If you believe the truth is a betrayal, then you’re on the wrong side.
Is a history the truth, though? I don’t know. It is an interpretation of facts about the past that form some kind of representative narrative. It can do a better or worse job of providing a persuasive and illuminating narrative. I think Park does a great job. The results aren’t always flattering of the Nauvoo saints and their leaders. But it is hardly an anti-Mormon book.
Black wants a real hagiography and nothing else. I suppose there is a place for that, but hagiography is not a job for a historian.
"He disturbs the laws of his country, he forces himself upon women, and he puts men to death without trial.” ~Otanes on the monarch, Herodotus Histories 3.80.
Kishkumen wrote:Look at the reaction Benjamin Park got for his book on Nauvoo. He gets some third-rate excuse for a review, which is essentially TBM bellyaching about how he betrayed the Prophet, instead of sincere appreciation for his scholarship
I don't know anything about this episode. In your view, was he doomed prior to writing the book based on what faithful 'scholars' knew about his politics, or was it it gut reaction to the book, knowing nothing beforehand about the author?
My recollection is that Park had a target on his back. I believe that he was aligned with the “new” Maxwell Institute/ Mormon Studies crowd in the wake of the end of classic FARMS and there were some heated words from Hamblin, If I recall correctly.
"If, while hoping that everybody else will be honest and so forth, I can personally prosper through unethical and immoral acts without being detected and without risk, why should I not?." --Daniel Peterson, 6/4/14
I don't know anything about this episode. In your view, was he doomed prior to writing the book based on what faithful 'scholars' knew about his politics, or was it it gut reaction to the book, knowing nothing beforehand about the author?
My recollection is that Park had a target on his back. I believe that he was aligned with the “new” Maxwell Institute/ Mormon Studies crowd in the wake of the end of classic FARMS and there were some heated words from Hamblin, If I recall correctly.
Yes, Bill Hamblin was a total dick to Benjamin Park. However, it should be noted that Bill Hamblin’s dickish behavior towards Benjamin Park was before Bill became disillusioned with the Church and became inactive.
I also heard rumors that Bill Hamblin became disillusioned with the Church, and DCP even insinuated that Hamblin was “shacking up” with a new love interest when he died.
"If, while hoping that everybody else will be honest and so forth, I can personally prosper through unethical and immoral acts without being detected and without risk, why should I not?." --Daniel Peterson, 6/4/14
I also heard rumors that Bill Hamblin became disillusioned with the Church, and DCP even insinuated that Hamblin was “shacking up” with a new love interest when he died.
Can we get a source for that one? Looking his wiki it shows he married in Feb 2019 and then passing ~6 months later. Having an affair that year doesn’t make any sense.
- Doc
Hiring a part-time news entertainment anchor as SecDef, what could go wrong?
I also heard rumors that Bill Hamblin became disillusioned with the Church, and DCP even insinuated that Hamblin was “shacking up” with a new love interest when he died.
I think it was BYU he was disillusioned with. See DocCam’s post above re: partners.
"He disturbs the laws of his country, he forces himself upon women, and he puts men to death without trial.” ~Otanes on the monarch, Herodotus Histories 3.80.
I also heard rumors that Bill Hamblin became disillusioned with the Church, and DCP even insinuated that Hamblin was “shacking up” with a new love interest when he died.
Can we get a source for that one? Looking his wiki it shows he married in Feb 2019 and then passing ~6 months later. Having an affair that year doesn’t make any sense.
- Doc
Did he the ex Mrs Hamblin request a temple divorce? Is Bill now sealed to 2 women? Did DCP distance himself from the second Mrs Hamblin, and by association spend less time with Bill? Does DCP disapprove of the second Mrs Hamblin?
Premise 1. Eyewitness testimony is notoriously unreliable.
Premise 2. The best evidence for the Book of Mormon is eyewitness testimony.
Conclusion. Therefore, the best evidence for the Book of Mormon is notoriously unreliable.
Can we get a source for that one? Looking his wiki it shows he married in Feb 2019 and then passing ~6 months later. Having an affair that year doesn’t make any sense.
- Doc
Did he the ex Mrs Hamblin request a temple divorce? Is Bill now sealed to 2 women? Did DCP distance himself from the second Mrs Hamblin, and by association spend less time with Bill? Does DCP disapprove of the second Mrs Hamblin?
Being sealed to multiple women is such an important part of Mormonism that I can’t imagine he missed out on it.
I also heard rumors that Bill Hamblin became disillusioned with the Church, and DCP even insinuated that Hamblin was “shacking up” with a new love interest when he died.
It's no secret that Bill Hamblin has a sibling who is a well-known English professor at UVU. This sibling left the Church a few years before Bill died, but is still active in publishing and research related to Mormon history.
I've worked indirectly on a few projects with Bill's sibling and it was confirmed that Bill had a very "uneasy" and "contentious" relationship with the Church before he died.
I really wish Bill had lived a few more years. I would have loved to have seen him post here, much like former apologists, Philo and Shulem. Just think of all the inside information he could have shared.
"I'm on paid sabbatical from BYU in exchange for my promise to use this time to finish two books."
