Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies
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The Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies (FARMS) is an informal collaboration of academics devoted to Mormon historical scholarship. The group is formally part of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, formerly known as the Institute for the Study and Preservation of Ancient Religious Texts at Brigham Young University (BYU), which is operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
FARMS supports and sponsors what it considers to be "faithful scholarship", which includes academic study and research in support of Christianity and Mormonism, and in particular, where possible, the official position of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This research primarily concerns the Book of Mormon, the Book of Abraham, the Old Testament the New Testament, early Christian history, ancient temples, and other related subjects. While the organization allows some degree of academic freedom within these topics, FARMS is committed to the conclusion that Latter-day Saint scriptures are authentic, historical texts written by prophets of God.
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[edit] History
FARMS was organized in 1979 as a private not-for-profit organization. In 1997, FARMS became part of Brigham Young University after an invitation by Gordon B. Hinckley, President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and chairman of the BYU Board of Trustees. In extending the invitation, Hinckley noted: "FARMS represents the efforts of sincere and dedicated scholars. It has grown to provide strong support and defense of the Church on a professional basis. I wish to express my strong congratulations and appreciation for those who started this effort and who have shepherded it to this point."
In 2001, Brigham Young University consolidated FARMS with the Center for the Preservation of Ancient Religious Texts and the Middle Eastern Texts Initiative to form the Institute for the Study and Preservation of Ancient Religious Texts, now known as the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship [1]. However, FARMS still exists as a sub-unit of the Maxwell Institute with its own distinctive cluster of BYU faculty and staff.
[edit] Controversy
Though some of FARMS's work has been praised by Mormon and non-Mormon scholars, FARMS has also been a focus of some controversy from both within and outside the Mormon community, for any number of various reasons.
Work produced under FARMS's auspices has been critiqued by many, ranging from devout Mormons, to secular scholars, to antagonistic evangelical Christians, among others. Many of these critics discount LDS claims of divine inspiration, and thus doubt the Book of Mormon's authenticity as an ancient document, thus perceiving some of FARMS's work as non-scholarly hagiography masquerading as genuine research. However, the FARMS claims the work it supports "conforms to established canons of scholarship, [and] is peer reviewed."[2]
Critics declare that FARMS sometimes uses circular logic in their arguments. Similarly, some critics have suggested that FARMS' reasoning is backwards from usual scientific of scholarly practices: FARMS arrives at their faith-based conclusion first, then afterwards seeks out supporting evidence. Dr. Simon G. Southerton, a former Latter-day Saint who has published a book [3] disputing FARMS' claims about the origins of Native Americans, said, "I was amazed at the lengths that FARMS went to in order to prop up faith in the Book of Mormon. I felt that the only way I could be satisfied with FARMS explanations was to stop thinking."[4][5]
Others have accused FARMS of engaging in mean-spirited polemics. Even some devout Mormons have been bothered by what they see as ad hominem attacks: attacking someone personally, rather than analyzing the merits of their ideas. Especially often, FARMS is accused of labeling someone an "anti-Mormon", and then discounting their works as biased, based largely on this pronouncement. In a speech offered before the Sunstone Symposium (titled "Why I No Longer Trust the FARMS Review of Books"), John Hatch said, "After reading the (FARMS) reviews myself, it appears to me, and is my opinion, that FARMS is interested in making Mormonism's past appear as normal as possible to readers by attacking history books that discuss complex or difficult aspects of the church's past. As one who hopes to some day contribute to the body of the New Mormon History, I am deeply troubled by what I see as continued efforts to attack honest scholarly work."[6]
In a recent documentary film The Bible vs. The Book of Mormon released by Living Hope Ministries[7], Dr. Thomas W. Murphy responds to an excerpt from a FARMS video entitled Evidences of the Book of Mormon in which FARMS scholar Daniel C. Peterson states that the Book of Mormon "makes sense" and "seems right" and contains nothing, apart from its religious claims, that a secular historian would find troublesome. Murphy states in his response that "Dan Peterson is lying" and adds that "the problem, first and foremost, with the Book of Mormon is its secular history--it gets the history wrong." The documentary also asserts, via comments from Murphy and others, that FARMS focuses on helping Latter-day Saints keep the faith rather than scholarship. In response FARMS[8] and the Maxwell Institute[9] at BYU have published rebuttals.
While scholars associated with FARMS often resist being characterized as apologists because of that term's pejorative connotations, FARMS has been an important center for producing work that critiques claims by many, including amateur Mormon enthusiasts and antagonistic opposition movements of evangelical Christianity, especially through the organization's longest-running journal, the FARMS Review.
FARMS has been cited as representative of a new trend within Mormonism: the emergence of progressive forms of Mormon orthodoxy. This trend is committed to the literal reality of Mormon faith claims, but is simultaneously willing to rethink traditional understandings of those claims. A prominent example of this trend is the work FARMS has produced supporting a limited geography model for the Book of Mormon: suggesting that the events chronicled in the Book of Mormon occurred in a much smaller region than the traditional understanding, which argues the same events occurred across the entire Western hemisphere. Supporters of this limited geography idea--including some high-ranking church leaders--see this model as consistent with archaeological and genetic findings about ancient American peoples, as well as with the Book of Mormon text.
Ultimately, despite the controversies, FARMS continues their efforts, and plays a contested but influential role in shaping how Mormons understand their faith.
[edit] Publications
A number of periodicals and books have been published under the FARMS imprint, including:
- Journal of Book of Mormon Studies. A scholarly journal, published semiannually, devoted to the latest research on the Book of Mormon.
- FARMS Review. A review journal, published semiannually. It focuses on books and articles written about Mormonism and the Book of Mormon.
- Insights. A newsletter, published semimonthly, providing updates on the latest FARMS research, as well as current events, reports on conferences and symposia, scripture insights, and announcements of new publications.
FARMS has also republished many of the writings of LDS scholar Hugh Nibley in the 15-volume Collected Works of Hugh Nibley.
[edit] Bibliography
Duffy, John-Charles. "Defending the Kingdom, Rethinking the Faith: How Apologetics Is Reshaping Mormon Orthodoxy." Sunstone, May 2004, 22-55.
