The Institute for Religious Research (IRR) is an American

Christian apologetics Christian apologetics (, "verbal defense, speech in defense") is a branch of Christian theology that defends Christianity. Christian apologetics have taken many forms over the centuries, starting with Paul the Apostle in the early church and Pa ...

and counter-cult organization based in

Cedar Springs, Michigan Cedar Springs is a city in Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 3,509 at the 2010 census. Cedar Springs is a northern city of the Grand Rapids metropolitan area and is about north of Grand Rapids. History The area w ...

. It declares itself to be a

non-denominational A non-denominational person or organization is one that does not follow (or is not restricted to) any particular or specific religious denomination. The term has been used in the context of various faiths, including Jainism, Baháʼí Faith, Zoro ...

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

foundation for the study of religious claims, and was formerly known as Gospel Truths Ministries. IRR is a member of Evangelical Ministries to Non-Christian Religions (EMNR, created in 2022 to supersede Evangelical Ministries to New Religions) and was headed by Luke P. Wilson until his death in 2007.

Robert M. Bowman Jr. Robert M. Bowman Jr. (born August 10, 1957) is an American Evangelical Christian theologian specializing in the study of apologetics. Biography Bowman received the M.A. in Biblical Studies and Theology from Fuller Theological Seminary in 1981 ...

, who joined the staff in 2008 as executive director, in 2022 became the organization's president. In 2005, over a year prior to the release of a

film adaptation A film adaptation transfers the details or story of an existing source text, such as a novel, into a feature film. This transfer can involve adapting most details of the source text closely, including characters or plot points, or the original sou ...

Dan Brown Daniel Gerhard Brown (born June 22, 1964) is an American author best known for his Thriller (genre), thriller novels, including the Robert Langdon (book series), Robert Langdon novels ''Angels & Demons'' (2000), ''The Da Vinci Code'' (2003), '' ...

's novel ''

The Da Vinci Code ''The Da Vinci Code'' is a 2003 mystery thriller novel by Dan Brown. It is “the best-selling American novel of all time.” Brown's second novel to include the character Robert Langdon—the first was his 2000 novel '' Angels & Demons''� ...

'', the

Baptist Press Baptist Press (BP) is the official news service of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) and is headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee. Baptist Press is a ministry assignment of the executive committee of the Southern Baptist Convention. Baptist P ...

noted IRR's Ronald V. Huggins and his apologetic analysis of the book.

Controversy and Mormonism

Peggy Fletcher Stack Peggy Fletcher Stack is an American journalist, editor, and author. Stack has been the lead religion writer for '' The Salt Lake Tribune'' since 1991. She and five other journalists at the '' Salt Lake Tribune'' won the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Lo ...

, religion columnist for the ''

Salt Lake Tribune ''The Salt Lake Tribune'' is a newspaper published in the city of Salt Lake City, Utah. The ''Tribune'' is owned by The Salt Lake Tribune, Inc., a non-profit corporation. The newspaper's motto is "Utah's Independent Voice Since 1871." History ...

'', discussed IRR and its 2002

documentary A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

critique of the

Book of Abraham The Book of Abraham is a religious text of the Latter Day Saint movement, first published in 1842 by Joseph Smith. Smith said the book was a translation from several Egyptian scrolls discovered in the early 19th century during an archeologic ...

, which

Mormons Mormons are a Religious denomination, religious and ethnocultural group, cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's d ...

traditionally have believed is a divinely inspired translation by

Joseph Smith Joseph Smith Jr. (December 23, 1805June 27, 1844) was an American religious and political leader and the founder of Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint movement. Publishing the Book of Mormon at the age of 24, Smith attracted tens of thou ...

of a text by the Genesis patriarch Abraham that Smith claimed was contained on an Egyptian papyrus in his possession. IRR's documentary, entitled ''The Lost Book of Abraham: Investigating a Remarkable Mormon Claim'', featured Robert K. Ritner and other Egyptologists who argued that the papyrus in question had nothing to do with Abraham. The University of Utah's student newspaper observed that no

Latter Day Saint The Latter Day Saint movement (also called the LDS movement, LDS restorationist movement, or Smith–Rigdon movement) is the collection of independent church groups that trace their origins to a Christian Restorationist movement founded b ...

s agreed to be interviewed for the film. In an article for a journal published by

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU) is a Private education, private research university in Provo, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is the flagship university of the Church Educational System sponsore ...

Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies The Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies (FARMS) was an informal collaboration of academics devoted to Latter-day Saint historical scholarship. The organization was established in 1979 as a non-profit organization by John. W. We ...

John Gee John Laurence Gee (born 1964) is an American Latter-day Saint scholar, apologist and an Egyptologist. He currently teaches at Brigham Young University (BYU) and serves in the Department of Near Eastern Languages. He is known for his writings in ...

considered IRR's 1992 publication ''By His Own Hand Upon Papyrus: A New Look at the Joseph Smith Papyri'' by Charles M. Larson, also regarding the Book of Abraham, to be a "deliberate deception". On the other hand, the main contention of IRR’s book and documentary, which was that the Book of Abraham is not a translation from the Egyptian papyrus, had already been presented in several articles by Ritner and other scholars in the independent periodical '' Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought''. In 2005, IRR criticized

Richard Mouw Richard John Mouw (born 1940) is an American theologian and philosopher. He held the position of President at Fuller Theological Seminary for 20 years (1993–2013), and continues to hold the post of Professor of Faith and Public Life. Educatio ...

of Fuller Seminary for claiming that evangelicals generally had sinned against Mormons by misrepresenting what they believed. IRR agreed that some evangelicals had committed such offenses, but they argued, along with two dozen Utah pastors and other evangelical leaders, that Mouw's comments were unfair overgeneralizations.

References

External links

Official website
Christian countercult organizations Critics of Mormonism Evangelical Ministries to New Religions Latter Day Saint movement in Michigan Christian charities based in the United States Organizations based in Grand Rapids, Michigan Charities based in Michigan {{LDS-stub