To satisfy a friend and my brother, I'm going to read some apologetic sources so I can be "fair and balanced" in my analysis.

Does anyone know of some good resources? I've read most of what's on the FAIR site, they certainly don't help too much. Any book suggestions?

I would start with:
1491 by Charles C. Mann he is a good academic source for ancient American history to include agriculture, metalurgy, writing systems etc. He also explores DNA in the Americas.

For additional DNA issues I suggest the March 2006 issue of National Geographic.


Who knows someone better than their own mother?
The History of Joseph Smith by his Mother Lucy Mack Smith.
Best book ever on the Smith family. Written by an insider.

I misread you post.
The books I suggested are not apologetic.
1491 is a good academic book.

Mother Smith's book probably is not considered apologetic either.

Both are good sources though when trying to balance one side from the other.

Use an older copy of Mother Smith's book to avoid later "corrections"

No, there are no good apologetic resources, they all suck ass. Academically the biggest waste of time, I got more out of comic books, intellectually speaking.

The problem is the assumption that there is such thing as a balance between reality and delusion. There is not. All apologetic works are un-official ways to do mental gymnastics and perpetuate delusion. If you wouldn't believe a dude who claims to speak with God today, practices polygamy or runs a doomsday cult, you shouldn't follow one that died 150 years ago...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/05/2013 09:53AM by laughingloud.

+1

The best response to this is to tell your TBM friends & family that you'll read any apologetic resources they can provide that are officially endorsed by the Q12 and 1P.

That will shut them up..

+1

LDS apologetics have one purpose: to defend the church no matter what. So they're biased. Then there are those of us on the other side who say it's a load of baloney. So we're biased. I suppose you could find someone who says it's a little true and a little baloney. Is that "balance?" Or does balance come form exploring the two poles of opinion equally?

B H Roberts "Book of Mormon Studies" is about as close as I can think of. He seemed to be trying to find the truth.

He presented what he called "difficulties" to the 12 and asked for answers/revelation to resolve them. Instead they each bore their testimony.

I think it crushed him.

Read the BOM and POGP and pray about it alla Moroni's promise. When you get a stupor of thought than you have your answer per Mormon Jesus, Joseph Smith and Moroni. What TBM would ask for anything more than that?

Your post is a little confusing. You said you already read most of FAIR. Wouldn't reading FAIR satisfy their request for apologetic writing???

And if YOU are willing to read something apologetic shouldn't they have to read something critical?

The eveloution of god by robert wright

I spent 55 years as a believer, reading only church approved materials. I don't think there is any way to balance out the new information I have learned with what I have been taught all my life, I won't live that long. The new information carries more weight because of it's accuracy and documentation than the old information. There is no way for any apologist to fix that and balance everything out. The new information carries weight, the spin to explain it is just fluff, it adds no weight to the balance.

They're not exactly apologetics, but I gained a lot of insight into the church from "All Abraham's Children" and "The Angel and the Beehive." Both are by Armand Mauss and both are scholarly works that look at heavy topics in mormonism with a critical, but friendly eye.

Try to get your hands on some Hugh Nibley material or his son-in-law, Scott Petersen. Nibley made an effort to defend the Book of Abraham.

I would not touch nibley with a 30 foot pole.
He knows little of Egyptology, invents references and doesn't know the difference between male and female.
(My dog could translate better than him)

There is no apologetic balance. Most 'anti-mormon' material is based on source material and all of the problems that arise when doing a critical examination of such. Most apologetic material only tries to explain the problems that examining the aforesaid source material produced. In the end there are no logical explanations that stand up to muster and you're left with the truth. Joseph Smith was an undeniable fraud.

I would put the onus on them to bring me the apologetics and then counter it with source material refutation.