One review in this edition of the "Review" struck me as not only rabidly orthodox to the apologetic agenda of an apologetic coup, but especially expressive in articulating this agenda in the collective voice of the eerie network itself. This is the essay by Patricia Gunter-Karamesines reviewing Keys to Successful Scripture Study by George A. Horton, Jr. Perhaps this review is so revealing because in aptitude, Patricia is a born dyed-in-the-wool apologist who can tow the party line with the skill and cunning of professors Hamblin or Migdley, but as one with junior or mid-level status and experience, a little less hesitant to state openly the goals of the cabal.
Listen to this blatent back-patting,
PGK wrote:Many readers of the Book of Mormon have undoubtedly been impressed with the results of careful reading manifest in work such as the reprints and working papers from the Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies
An elite craft,
PGK wrote:Much of such materials relies on scholarly methods and materials not generally available
Parroting what we've been instructed by Tvedtness. Up until recently, the world for instance, didn't have the six essays Tvedtness had published, and now, no one should be found writing on the Book of Mormon without quoting them.
PGK wrote:We often tell each other that we must read the scriptures, particularly the Book of Mormon, more. We seldom have available the tools for doing any more than rereading in the same old way. As a result, though perhaps few will admit it publicly, most members have difficulty reading the Book of Mormon regularly and in a truly meaningful way.
This is the old priestcraft that Martin Luther fought so hard to extinguish centuries ago. Back then, the power moved toward the people when the sacred scriptures were made available by a press. In order for the priestly class to take that control back, it's only practical hope is to monopolize the resources by which to properly interpret the sealed book, no lower-case farmboys need apply. So Patricia mentions "literary methods" and these scholarly things the typical TBM does not have access to as requisite for "meaningful" scripture study.
PGK wrote:and only a short, confusing bit of instruction at the book's beginning suggests how to manage the rather eclectic substance of the book to one's benefit.
Of course, the style and structure is taken to task in the usual ways.
PGK wrote:To assert that the Spirit will provide a preface for each reader, so to speak, is not enough, because identifying the influence of the Spirit may be part of a reader's quest as he approaches scripture or books about scripture.
More of the "Gnat Straining" that Gee has famously admitted to be an integral part to reviewing a book apologetic style.
PGK wrote:there is no doubt that, compared to similar books available for public consumption, Keys to Successful Scripture Study is a welcome work in its interdisciplinary approach to scriptural analysis.
The readily identifiable "ABA" anatomy of the Review of "friendlies" gets under way. There isn't much more effort put into complimenting Horton. For instance, as typical, you won't find any details explaining how Horton did a good job. But plenty of energy is spent on the "gnats" and the supposed deeper flaws.
A lot of the criticism is a frontal assult on Horton's Chapel Mormonism,
PGK wrote:Second, Horton's discussion of parables proceeds in a similar way, with an argument that the language of the parables is designed to conceal their meaning from the wicked.
This gets a large paragraph of treatment, obviously.
PGK wrote:Just as a reader will not fail to notice occasionally unschooled and incomplete thinking
Of Joseph Smith? Or any other Chapel Mormon?
PGK wrote:manner in which Horton approaches other subjects, such as the value and use of scriptural commentaries. On the one hand is his opening statement that "commentaries have their place, but they are not to be the chief source of our learning
Clearly echoing Midgley's attack on McConkie's Chapel Mormonism.
PGK wrote:Perhaps Latter-day Saint audiences deserve such distrust in their ability to interpret and apply scriptural wisdom, since the ways in which they commonly do so
The disdain for the Chapel Mormon Commoner, again. The "B" section goes on and on. And finally the "A" at the end, which is by far the most telling passage of the review,
PGK wrote:Nevertheless, this kind of book, with its practical introduction of interdisciplinary scripture study techniques to the average Sunday School-teaching, talk-wielding Latter-day Saint, is a splash of brightness in the dark heavens of contemporary Latter-day Saint scripture study practices.
Tying this in to the introduction clearly expresses the apologetic battle cry to sieze the Chapel. Chapel Mormonism is trash. Internet Mormonism is our salvation. And Chapel Mormons like Horton while wrong on every detail, are to be commended if only for bringing up certain topics that Internet Mormons feel could be leveraged to eventually force their gosepl ideology in total on the entire Church.
Very effective in both the FARMS method, and in making clear the call to dominate the entire doctrinal and intellectual life of the Church.