Devastating Assessment of FARMS Legacy

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_Kishkumen
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Devastating Assessment of FARMS Legacy

Post by _Kishkumen »

This was posted by TT over at Faith Promoting Rumor.

The Legacy of FARMS
June 26, 2012 By TT

Bill Hamblin is right. The old-FARMS is dead. Gerald Bradford didn’t kill it. John Dehlin certainly didn’t kill it. The ouster of Daniel Peterson is not when FARMS died. It died a long time ago, while Peterson was still there. It was absorbed into the Maxwell Institute, which we now know was the beginning of its end, at least in the form in which it appeared in the 1990′s. For various reasons, the FARMS of the 2000′s failed to capture the imagination, attract significant apologetic work, and ultimately find a relevant voice in the new landscape of Mormon Studies. It remains to be seen whether it will find that relevant voice going forward. Through an unfortunate series of mismanagement, much of which is not public information, and much of which has nothing to do with its current director, FARMS gradually fell apart. It is done. There is little hope in reviving the corpse. Instead, I’d like to reflect a bit on its legacy.

First, FARMS leaves behind an enormous wealth of published material. They broke new ground on research into LDS scripture and had a dramatic effect on the way that the Book of Mormon is understood. They successfully championed the limited geography model, chiasmus, Nephi and his Asherah, and numerous other critical ideas that will have a long, defining impact on Book of Mormon studies. Personally, I remain grateful for these exciting works, even the more problematic ones, for treading new ground and giving us something to think about.

Second, they leave behind the FARMS-Signature wars of the 1990′s. This decade was an incredibly polarizing one for LDS scholars and the result of this work was to draw stark boundaries. FARMS enforced its view of where the boundaries were by labeling those with competing views as Cultural Mormons and Apostates. I’ve argued before that the legacy of this was a chilling effect upon a generation of young LDS academics and non-LDS academics who avoided publishing on Mormonism for fear of getting caught up in this manufactured war. I think that those who were already in graduate school in the 1990′s fled Mormonism, fled Mormon Studies, or charted very safe paths to avoid controversy. This was an unfortunate effect of the vigorous defenses of the faith and in my view ended up chilling good-willed scholars.

Third, they leave behind a legacy of young LDS scholars who were undergraduates in the 1990′s. These folks were initially inspired by the exciting scholarship FARMS was pursuing, and energized by the rhetorical volleys. These young scholars headed off to graduate school optimistic about what they would learn. They studied linguistics, biblical studies, American religious history, and Mesoamerican studies. They left graduate school disillusioned of that optimism and critical of their FARMS mentors. The significant apologists today are largely part-timers, not BYU professors with professional training in relevant fields. Perhaps the worst legacy FARMS leaves behind is a younger generation of scholars who is largely unwilling to take their place. That young generation of scholars who went off to graduate school is decidedly cool about taking up either the research agendas FARMS had laid out or the siege mentality that once motivated them to study in the first place. While these scholars owe a debt of gratitude for the inspiration FARMS gave them, they often resent the expectations it set for them, as well as the expectations of their LDS friends and family that their careers follow that same trajectory of FARMS as the only faithful one.

Rather than seeing FARMS as something that could, or even should, last forever, we are starting to see that FARMS represented an important period that has largely come to an end. It introduced wide LDS audiences to academic approaches to scripture and showed that they could pay off. At the same time, these academic conversations have evolved, and new approaches are need for the new questions (and old questions) that have emerged. I am deeply grateful to Peterson, Welch, Hamblin, and others for what they produced. I am also incredibly eager to see what the next generation of Mormon scholars will produce. So far, I am not the least disappointed and don’t miss the old FARMS at all. We’ve seen a proliferation and revitalization of a number of venues for important intellectual work on Mormonism over the past decade. What will emerge from the ashes of the old FARMS is yet unseen. Let us all hope that it will be something worth paying attention to.
"Petition wasn’t meant to start a witch hunt as I’ve said 6000 times." ~ Hanna Seariac, LDS apologist
_Uncle Dale
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Re: Devastating Assessment of FARMS Legacy

Post by _Uncle Dale »

Kishkumen wrote:...
The Legacy of FARMS...

I am deeply grateful to Peterson, Welch, Hamblin, and others for
what they produced...




Yeah, I guess so. Looking back over my moldy stack of FARMs publications,
about all I can recall is that Nephite north isn't geographic north; that
horses are really deer; and that Hill Cumorah isn't in New York state.

I may not be the sharpest toothpick in the pack, but I consider myself
a discriminating consumer of the LDS apologetics product. And, like the
re-fried beans I consumed this afternoon, I have a pretty good idea
about where the final results will be flushed away to...

Perhaps I've overlooked some good stuff -- but somebody will have to
bear an unusually strong testimony to get me to convert to that belief.

UD
-- the discovery never seems to stop --
_Bob Loblaw
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Re: Devastating Assessment of FARMS Legacy

Post by _Bob Loblaw »

Uncle Dale wrote:Yeah, I guess so. Looking back over my moldy stack of FARMs publications,
about all I can recall is that Nephite north isn't geographic north; that
horses are really deer; and that Hill Cumorah isn't in New York state.

I may not be the sharpest toothpick in the pack, but I consider myself
a discriminating consumer of the LDS apologetics product. And, like the
re-fried beans I consumed this afternoon, I have a pretty good idea
about where the final results will be flushed away to...

Perhaps I've overlooked some good stuff -- but somebody will have to
bear an unusually strong testimony to get me to convert to that belief.

UD


The problem I have with apologetics isn't just the aggressive, nasty tone, but that whenever I've dug into their research, it never amounts to anything.
"It doesn't seem fair, does it Norm--that I should have so much knowledge when there are people in the world that have to go to bed stupid every night." -- Clifford C. Clavin, USPS

"¡No contaban con mi astucia!" -- El Chapulin Colorado
_Kishkumen
_Emeritus
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Re: Devastating Assessment of FARMS Legacy

Post by _Kishkumen »

Uncle Dale wrote:Yeah, I guess so. Looking back over my moldy stack of FARMs publications,
about all I can recall is that Nephite north isn't geographic north; that
horses are really deer; and that Hill Cumorah isn't in New York state.

I may not be the sharpest toothpick in the pack, but I consider myself
a discriminating consumer of the LDS apologetics product. And, like the
re-fried beans I consumed this afternoon, I have a pretty good idea
about where the final results will be flushed away to...

Perhaps I've overlooked some good stuff -- but somebody will have to
bear an unusually strong testimony to get me to convert to that belief.

UD


Don't hold back on us now, UD. You're among friends.
"Petition wasn’t meant to start a witch hunt as I’ve said 6000 times." ~ Hanna Seariac, LDS apologist
_Uncle Dale
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Re: Devastating Assessment of FARMS Legacy

Post by _Uncle Dale »

Bob Loblaw wrote:
The problem I have with apologetics isn't just the aggressive, nasty tone, but that whenever I've dug into their research, it never amounts to anything.


Some of the Jesuit stuff can at least get you thinking --
cause you to dust off your Aristotle and your St. Francis.

As for the latter day product -- to me, it's like flat beer.

UD
-- the discovery never seems to stop --
_Kishkumen
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Re: Devastating Assessment of FARMS Legacy

Post by _Kishkumen »

Uncle Dale wrote:As for the latter day product -- to me, it's like flat beer.

UD


Well, arguing in favor of the antiquity of the Book of Mormon in academic discourse is a tall order.
"Petition wasn’t meant to start a witch hunt as I’ve said 6000 times." ~ Hanna Seariac, LDS apologist
_Uncle Dale
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Re: Devastating Assessment of FARMS Legacy

Post by _Uncle Dale »

Kishkumen wrote:
Uncle Dale wrote:As for the latter day product -- to me, it's like flat beer.

UD


Well, arguing in favor of the antiquity of the Book of Mormon in academic discourse is a tall order.


Take the whole Nephite chiasmus "discovery" for example.

First we get told that this was a Hebrew obscurity, long since
forgotten and unknown in America in 1830.

Then we find out that "discovery" report was fudged just a little.
Chiasmus was known to a handful of biblical Hebrew scholars; but
there was no way in hell that Joe Smith knew anything about it.

Then we find out that the whole subject was explicated in great
detail, with English language examples, in an 1825 Philadelphia
publication by the noted English cleric, Thomas Horne; but
there was no way in hell that Joe Smith knew anything about it.

Then Quinn tells that Rev. Horne's book was for sale in Palmyra; but
there was no way in hell that Joe Smith knew anything about it.

Then the CoC Library admits to having Smith's own personal copy of
Horne; but there was no way in hell that Joe Smith.... oops!

Of course the LDS faithful never hear about the last three items I
just listed -- and are happy as clams, twixt a walrus and a carpenter.

Oh! the humanity of it!!

UD
-- the discovery never seems to stop --
_Kishkumen
_Emeritus
Posts: 21373
Joined: Sat Dec 13, 2008 10:00 pm

Re: Devastating Assessment of FARMS Legacy

Post by _Kishkumen »

Uncle Dale wrote:Take the whole Nephite chiasmus "discovery" for example.

First we get told that this was a Hebrew obscurity, long since
forgotten and unknown in America in 1830.

Then we find out that "discovery" report was fudged just a little.
Chiasmus was known to a handful of biblical Hebrew scholars; but
there was no way in hell that Joe Smith knew anything about it.

Then we find out that the whole subject was explicated in great
detail, with English language examples, in an 1825 Philadelphia
publication by the noted English cleric, Thomas Horne; but
there was no way in hell that Joe Smith knew anything about it.

Then Quinn tells that Rev. Horne's book was for sale in Palmyra; but
there was no way in hell that Joe Smith knew anything about it.

Then the CoC Library admits to having Smith's own personal copy of
Horne; but there was no way in hell that Joe Smith.... oops!

Of course the LDS faithful never hear about the last three items I
just listed -- and are happy as clams, twixt a walrus and a carpenter.

Oh! the humanity of it!!

UD


Well, so long as Reverend Spalding didn't own it, my testimony will remain intact.

:lol:
"Petition wasn’t meant to start a witch hunt as I’ve said 6000 times." ~ Hanna Seariac, LDS apologist
_sock puppet
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Re: Devastating Assessment of FARMS Legacy

Post by _sock puppet »

Kishkumen wrote:...
The Legacy of FARMS...

I am deeply grateful to Peterson, Welch, Hamblin, and others for
what they produced...




Uncle Dale wrote:Yeah, I guess so. Looking back over my moldy stack of FARMs publications,
about all I can recall is that Nephite north isn't geographic north; that
horses are really deer; and that Hill Cumorah isn't in New York state.

I may not be the sharpest toothpick in the pack, but I consider myself
a discriminating consumer of the LDS apologetics product. And, like the
re-fried beans I consumed this afternoon, I have a pretty good idea
about where the final results will be flushed away to...

Perhaps I've overlooked some good stuff -- but somebody will have to
bear an unusually strong testimony to get me to convert to that belief.

UD

TT's comments, and UD's commentary, sum it all up.
_sock puppet
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Joined: Fri Jul 23, 2010 2:52 pm

Re: Devastating Assessment of FARMS Legacy

Post by _sock puppet »

I love this thread :cool:
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