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I'm pleased to report that FARMS Review 22/2 (2010) has just arrived from the press. Here are the contents:

Editor’s Introduction

Daniel C. Peterson, "An Unapologetic Apology for Apologetics"

Neal A. Maxwell Lecture

Mark H. Willes, "To All the World: Reinventing the Church’s Media Businesses"

Book of Mormon

Bruce H. Porter and Rod L. Meldrum, Prophecies and Promises: The Book of Mormon and the United States of America

Reviewed twice by Matthew Roper, in two distinct essays:

"Joseph Smith, Revelation, and Book of Mormon Geography"

and also

"Losing the Remnant: The New Exclusivist ‘Movement’ and the Book of Mormon"

Articles

Robert F. Smith, "Epistolary Form in the Book of Mormon"

Steven L. Olsen, "The Covenant of the Promised Land: Territorial Symbolism in the Book of Mormon"

Response to Criticism

William D. Russell, "A Further Inquiry into the Historicity of the Book of Mormon"

Reviewed by Kevin Christensen

Religiosity of American Teenagers

Christian Smith, Souls in Transition: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of Emerging Adults

and

Mark Regnerus, Forbidden Fruit: Sex and Religion in the Lives of American Teenagers

Reviewed by John Gee

Book Notes

Mark Lyman Staker, Hearken O Ye People: The Historical Setting of Joseph Smith’s Ohio Revelations

Reviewed by George Mitton

Christopher Catherwood, The Evangelicals: What They Believe, Where They Are, and Their Politics,

Reviewed by Louis Midgley

Royal Skousen, The Book of Mormon: The Earliest Text

Reviewed by Daniel C. Peterson

Kenda Creasy Dean, Almost Christian: What the Faith of Our Teenagers Is Telling the American Church

Reviewed by Daniel C. Peterson

N. T. Wright, Following Jesus: Biblical Reflections on Discipleship

Reviewed by Louis Midgley

About the Contributors


Now, I should make clear that the new Review is hot off the press, meaning that I, as an editor, just got mine. Meaning, also, that -- especially at this season of the year -- it's going to take at least a week or two before it starts going out to subscribers, showing up in bookstores, appearing on line, and etc. So please be patient. And please don't start calling the Maxwell Institute office for it right away!

For all those unfamiliar with Daniel Peterson and his church authorized group, here are a few things you should be aware of.

If you have troubling questions concerning the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, this is the place where you are directed to go for doctrinal clarification.

The modern day prophets and apostles are very busy. For this purpose they set apart husbandmen to manage this work load at the FARMS/Maxwell Institute.

I was directed by my Stake President to FARMS because he had little knowledge of the actual troubling history of the church. In fact he was not aware of any issues himself until I brought them to his attention.

You will discover that Daniel Peterson's group knows a great deal about these troublesome issues and have been called by the prophet and funded by the church to assist members in these matters. It you wish, you can petition daniel or the other directors personally. They will be most helpful in influencing your decisions concerning your faith in the church they are called to represent.

Daniel Peterson wrote:If you would like, feel free to drop me a note at daniel_peterson@BYU.edu regarding your concerns.

It never hurts to help.

Thank you for your insight Inc.

I hope both posts from you and brother Peterson are helpful to visitors to this wonderful discussion board of Mormon topics.

I am very grateful for this MormonDiscussions.com website. I know with every fiber-optic of my ISP that the discussions on this board are true.

I post these things in the name of Jesus Christ,

Amen.

FARMS Review 22/2 (2010) is, by the way, now available on line:

http://maxwellinstitute.BYU.edu/publica ... l=22&num=2

This one is great!

Losing the Remnant: The New Exclusivist "Movement" and the Book of Mormon
by: Matthew Roper, 87-124

Over 30 pages of castigating Porter and Meldrum for not being hemispheric enough in their thinking about Book of Mormon geography. If you don't think Book of Mormon geography is hemispheric, read this for lots and lots of quotes from the D&C, temple dedications, and the Book of Mormon itself showing that hemispheric is the only reasonable interpretation of Book of Mormon geography - therefore Porter and Meldrum are wrong.

NorthboundZax wrote:Over 30 pages of castigating Porter and Meldrum for not being hemispheric enough in their thinking about Book of Mormon geography. If you don't think Book of Mormon geography is hemispheric, read this for lots and lots of quotes from the D&C, temple dedications, and the Book of Mormon itself showing that hemispheric is the only reasonable interpretation of Book of Mormon geography - therefore Porter and Meldrum are wrong.

Wait, WHAT?? FARMS just printed a review that directly contradicts their own decades-long drogma??

I'm going to have to see this for myself.

This quote from an article in which the sexual proclivities of college-age young adults is interesting:

Since nationally "only 2.3 percent of all men and 1.3 percent of all women . . . self-identify as homosexual,"  there is little reason to assume that the percentages among Latter-day Saints exceed those figures. Regnerus suggests that the data should be taken as an indication of self-selection: "Youth who experience same-sex attraction or wish to identify themselves as something besides heterosexual likely self-select away from extensive religious participation."  The data, however, can also be read as indicating that the more religious the upbringing, the more likely it is for a youth to be heterosexual. Such an explanation, however, is usually discounted.

Hmmmmm.....