The Interpreter Foundation Podcast

For more information on the “Not by Bread Alone: Stories of the Saints in Africa” series, go to https://notbybreadalonefilm.com/en/For more information in French, go to https://notbybreadalonefilm.com/fr/To see all of our posts about The Church in Africa, go to https://interpreterfoundation.org/category/africa/

 

“We Absolutely Fell in Love with the People”: A New Short FilmAbout Africa with Elder and Sister Renlund

In the early days of “Not by Bread Alone,” Junior Banza and I discussed what a treasure it would be if Church members could see and hear senior Church leaders reflect firsthand on their experiences in Africa. Given the direct involvement of several of them in the growth of the Church on the continent as well as their long-term prophetic perspective on its past and future, this would provide an unparalleled view of the divine unfolding of these events from a front-row seat.

Due to existing, essential demands for their comments from professional journalists and newscasters in and out of the Church on top of an already impossible load in carrying out their primary Church responsibilities, there seemed little hope for our prospects. With some sheepishness, I broached the subject with sympathetic colleagues at the Church History Department, but the initial feedback was not encouraging.

However, after Matthew J. Grow, Managing Director of the Church History Department, became aware of our request, he saw enough value in it that he agreed to help. Thanks to him and to others who generously assisted behind the scenes, the request was brought forward to a successful end. Some weeks later, to our surprise and incredible delight, Junior and I found ourselves on a set in the basement of the Church Office Building for a two-hour face-to-face video conversation with Elder Dale G. and Sister Ruth L. Renlund.

The short video linked at the end of this blog post—entitled “Elder and Sister Renlund: Falling in Love with the Peoples of Africa”—is the first of multiple excerpts from the conversation that will be posted publicly in the coming year. We hope that something of the joy they experienced in their service will be felt by everyone who watches these video excerpts.

 

The excerpt in this first video short centers around some of the Renlunds’ first impressions when they began their service in the Africa Southeast Area, which at the time included over thirty countries. And during the six years they served there, prior to Elder Renlund’s calling as an apostle in 2015, they traveled more than 40 times to the DR Congo. In doing so, they made a concerted effort to travel even to the most remote areas and to visit as many Saints as possible in their own homes. The stories they tell are filled with love and admiration for the faithful Saints they came to know firsthand through their ministering efforts. And as we listen, it becomes obvious why they were so beloved of the Saints in return.

 

Endnotes

[1] Photo ID: A71DA74E-717A-4EBC-B194-B6A207EAE6F4-B8FF1198-13BB-4CB3-B345-AA2D313393F4.jpeg, 11 October 2023. Photo courtesy of Alan Douglas Rast, an experienced Church broadcast producer who made arrangements for the shoot and kindly assisted with our work in the studio. In addition, we were grateful for the help of Darren Maxfield (lighting), Eric Limburg (audio), and Jody Hadfield (make-up). My talented nephew, David Bradshaw of David Bradshaw Videography LLC, expertly managed the three cameras.

Review of Ronald V. Huggins, Lighthouse: Jerald and Sandra Tanner, Despised and Beloved Critics of Mormonism (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 2022). 392 pages. $39.95 (hardback), $24.95 (paperback).

Abstract: Jerald and Sandra Tanner have had a long ministerial career trying to convince people that the truth claims of the Church are wrong. Even though their ministry has closed its doors, Sandra Tanner still gives interviews recounting their adventures in fighting the good fight. This image is burnished by a biography of the Tanners and their ministry written by Ronald V. Huggins. In this review I examine the way in which Huggins approaches his subjects in his book.

I must start this review by making it explicitly clear that I am not reviewing the Tanners, but I am reviewing a book about the Tanners and their ministry. It is not my intent here to give a full review of the Tanners’s lives; such would be virtually impossible. Instead, my focus is much more limited to providing a review of Huggins’s recounting of the Tanners’s lives. I do so by examining Huggins’s approach and the recounting of several key events within his book.

My knowledge of and interest in the Tanners goes back decades (just under 45 years). My knowledge of and interest in Huggins’s book summarizing the Tanners’s lives and ministry does not go nearly so far. I first learned about Lighthouse1 in early June 2023 when I attended a business conference. A non-member friend of mine, whom I only see at such conferences, mentioned that his wife had been reading a book [Page 136]and something caught her eye. It was a reference to me, and she (and her husband) were intrigued by the mention.

This caught me by surprise, and I asked my friend what the name of the book was. He sent me a link to the book, and I ordered it. It was when I saw the link that I understood why my name should be mentioned in the book. (It has to do with a lawsuit; more on that shortly.)

When I received Lighthouse, I immediately started reading it. Like many historical fiction novels, I found it to be a real page-turner; I couldn’t put it down.2 The main characters were larger than life, effusing nothing but pure intent and exemplifying dogged determination. They not only occupied the moral high ground, but they blazed new trails in that ground. They were, collectively, David — chosen personally by God to deliver Israel from the wicked, evil Goliath.

This was good stuff! It was hagiography3 at its best, playing fast and loose with the historical facts to present the God-conjoined

The religious ceremony of prayer with uplifted hands, practiced in Christian denominations contemporary with the organization of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, has an extremely ancient and venerable history that goes back thousands of years and is attested in ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Israel as well as in ancient Judaism and earliest Christianity.

Presented at:

2020 Temple on Mount Zion ConferenceSaturday, November 7, 2020https://interpreterfoundation.org/conferences/2020-temple-on-mount-zion-conference/

Conference Proceedings:

The Temple: Past, Present and Future at https://interpreterfoundation.org/books/the-temple-past-present-and-future/

Listen to an audio recording of this talk:

  Download audio recording

 

 

Transcript

 

In the October 29th Come, Follow Me segment of the Interpreter Radio Show, our hosts Martin Tanner, Terry Hutchinson, and Brent Schmidt discuss New Testament lesson 48, “Rejoice with Joy Unspeakable & Full of Glory” covering 1 and 2 Peter.

You can listen to or download the New Testament in Context segment of the October 29 broadcast of the Interpreter Radio Show below. It will also be included in our podcast feed (https://interpreterfoundation.org/feeds/podcast). The other segments of the October 22 radio show can be accessed at https://interpreterfoundation.org/interpreter-radio-show-october-29-2023.

The Interpreter Radio Show can be heard Sunday evenings from 7 to 9 PM (MDT), on K-TALK, AM 1640, or you can listen live on the Internet at ktalkmedia.com.

 

Original air date: October 29, 2023. This recording has been edited to remove commercial breaks.

The Interpreter Radio Show is a weekly discussion of matters of interest to the hosts, guests, and callers of the show. The views expressed on the Interpreter Radio Show are those of the individuals involved and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Interpreter Foundation, nor should statements made on the show be construed as official doctrinal statements of the Church.

 

 

In this episode of The Interpreter Radio Show, our hosts are Martin Tanner, Terry Hutchinson, and Brent Schmidt. Martin and Terry are joined by special guest Grant Hardy during the first hour to discuss his new book and by Brent Hardy during the second hour to discuss Come, Follow Me New Testament lesson 48. You can listen to or download the October 29th broadcast of the Interpreter Radio Show below. These audio tracks are also included in our podcast feed (https://interpreterfoundation.org/feeds/podcast).

The “New Testament in Context” portion of this show, for the Come, Follow Me New Testament lesson 48 will also be posted separately on Tuesday, November 14.

The Interpreter Radio Show can be heard Sunday evenings from 7 to 9 PM (MDT), on K-TALK, AM 1640, or you can listen live on the Internet at ktalkmedia.com.

Original air date: October 29, 2023. These recording have been edited to remove commercial breaks.

Discussion: The Annotated Book of Mormon by Grant Hardy

The New Testament in Context Lesson 48: “Rejoice with Joy Unspeakable & Full of Glory” on 1st and 2nd Peter

Podcast: Download

The Interpreter Radio Show is a weekly discussion of matters of interest to the hosts, guests, and callers of the show. The views expressed on the Interpreter Radio Show are those of the individuals involved and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Interpreter Foundation, nor should statements made on the show be construed as official doctrinal statements of the Church.

 

In this post, we highlight a preview video for our new film series, “Not by Bread Alone: Stories of the Saints in Africa.” The series is about African Saints who thirsted for tranquility and found peace in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Episodes in the series will be published over the next few years, starting in 2024. Video shorts will be posted monthly.The film series is produced by the Interpreter Foundation, a non-profit organization whose aim is to support the Church through scholarship. The point of contact for the project is Jeffrey M. Bradshaw. We are working in association with Redbrick Filmworks, an award-winning Latter-day Saint producer of inspirational media.

For more information, go to https://notbybreadalonefilm.com/en/For more information in French, go to https://notbybreadalonefilm.com/fr/To see all of our posts about The Church in Africa, go to https://interpreterfoundation.org/category/africa/

 

Frequently Asked Questions

Why are you doing this?

To tell some the little-known yet highly inspiring stories of the Saints in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo, formerly Zaïre) in celebration of the dedication of the Lubumbashi temple. Additional episodes will share the stories of Latter-day Saints in the Republic of Congo, Rwanda, and Burundi. The scope of the series may eventually extend to other parts of Africa.

Who is the audience?

The series is aimed at an “Africa first” viewership. However, we expect it will also provide vivid reminders to people throughout the world of the truth and goodness of the Gospel.

Abstract: This study builds upon Hugh Nibley’s insightful observation that several Book of Mormon passages reflect “the ritual embrace that consummates the final escape from death in the Egyptian funerary texts and reliefs” as expressing the meaning of Christ’s Atonement. This study further extends Nibley’s observations on Jacob’s “wrestle” as a divine “embrace” to show that Lehi’s, Nephi’s, and their successors’ understanding of the divine embrace is informed by their ancestor’s “wrestle” with a “man” (Genesis 32:24–30) and reconciliation with his brother (Genesis 33:4–10). Examples of the divine embrace language and imagery throughout the Book of Mormon go well beyond what Nibley noted, evoking the Psalms’ depictions of Jehovah whose “wings” offered protection in the ritual place of atonement. Book of Mormon “divine embrace” texts have much to teach us about Jesus Christ, his love, the nature of his Atonement, and the temple.

Nephi testified that pure love motivates everything Jesus Christ does, including his wholly voluntary atoning work: “He doeth not anything save it be for the benefit of the world; for he loveth the world, even that he layeth down his own life that he may draw all men unto him” (2 Nephi 26:24).1 As recorded in Ether 12:33–34, Moroni said to the Lord,

[Page 110]And again, I remember that thou hast said that thou hast loved the world, even unto the laying down of thy life for the world, that thou mightest take it again to prepare a place for the children of men. And now I know that this love which thou hast had for the children of men is charity; wherefore, except men shall have charity they cannot inherit that place which thou hast prepared in the mansions of thy Father.

The Savior’s words to Nicodemus as recorded in John 3:16 (“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son”) and to Orson Pratt on November 4, 1830, in D&C 34:3 (“who so loved the world that he gave his own life”) confirm that the Atonement of Jesus Christ is the supreme expression of the love of the Father and the Son for humankind.

As David Seely has noted, William Tyndale, the first translator of the Bible into English from texts in the original Hebrew and Greek languages, appropriated the non-religious English expressions atone and atonement as fitting theological descriptions2 of the effect of Christ’s redemptive act. Regarding the Hebrew verb most often translated as atone (kpr), Mary Douglas writes,

According to the illustrative cases from Leviticus, to atone means to cover, or recover, cover again, to repair a hole, cure a sickness, mend a rift, make good a torn or broken covering. As a noun, what is translated as atonement, expiation or purgation means integument made good; conversely, the examples in the book indicate that defilement means integument torn. Atonement does not mean covering a sin so as to hide it from the sight of God; it means making good an outer layer which has rotted or been pierced.3

The “Messianic Secret” theory proposes that Jesus Christ forbids demons and followers from revealing who he is for an enigmatic reason. While the findings of the original theory have largely been abandoned, the idea of secrecy motifs in Mark has endured. Mark’s use of the “Son” may be an interpretive key for understanding some of Mark’s enigmatic secrecy motifs. The Gospel of Mark casts the “Son” as a sacred and identifying title for Jesus Christ, which he receives at baptism, keeps hidden from the profane, and ultimately reveals at the cross, symbolized by the rending of the temple veil. This name is used as a device to highlight the ironic recognition of demons, the misunderstanding of the disciples, and the ultimate access humanity has to Jesus Christ’s salvific identity.

Presented at:

2020 Temple on Mount Zion ConferenceSaturday, November 7, 2020https://interpreterfoundation.org/conferences/2020-temple-on-mount-zion-conference/

Conference Proceedings:

The Temple: Past, Present and Future at https://interpreterfoundation.org/books/the-temple-past-present-and-future/

Listen to an audio recording of this talk:

  Download audio recording

 

 

Transcript

 

In the October 22nd Come, Follow Me segment of the Interpreter Radio Show, our hosts Martin Tanner and Robert Boylan discuss New Testament lesson 47, “Be Ye Doers of the Word, and Not Hearers Only” on James.

You can listen to or download the New Testament in Context segment of the October 22 broadcast of the Interpreter Radio Show below. It will also be included in our podcast feed (https://interpreterfoundation.org/feeds/podcast). The other segments of the October 22 radio show can be accessed at https://interpreterfoundation.org/interpreter-radio-show-october-22-2023.

The Interpreter Radio Show can be heard Sunday evenings from 7 to 9 PM (MDT), on K-TALK, AM 1640, or you can listen live on the Internet at ktalkmedia.com.

 

Original air date: October 22, 2023. This recording has been edited to remove commercial breaks.

The Interpreter Radio Show is a weekly discussion of matters of interest to the hosts, guests, and callers of the show. The views expressed on the Interpreter Radio Show are those of the individuals involved and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Interpreter Foundation, nor should statements made on the show be construed as official doctrinal statements of the Church.