Examining the claims of Jonathan Neville and the Heartland movement

Tuesday, February 9, 2021

Another round of Jonathan Neville vs. Royal Skousen

On February 8, 2021, Jonathan Neville lobbed another dreadful volley in opposition to the work that Royal Skousen has done on Early Modern English in the Book of Mormon. This time, his remarks were in response to something written by Daniel Peterson about Skousen’s research and the supposed “arrogance” of the very name of the Interpreter, the foundation Peterson created and heads.

Neville opines:
We assume that members of the credentialed class of LDS scholars have the qualifications and expertise they claim. But none of us have voted to sustain them in any capacity related to their credentials. Deferring to them on these issues is as foolish as deferring to non-LDS scholars. We have the right and responsibility to think for ourselves.
Feckless defined as without feckCandidly, it’s hard for me to conceive of anything more obtuse or asinine that Neville could have possibly written. No one has ever even so much as suggested that scholars should be “sustained” or “deferred to” on any matter whatsoever, whether those scholars are at Brigham Young University or the Interpreter Foundation or any other private organization. Of course every person has “the right and responsibility to think for” for himself or herself; the point of scholarship is to introduce new evidence and stimulate new ways of thinking.

Even the pseudoscholarship done by Heartlanders benefits us by prompting responses from more competent and responsible researchers who clarify and correct the false information and erroneous conclusions they sell to unsuspecting Latter-day Saints.

And I should add that no one has voted to sustain Jonathan Neville as a corrector of living prophets, neither has Letter VII been sustained as part of the standard works.

As far as Neville’s critique of Royal Skousen’s work and theories, the comments I made on January 19, 2020, still apply:
Professor Skousen’s credentials and achievements do not automatically guarantee that his hypotheses on the origins of the Book of Mormon text are correct. He could be the world’s most educated and experienced scholar and still come to incorrect conclusions. But the length and breadth of his scholarly work on the text of the Book of Mormon simply require one to take him seriously, engage his arguments in good faith, and—if one disagrees with his conclusions—come up with alternative hypotheses that fit the mountain of evidence that Skousen has assembled.

Has Jonathan Neville done any of that? No. Instead, he’s simply dismissed Skousen’s arguments by falsely implying that Skousen is just another intellectual who rejects Joseph Smith’s prophetic gifts and Oliver Cowdery’s witness.
—Peter Pan
 

2 comments:

  1. President ballard, as it turns out, has spoken multiple times about turning to trained scholars for help. Here is just one example:

    "When I have a question that I cannot answer, I often turn to those who can help me. The Church is blessed with trained scholars and those who have devoted a lifetime of study, who have come to know our history and the scriptures. These thoughtful men and women provide context and background so we can better understand our sacred past and our current practices. Blessed by this information they provide, I am better equipped to seek the guidance of the Holy Ghost."

    While in no way sustained, it appears that according to an apostle reading out of "the best books" CAN help you think for yourself and receive inspiration.

    https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/prophets-and-apostles/unto-all-the-world/to-the-saints-of-the-utah-salt-lake-area?lang=eng

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Great quote, Spencer. I should point out that President Ballard and others of the Brethren do NOT turn to Rod Meldrum, Jonathan Neville, Rian Nelson, David Hocking, or other Heartlanders when they have questions about the scriptures and Church history. {Ahem}

      Delete

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