Dave's Mormon Inquiry

Getting Past the KJV

The Summer 2012 issue of Dialogue contains an article by Grant Hardy titled "The King James Bible and the Future of Missionary Work." The main point Hardy stresses in the article is that the King James Version (KJV) has become so outdated that it now creates problems for LDS missionaries using the KJV in their teaching. Recounting a missionary encounter of his own with a young woman who was reading selected scriptures in her New International Version (NIV) Bible along with the visiting LDS missionaries, Hardy comments, "The meanings did not match up. ... The elders were flustered .... In this case, our exclusive reliance on the King James Version ... had become a barrier to sharing the message of the gospel" (p. 1). Given how few denominations still rely on the KJV and the popularity of newer and better translations like the NIV and the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV), I am certain similar episodes occur hundreds of times each month.

Practical Apologetics: Defining the middle path in Mormonism

Rachel's post at Times and Seasons couple of weeks ago, The Threat of New Order Mormons, attracted so much discussion that I would like to follow up with my own discussion of middle-path Mormons. Various terms are used to describe those who self-categorize themselves as something other than fully active, fully believing Mormons: Uncorrelated Mormons, Cultural Mormons, New Order Mormons, Liahona Mormons, and so forth. My view is that there are many paths that lead away from full activity and belief, so it is wrong to expect one label to adequately describe what is actually happening. It's clear these members move away from the center of Mormonism on some items of belief or practice, but which items are the problem for any given individual varies across the population. Here are some different half-way paths.

Assessing the Optimal Degree of Religious Certainty

So I read through Terry Eagleton's Trouble With Strangers: A Study of Ethics (Wiley-Blackwell, 2009). It wasn't quite what I'd hoped, as he doesn't directly engage with either classical or recent ethical theories; rather, he pursues what one might call a literary approach to a philosophical topic. That worked for his earlier short treatments, such as Reason, Faith, and Revolution: Reflections on the God Debate. Here, he shoehorned the entire book into Jacques Lacan's imaginary-symbolic-real paradigm and used Lacan's mirror image metaphor as a touchstone throughout the book. Some readers might find that an insightful approach to ethical issue and questions, but not me. I did enjoy the discussion of Alain Badiou and his idea of "truth events."

FAIR Jumping Over a Cliff?

The ad hominem virus may be contagious. Having killed FARMS, it has apparently jumped to FAIR. At least that's what I take away from a recent post at the FAIR Blog, "It's a Matter of Relevance." Let's vary the metaphor a bit: FARMS has driven off a cliff. FAIR walks up to the edge, surveys the wreckage below, and announces: "Let's jump." Alas, just when we need the sort of practical apologetics that FAIR has pursued so successfully over the years, they post a spirited defense of attackogetics. This is very discouraging.

How Modern Are We?

The LDS Newsroom just posted another interesting essay, "Mormon and Modern." The essay seems designed primarily as talking points for a gentle defense to secular critics who dismiss religion in general as a form of superstition unfit for the modern world and Mormonism in particular as a new and therefore even less welcome example of religion.