Today, I listened to the following presentation on the need to do apologetics (cf. 1 Pet 3:15; D&C 71):
The Obligation to Do Apologetics -- Daniel C Peterson
This ties well into Kwaku El's recent video:
The Obligation to Do Apologetics -- Daniel C Peterson
I liked what Kwaku said--the naive view of (all too many) LDS that we should not engage in critics has been a failure and, functionally, LDS are presenting the Holy Spirit as being impotent.
In a recent anti-Mormon publication, the author (who has a strong dislike for yours truly) was forced to admit that Peterson is a knowledgable scholar and well-informed, citing the above lecture as an example of such:
One of the most
interesting lectures I have ever head by a Mormon was Daniel Peterson’s 2010
lecture, “The Obligation to Do Apologetics.” Peterson is a scholar at Brigham
Young University (BYU) and a well-known Mormon apologist. Although I do not
agree with Peterson’s LDS beliefs, he did a marvelous job explaining why
apologetics is valuable and why it is important to use reason to defend one’s
beliefs. (Robert M. Bowman Jr., Jesus’
Resurrection and Joseph’s Visions: Examining the Foundations of Christianity
and Mormonism [Tampa, Fla.: DeWard Publishing Company, 2020], 33)
The note for the above reads thusly:
Peterson complains
about the critics of Mormonism disparaging “Mormon apologists” as though being
an apologist is a bad thing. I refer to Peterson as an apologist with respect
for his acknowledgement of the importance of reason and evidence, and I
recognize Peter’s considerable knowledge and skills as a scholar as well as an
apologist . . . (Ibid., 33 n. 9)
