letter. But perhaps there are some who will care to comment.) Among the many happy thoughts offered, I’ll single out this one: We all know the little secrets of “scholarship” too, such as using others’ work rather than doing the work for ourselves, and... Read more