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Apostasy --and-- I Don't Have a Testimony of the History of the Church (WMV)

The Apostasy, Roger R. Keller, Mesa, Arizona: The Foundation for Apologetic Information & Research, 2004, WMV.

What do Latter-day Saints mean when claiming that there was an "apostasy" after the death of the New Testament Apostles? Are all other churches wrong and how do Latter-day Saints view the Bible? Why was a restoration needed? Dr. Keller offers some wonderful insights into these questions and many more in his presentation on the Great Apostasy.

Roger R. Keller is a professor of Church History and Doctrine at Brigham Young University, and a past Richard L. Evans Professor of Religious Understanding. He teaches courses on the religions of the world from a Latter-day Saint perspective. Dr. Keller grew up in Boulder, Colorado, in a Presbyterian home. He received his Bachelors of Music in voice performance from the University of Colorado, his Masters of Divinity from Princeton Theological Seminary, and his Ph.D. in biblical studies and 20th century Christian Theology from Duke University. He was ordained to the Presbyterian ministry in 1971 and held both teaching and pastoral positions in the years following. In 1982 he was called to be the Senior Pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in Mesa, Arizona, a community founded by the Latter-day Saints. He worked to bring understanding between persons of diverse religious traditions within the community and served on the regional board of the National Conference of Christians and Jews (now the National Conference for Community and Justice). In this latter capacity, he participated in evaluating and condemning anti-Mormon materials as being inaccurate and against the spirit of religious pluralism. As a result of his work with the Mormon community, he and his family became Latter-day Saints in 1986. He began teaching at Brigham Young University in the fall of that year.

Dr. Keller has co-authored a book entitled Religions of the World: A Latter-day Saint View and authored two others--one on interfaith dialogue and the other on the Book of Mormon. In addition, he has written a variety of articles and presented a number of academic papers, many dealing with inter-faith issues. His service to the Church includes Gospel Doctrine Teacher, Scoutmaster, member of two high councils, member of a high priest group leadership, a bishop, and a temple ordinance worker. He is currently serving on his third high council. Dr. Keller was a chaplain for both the 2002 Winter Olympics and Paralympics and is the mayor of Wallsburg, Utah.

I Don't Have a Testimony of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Davis Bitton, Mesa, Arizona: The Foundation for Apologetic Information & Research, 2004, WMV.

Some of the worlds leading historians on LDS history are believing Latter-day Saints. Bitton acknowledges that early LDS leaders were human like the rest of us, but that there is nothing in LDS history that would lead to the unavoidable conclusion that the Church is false. The cure for bad history is better history, and faithful LDS historians have produced some of the best LDS history. Bitton also argues that a testimony of the Church is based on Christ—not on the history of the Church.

Davis Bitton is a retired University of Utah history professor. After serving a mission in France, he graduated from BYU and then received M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from Princeton University. He has taught at the University of Texas and the University of California at Santa Barbara, and served for ten years as assistant Church historian. Dr. Bitton is co-author (with Leonard J. Arrington) of The Mormon Experience: A History of the Latter-day Saints and Saints Without Halos: The Human Side of Mormon History. He compiled A Guide to Mormon Diaries and Autobiographies. His most recent books are Images of the Prophet Joseph Smith and George Q. Cannon: A Biography.

He is interested in early modern Europe and this resulted in a series of upper-division university courses, papers at conventions, book reviews, articles, and a book entitled The French Nobility in Crisis, 1560-1640. He is an accomplished concert pianist, having studied in Paris under the formidable Madame Dumesnil and in California under the equally demanding Wladimir Kochanski.

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