Church News Downplays Significance of Book of Abraham

[pellegrino]

I am glad the Maxwell Institute cleared this up....


http://mormonscriptureexplorations.o...cial-position/

Big changes at the Maxwell Institute with the new guard. They've invited a lot of fringe, cultural Mormon types to participate in a "Book of Mormon Think Tank" with the purpose of pushing BoM studies more toward literature.

[Jeff Lebowski]

What makes their consternation so inadvertently entertaining is the fact that FARMS--and, in particular, Hamblin and Peterson--for years did precisely this same kind of thing with Book of Mormon geography. "Well, there is no official church position on where the events took place and Joseph Smith's statements weren't authoritative," etc. etc.

Of course they are the first to defend the "limited geography" theory (more specifically, limiting the events to Mesoamerica) and dutifully instruct lay members that appearances and church leader statements not withstanding, the BoM is not about the vast majority of the indigenous peoples of the New World but only a very small subset.

Go ask your orthodox Joe in the pews which position is heretical--Hodges's hedging about the BoA or Peterson's views on BoM geography--and he'll probably say "both."

Wow. Check out the comment section of that blog article and see how William Hamblin and others go after David Bokovoy. Assholes for Jesus.

[San Juan Sun]

Wow. Check out the comment section of that blog article and see how William Hamblin and others go after David Bokovoy. Assholes for Jesus.

I read those comments. Wow.

[pellegrino]

Does anyone know if William Hamblin is related to Dr. Laura Hamblin of the UVU English dept.? I would find that deliciously ironic if they were siblings.

[CardiacCoug]

Wow. Check out the comment section of that blog article and see how William Hamblin and others go after David Bokovoy. Assholes for Jesus.

Yeah those comments are good stuff -- very entertaining.

[LA Ute]

Not knowing much about the players, I think Hamblin comes across in that exchange as a strident knucklehead.


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[Tim]

Not knowing much about the players, I think Hamblin comes across in that exchange as a strident knucklehead.

Seemed that way to me, too.

[Topper]

Hamblin sounds as LA describes him.

[Harry Tic]

Hamblin sounds as LA describes him.

Peterson was ignominiously dismissed from his Maxwell Institute responsibilities (while retaining his faculty position at BYU); Hamblin has publicly acknowledged the dressing down he received from his department chair for devoting so much time to work that doesn't qualify as scholarship. And yet they just don't get it: trolling =/= scholarship. Lebowski's reference to Peterson's "cronies" is spot on. There is a little band of online sycophants that treat them (particularly Peterson) like rock stars and they clearly enjoy basking in the glory.

[Uncle Ted]

Does anyone know if William Hamblin is related to Dr. Laura Hamblin of the UVU English dept.? I would find that deliciously ironic if they were siblings.

I don't think so but this is pretty funny...

After becoming upset with Brent Metcalfe, a scholar who had criticized the Book of Mormon, Hamblin published a paper in the 1994 FARMS Review which included an encrypted message stating "Metcalfe is Butthead." After the Review went to press, the editors became aware of this barb and hastily removed it.[7] Metcalfe expressed surprise that Hamblin "would stoop to such an inane level."[8] Jerald and Sandra Tanner, frequent critics of the LDS church, characterized this as simply another example of Hamblin's personal attacks on those who criticize his work or the LDS church.[8]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_J._Hamblin

[Topper]

Peterson was ignominiously dismissed from his Maxwell Institute responsibilities (while retaining his faculty position at BYU); Hamblin has publicly acknowledged the dressing down he received from his department chair for devoting so much time to work that doesn't qualify as scholarship. And yet they just don't get it: trolling =/= scholarship. Lebowski's reference to Peterson's "cronies" is spot on. There is a little band of online sycophants that treat them (particularly Peterson) like rock stars and they clearly enjoy basking in the glory.

I don't like the Peterson/Hamblin approach, one which is condescending and takes "you aren't a true believer if you don't agree with me" approach.

As a side note, Peterson has a small work on Mohammed that I actually enjoyed and provided some insight into Mohammed may have been, from a neutral, academic perspective. That actually makes Peterson more irritating, knowing he has the ability to be somewhat sensible if he wanted to.

[PaloAltoCougar]

I don't like the Peterson/Hamblin approach, one which is condescending and takes "you aren't a true believer if you don't agree with me" approach.

As a side note, Peterson has a small work on Mohammed that I actually enjoyed and provided some insight into Mohammed may have been, from a neutral, academic perspective. That actually makes Peterson more irritating, knowing he has the ability to be somewhat sensible if he wanted to.

I may be off by a few days, but he (Peterson, not Mohammed) was sacked by the Maxwell Institute while he was helping guide a tour group we were part of in Israel and Jordan last year. Jack Welch was the other tour leader. Dan has a great wealth of knowledge on things relating to the Middle East and has a very dry sense of humor, so he was excellent in that setting. The apologetics stuff and his defensiveness are unfortunate.

[ERCougar]

I may be off by a few days, but he (Peterson, not Mohammed) was sacked by the Maxwell Institute while he was helping guide a tour group we were part of in Israel and Jordan last year. Jack Welch was the other tour leader. Dan has a great wealth of knowledge on things relating to the Middle East and has a very dry sense of humor, so he was excellent in that setting. The apologetics stuff and his defensiveness are unfortunate.

I don't know DP, but when I've heard him in person, he's nothing like he comes across online. I guess that's true of a lot of people.

Welch was in my stake presidency when I was at BYU. He ended up speaking quite a bit for various things and was always my favorite speaker.

[jay santos]

Peterson was ignominiously dismissed from his Maxwell Institute responsibilities (while retaining his faculty position at BYU); Hamblin has publicly acknowledged the dressing down he received from his department chair for devoting so much time to work that doesn't qualify as scholarship. And yet they just don't get it: trolling =/= scholarship. Lebowski's reference to Peterson's "cronies" is spot on. There is a little band of online sycophants that treat them (particularly Peterson) like rock stars and they clearly enjoy basking in the glory.

It's mind boggling how lacking in self awareness this group is. They just don't get it.

[Solon]

Peterson was ignominiously dismissed from his Maxwell Institute responsibilities (while retaining his faculty position at BYU); Hamblin has publicly acknowledged the dressing down he received from his department chair for devoting so much time to work that doesn't qualify as scholarship. And yet they just don't get it: trolling =/= scholarship. Lebowski's reference to Peterson's "cronies" is spot on. There is a little band of online sycophants that treat them (particularly Peterson) like rock stars and they clearly enjoy basking in the glory.

It's funny how small the world is. As a college kid at the U., I met Hamblin about 15 years ago socially and I asked him how to become a historian. He asked if I could drive down to Provo, made a 90 minute appointment with me in his office, and gave me some really solid academic and professional advice over the course of our meeting. I've always been grateful to him for reaching out to a kid like me, esp. since I didn't even attend the byu.

He would probably call me names too if I told him what I think of the Book of Abraham, but I have always had a soft spot in my heart for his generosity.