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The FAIR JournalThe FAIR Journal is published monthly. It contains information about new apologetic information at the FAIR Web site. If you would like to sign up to receive the FAIR Journal automatically, click here. To return to the index of past FAIR Journal issues, click here.
THE FAIR JOURNAL October 2001
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The Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research
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Apologetics: The branch of theology that is concerned with
defending or proving the truth of Christian doctrines. (The
American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth
Edition, 2000.)
INSIDE THE JOURNAL
* SUCCESSFUL COMMUNITY FIRESIDES. How do you put on a fireside that
can potentially draw 1300 people, including members of clergy and
government, and result in over a hundred baptisms and multiple
reactivations?
* WHY APOLOGETICS? Why do we participate in apologetics and is it
OK?
* WHAT CLERGY THINK OF THE LDS. Are you curious about what non-LDS
clergy think of the Church and it’s members? What do they
recommend for reading material?
* ONLINE BOOKSHELF AVAILABLE. FAIR keeps track of books available
for apologists.
* HELP WANTED. Learn how you can help defend the faith and further
the mission of FAIR.
* ARTICLE SUBMISSIONS. Interested in writing for FAIR? Learn how
you can have your apologetics work published.
* PUBLISHING NOTES. Learn how you can become more involved in FAIR
and how you can reuse the material we publish.
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PRESIDENT'S WELCOME
Welcome to the first issue of the FAIR Journal, a monthly e-journal
that highlights recent events in LDS apologetics. We hope that using
the format of an e-journal will help more people become aware of the
issues surrounding criticisms of The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints and the faith-promoting responses to those
criticisms. We also hope to include general topics that strengthen
faith, help missionary work or discuss our relationship with other
denominations. This e-journal is sponsored by FAIR, a non profit
organization at www.fairlds.org.
-Scott Gordon, President.
Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research
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SUCCESSFUL COMMUNITY FIRESIDES
In August 2001 FAIR sponsored a very successful annual conference.
Several notable speakers addressed a variety of topics that ranged
from DNA and the Book of Mormon to anti-Mormon arguments that show the
Book of Mormon is true. Each month we try to highlight a topic from
one of those speakers. This month we will talk about Ross Baron and
his hugely successful community firesides.
Ross is the Institute Director at Claremont Colleges and Glendora
Institute in Southern California. In response to a local increase in
publications and public meetings by local anti-Mormons, Ross recently
conducted several community firesides that resulted in over a hundred
baptisms and many people being reactivated. These firesides averaged
over 1300 in attendance and were attended by as many as 35 pastors
and various city officials. His topics have been:
* Are Mormons Christian?
* Book of Mormon: Fact or Fiction?
* Where is the Church of Christ?
* What are the Top 10 Hardest Questions for Latter-day Saints to
Answer?
Ross always starts with a hymn, a prayer and a special musical number.
Then he presents his fireside, followed by an open question and answer
session. Here is a summary of his ten rules for putting on a
successful fireside.
1. The firesides must be priesthood driven.
2. Each fireside needs a clear and exciting subject.
3. The firesides must be advertised properly. Advertise in local
newspapers using quarter-page ads. (This requires priesthood
support and financing.) Use flyers and ask members to spread the
word.
4. Keep it local--don’t call in an outside speaker.
5. There must be massive preparation on the part of the presenters
and the fireside must last no longer than an hour.
6. You must hold the fireside in a controlled environment, on your
own turf.
7. Spice things with light humor and self-deprecation.
8. Find a speaker that is talented in presentation and able to
handle impromptu Q&A sessions.
9. You have to control the missionaries. They should not proselyte
at the firesides. (Perhaps have one set to give out copies of
the Book of Mormon and take referrals.)
10. Provide good refreshments.
Notable quotes from the talk:
One of the premises we oft-times get drawn into is this:
Q. The church bases their work for the dead based on John 3:5,
1 Corinthians 15:29, 1 Peter 4:6, 1 Peter 3:18-20...
A. Stop! That is incorrect. The Church doesn’t base work for the
dead on the Bible; the Church is not based on the Bible. The
Church is based on what the Bible is based on: revelation
through prophets.
The Bible for Latter-day Saints is not the object of our faith; it
is one of the sources of our faith.
Q. There are 3,900 plus changes in the book of Mormon...so
therefore it’s not true.
A. Are you a King James only person? "Yes, the King James version."
Let's talk about which King James version. I had everybody in
the congregation open up their King James bibles, find an
italicized word, and when you find the italicized word raise
your hand. OK...that’s not in ANY of the Bible manuscripts.
Q. I have the quote that will definitively tell all of you here
about Mormonism and about how it is false. Unless we accept
Joseph Smith we cannot gain salvation. That is utterly false;
it is blasphemy. They claim to be Christians, but that is
absolutely false. How do you respond to that Mr. Baron?
A. Can I ask you a question? "Certainly." Imagine you are living
in A.D. 34; you are in Jerusalem. It is Acts Chapter 2, Peter
is preaching about Christ and Him crucified. You feel the
Spirit. Can you reject Peter’s testimony and accept Christ?
"Ummm." That is exactly how we feel about Joseph Smith. He is
a modern-day Peter.
Anti-Mormons are a great thing for us. They help the scholarship of
the Church and strengthen the members. There has been an increase
in convert baptisms because of the anti-Mormons.
If you would like to order this talk on an audio CD, visit our
publications page:
http://www.fairlds.org/pubs/
Near the top of the page, in the GREAT NEWS! section, you will find a
link to order the audio CD.
Additional conference presentations will be available on audio, video
and through printed transcripts in the near future.
------------------------------
WHY APOLOGETICS?
When you say the word "apologetics" to the average member of the
Church you often get a blank a stare or a question such as, "What is
'apologetics?'" Beyond that elementary question is the question of
whether it is appropriate for members of the Church to engage in
apologetics. Should Latter-day Saints be actively engaged in the
defense of their faith against defamation and misrepresentation?
If you are interested in the basis of doing apologetics work, check
out the free FAIR Paper entitled "Why Apologetics?"
http://www.fairlds.org/pubs/
------------------------------
WHAT CLERGY THINK OF THE LDS
FAIR was recently featured in the Deseret News for their survey on
non-LDS clergy. It talks about what they believe about the LDS and
what they recommend for reading. To review the survey results on which
the article was based, visit this page:
http://www.fairlds.org/Survey0.html
------------------------------
ONLINE BOOKSHELF AVAILABLE
The Internet makes it possible to share huge amounts of information.
There are many books available online that are of interest to
apologists. If you are interested in a sampling of the books
available, visit the FAIR Online Bookshelf:
http://www.fairlds.org/Bookshelf.html
------------------------------
HELP WANTED
FAIR needs your help. We need people to volunteer in the following
areas:
1. Ensign Link Manager. This person would keep our Ensign links
up to date. The position involves identifying the Church
magazine articles that could be useful in discussing the
doctrines and practices of the Church and identifying the
Internet addresses for the articles.
2. Book Review Editor. This person would search the Internet for
book reviews on books of interest to apologists. They would
also encourage and accept submissions of book reviews and edit
them.
3. Editors. We are in need of people willing to read articles and
edit them.
------------------------------
ARTICLE SUBMISSIONS
We welcome article submissions for the FAIR Web site. If you would
like to submit an article, please review the editing guidelines at:
http://www.fairlds.org/EdStyle.pdf
Submit your article to the FAIR Journal Editor. An appropriate
article would be one that affirms the truthfulness of the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
While LDS apologetics (in the broadest sense) deals with refuting
critics of the Church, articles don't necessarily have to deal with
anti-Mormonism, but may deal with some new evidence of the Book of
Mormon, some interesting scripture interpretation, a viewpoint or
quote from the early Christian Fathers or other historical figure,
an interesting lesson idea, an inspiring missionary story, Church
history, or your view on a current event related to the Church or a
piece from a historical journal.
We may also accept articles from people who are not members of the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that may not necessarily
meet the guidelines of supporting the church if it is a topic of
general interest to people involved in apologetics.
A submission may range in length from several pages to a single
paragraph.
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PUBLISHING NOTES
FAIR is not owned, controlled by or affiliated with The Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. All research and opinions provided
in the FAIR Journal and on the FAIR Web site (http://www.fairlds.org)
are the sole responsibility of FAIR, and should not be interpreted as
official statements of LDS doctrine, belief or practice.
If someone has forwarded this e-journal to you and you would like to
join you should go to www.fairlds.org and click on the Membership
link.
If you are very interested in apologetics and would like to actively
participate in FAIR you should consider joining our apologetics e-mail
list. Visit www.fairlds.org and click on the Membership link to join
this list as well.
If you manage your own e-mail list, and wish to include some of these
thoughts or articles on your list, contact us through our Web site, at
this page: www.fairlds.org/contact.psp. We have a fairly liberal policy of using our
material so long as you contact us first to gain permission and
clearly identify that your source was FAIR.
If you would like to sign up to receive the FAIR Journal automatically, click here. To return to the index of past FAIR Journal issues, click here.
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FAIR is not owned, controlled by or affiliated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. All research and opinions provided on this site are the sole responsibility of FAIR, and should not be interpreted as official statements of LDS doctrine, belief or practice. If you like what FAIR does and you agree with our mission, we invite you to support FAIR in any way you are able. You can make a donation, or visit our Membership page for additional support ideas. FAIR only succeeds through the efforts of our gracious volunteers.
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