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Professor Givens' "Crucible of Doubt" UK Tour on the “new” Church History – 6/11/13
During May 2013, under the apparent direction of the Church, LDS apologist Terryl Givens and his wife Fiona toured the UK and Ireland giving firesides on the ‘Crucible of Doubt’. MormonThink received many emails after these firesides, including a link to an audio tape made by a member in attendance. The firesides appeared to be apologetic in nature mentioning that there are some historical issues coming to light in the LDS Church which is causing members to doubt the Church. An e-mail was sent to all leadership that no missionaries, investigators or youth should attend. Click here for more information
UPDATE: Provo, UT Fireside planned in July
Church to release answers to troubling issues - 6/3/13 - Updates at bottom - 6/4/13
MormonThink has learned from multiple reliable sources that the LDS Church will soon begin publishing on the official Church website a series of at least 13 essays addressing controversial historical Church topics. The rising tide of accurate, first-hand historical source documents available for faithful members to research on the internet has forced the LDS General Authorities to move beyond giving shallow answers to the issues these documents raise.
The essays addressing historical concerns will provide more extensive details and will attempt to re-contextualize the first-hand source documents regarding topics that the Church deems most problematic for its members. Among the first essays approved by the First Presidency and slated for release at this time will be the multiple, differing accounts of Joseph Smith's First Vision -- a subject that will undoubtedly catch many lifelong members by surprise as most will learn about these alternate, conflicting First Vision accounts for the first time.
We are encouraged to hear that the Church leadership is finally acknowledging the reality of the varying historical accounts, and is making what appears to be a good-faith effort to share this factual information with the general Church membership. It is our hope that the growing availability of information that contradicts the Church's depictions of historical events will encourage the Church to break its pattern of marginalizing and trivializing accounts that challenge official Church versions (e.g., Book of Abraham translation issues, Book of Mormon historicity, polygamy). We hope that Church leaders will be forthright regarding all aspects of the historical record and do not merely summarize the issues and quickly dismiss them. As always, we encourage faithful members to explore the information and source documents objectively to determine if the interpretations the Church provides are the most probable or likely interpretations.
We at MormonThink will be certain to examine these essays for historical and contextual accuracy and provide the most relevant and accurate information to our readers for a balanced review of the topics addressed. We are hopeful that the Church, with its vast resources, will provide full and complete detail on each topic. If it falls short on this, you can be assured that MormonThink, with its small team of volunteer contributors, will correct any misrepresentations and fill in any identified gaps.
More on this story: Mormon Disclosures Blog
Exit Narratives Sought - 5/27/13
A volunteer research group is looking for exit stories from those who lost faith, or are losing faith, in the LDS church. This is your chance to let church leaders know about the emotional pain and difficulties experienced by those who no longer believe. Exit narratives are to be 700 words or less and remain anonymous. A short survey and the submission form is found here: https://faithcrisis.wufoo.com/forms/faith-crisis-stories/
Letter to a CES Director - 4/23/13
A current lifelong Latter-day Saint, Jeremy Runnells was asked by a CES Director in April 2013 to share with him Jeremy’s questions and concerns regarding the LDS Church and its truth claims. The following letter is Jeremy’s response: A Letter to a CES Director
Note: The most up-to-date version of this file will be permanently available on the personal stories webpage under Jeremy Runnells.
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