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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 February 2003
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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
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* A BRIEF REVIEW OF MURPHY AND SOUTHERTON'S "GALILEO EVENT." A
review of an article on DNA and the Book of Mormon that appeared
in Anthropology News.
* FAIR JOURNAL FEATURE: THE IMPACT OF LDS TEMPLES ON LOCAL
PROPERTY VALUES. An examination of whether the presence of an
LDS temple in a community lowers surrounding residential
property values.
* NEW ON THE WEBSITE: ARCHEOLOGY AND THE BOOK OF MORMON. A pass-
along brochure by Mike Ash.
* ASK THE APOLOGIST. The questions this month deal with Book of
Mormon authorship and the Word of Wisdom.
* MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT, SCOTT GORDON. Initial information
about speakers at the 2003 FAIR Conference.
* BOOK STORE SPECIALS. New specials on hot titles.
* 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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A BRIEF REVIEW OF MURPHY AND SOUTHERTON'S "GALILEO EVENT"
by Kevin L. Barney
A brief editorial review of and response to an article by Thomas W.
Murphy and Simon G. Southerton, "Genetic Research a 'Galileo Event'
for Mormons," Anthropology News 44/2 (February 2003): 20, a
publication of the American Anthropological Association.
This review examines the issues involved and explains What this
is this all about.
You will want to read this article to find out.
Read the review: http://www.fairlds.org/Book_of_Mormon/Brief_Review_of_Murphy_and_Southerton_Galileo_Event.html
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THE IMPACT OF LDS TEMPLES ON LOCAL PROPERTY VALUES
by Steven J. Danderson
Opponents of temples of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints claim that by drawing tourists and traffic into residential
neighborhoods, they cause local homes to lose value. Others admit that
churches, by themselves, do not detract from local property values,
but claim that the large size and the ornate nature of temples is the
detriment. This paper tests both contentions by using a regression
analysis on a sample of 207 properties taken from three U.S. cities
where the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have built
temples.
Read the paper: http://www.fairlds.org/pubs/temple.pdf
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ARCHEOLOGY AND THE BOOK OF MORMON
by Michael R. Ash
LDS critics frequently claim that while the Bible has been proven to
be accurate by the discoveries of archaeology, the Book of Mormon has
no archaeological support. We can break down this anti-Mormon charge
into three issues: 1) Can we compare Biblical archaeology with Book
of Mormon archaeology? 2) Is the Bible "proven" by Biblical
archaeology? 3) Is the Book of Mormon without any archaeological
support?
Read the brochure: http://www.fairlds.org/FAIR_Brochures/Archaeology_and_the_Book_of_Mormon.pdf
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ASK THE APOLOGIST - FAIR Journal Feature
This month's questions:
Question - I have heard that Joseph Smith plagiarized the writings of
Solomon Spaulding to produce the Book of Mormon. I know this has been
refuted before, but can you help me understand this issue and get to
the bottom of it?
Read the answer: http://www.fairlds.org/Book_of_Mormon/Solomon_Spaulding_and_the_Book_of_Mormon.html
Question - It seems confusing that Mormons won't drink caffeinated
beverages like coffee and tea, but many have no problem with eating
chocolate, drinking hot chocolate, colas, and other sources of
caffeine. Can you explain the apparent hypocrisy?
Read the answer: http://www.fairlds.org/Misc/Word_of_Wisdom_Caffeine_and_Hypocrisy.html
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A MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT
We have a program lined up for this year's FAIR Conference that you
won't want to miss.
The conference will be on August 7th and 8th (a Thursday and Friday).
The location of the conference will be at Utah Valley State College
(UVSC) in Orem Utah and will go from 9 to 5 each day.
We have some wonderful speakers; here is a partial list in
alphabetical order:
* Dr. Roger Ekins, professor of English and Chair of the Honors
program at Butte College in California. He has written a book
on George Q. Cannon and the California newspaper wars.
* Craig Foster, author of "Penny Tracks and Polemics: a Critical
Analysis of Anti-Mormon Pamphleteering in Great Britain,
1837-1860".
* Brant Gardner, Mesoamerican studies. Brant is always a
conference favorite speaking on the Book of Mormon.
* Dr. John Gee, egyptologist. He will be speaking on why the Book
of Abraham causes me (not) to want to leave the Mormon Church.
* Dr. Roger Keller, associate professor of religion at BYU. Dr.
Keller was an ordained Presbyterian minister, senior pastor of
the First Presbyterian Church in Mesa, Arizona and is a respected
scholar in the Christian community (and is now LDS). I don't
think you will want to miss his talk.
* Dr. Jeffrey Meldrum, associate professor of anatomy and biology
from Idaho State University. He will be speaking on DNA,
Lamanites, and the Book of Mormon.
* George Potter and Richard Wellington, Ancient America Foundation.
George has spent time in the deserts of the Middle East
researching Lehi's trail.
* Dr. Trent Stephens, professor of anatomy and biology from Idaho
State University. The title of his talk is "Evolution and
Latter-day Saint Theology: the Tree of Life and DNA."
* Michael Rhodes, associate professor of ancient scriptures at
BYU. He has written extensively on the Book of Abraham.
His talk will be "The Book of Abraham: Dealing with the Critics."
* Matt Roper, FARMS. Matt is always a favorite because he does a
great job of taking complex issues and making them very clear.
* Dr. Gene Sessions, Chair of the History department at Weber State
University, and past president of the Mountain Meadows Massacre
Association. He will be speaking on the Mountain Meadows
massacre.
* John Tvednes, FARMS. John has written extensively on the Book of
Abraham and brings exciting new insights.
There are other speakers who are just now clearing their calendars so
they can attend and they will be announced at a later time.
I think this will be a really exciting conference that will deal with
some difficult issues and give us new insights. Last year we had
a great time at the conference. You can visit with, and sit down and
have lunch with the speakers and other members of FAIR.
I believe this will be an event that you won't want to miss. So talk
to the other members of your ward and get a group to come. This is
one of the most exciting events of the summer!
Sign up for the conference in our FAIR online bookstore here:
http://store.fairlds.org
Once at the store, look for the link at the left side that says
"Conference Tickets - 2003".
-Scott Gordon
FAIR President
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BOOK STORE NEWS
http://store.fairlds.org
The FAIR Online Bookstore is pleased to offer four great products at
tax-free month-long discounts:
* All Abraham's Children: Changing Mormon Conceptions of Race and
Lineage, by Armand Mauss (University of Illinois Press)
describing the evolution of traditional Mormon beliefs concerning
minorities.
* Echoes and Evidences of the Book of Mormon, by FARMS, points out
subtle details, patterns and insights that are often missed by
nonscholars, as well as information that was difficult to find in
the 1820s.
* '97 Macintosh LDS Collector's Library still might be the
best-ever CD ROM Infobase for Mac. While several years old, the
'97 version contains several items not offered on other versions.
* Orthodox Corruption of Scripture: Effect of Early Christological
Controversies on the Text of the New Testament, by Bart D. Ehrman
(Oxford University Press) examines how the conflict between Early
Christian "orthodoxy" and "heresy" created several transmission
problems and resulted in alterations in the original New
Testament text.
We're interested in any suggestions you may have to improve our
service as well. Let us know what you need and what you want.
-The FAIR Bookstore Staff
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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, Cooper Johnson
(FAIR contact page). 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 FAIR
Publications 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 Join FAIR link to join
this list.
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 and by adding a link to the
FAIR Web site (www.fairlds.org).
Past issues of the FAIR Journal: www.fairlds.org/FAIR_Journal/
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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