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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 April 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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* FAIR JOURNAL FEATURE: CRITICS IN WONDERLAND: THROUGH THE LIBERAL
LOOKING GLASS. An examination of how LDS dissidents have misused
the term "liberal."
* NEW ON THE WEBSITE: NATURALISTIC TERMS: SOME REFLECTIONS ON A
MOTTO AND TYPE OF HISTORICAL EXPLANATION. A thoughtful analysis
of those who work to create a "New Mormon History."
* NEW ON THE WEBSITE: MULTIMEDIA AND PHOTO ESSAYS. An apologetics
fireside, the work of anti-Mormons at April General Conference,
and anti-Mormons at the Mesa Easter Pageant.
* FAIR PROJECT UPDATE. Missionary brochures tackle difficult
subjects, and pave the way for a FAIR international presence.
* FAIR CONFERENCE UPDATE. A new speaker is added, and a poster is
available that you can download.
* MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT, SCOTT GORDON. With your help, FAIR
can do a great work.
* BOOK STORE SPECIALS. Build your gospel library with great offers
from our online bookstore. All of our selections are prescreened
for quality so you can make your purchases with confidence.
* 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.
* FAIR JOURNAL ARCHIVES
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CRITICS IN WONDERLAND: THROUGH THE LIBERAL LOOKING GLASS
by Juliann Reynolds
Since the advent of such notable publications as Dialogue it has been
common for believing LDS to apply the label of "intellectual" and/or
"liberal" to disaffected Mormons and ex-Mormons who publicly criticize
the Church. The term "intellectual" has long carried the baggage of
unbelief or cynicism in Church circles.
Read the article: http://www.fairlds.org/Misc/Critics_in_Wonderland_Through_the_Liberal_Looking_Glass.html
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NATURALISTIC TERMS: SOME REFLECTIONS ON A MOTTO AND TYPE OF HISTORICAL
EXPLANATION
by Louis Midgley
[Editor's Note: This paper was originally presented at the 2001 FAIR
Conference.]
The adjective naturalistic is typically used to describe explanations,
categories or terms that explain away or deny prophetic truth claims
or miracles, however they might be understood. I will provide an
example of this usage outside of an LDS setting. Edgar Krentz has
described how David Friedrich Strauss (1808-1874), in his highly
influential Das Leben Jesu, which first appeared in 1835, followed the
trendy and highly secularized scholarly fashion of the day by
providing what he called naturalistic explanations for the seemingly
miraculous happenings reported in the New Testament about Jesus of
Nazareth. According to Krentz, Strauss denied "the historicity of all
miracles, the resurrection, and most of the content of the Gospels.
However, he tried to save the eternal truths contained in the
historically dubious materials through the concept of myth." Thus,
again according to Krentz, the approach to the Gospels provided by
Strauss "destroys truth by its naturalistic explanations; the use of
myth allows the preservation of truth in the face of rationalism. Myth
allowed Strauss to place the Gospels into their own conceptual world
and save their writers from being deceivers." There have been a number
of different naturalistic explanations of Joseph Smith and the Book of
Mormon.
Read the article: http://www.fairlds.org/FAIR_Conferences/2001_Naturalistic_Terms.html
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MULTIMEDIA AND PHOTO ESSAYS
FAIR has added four video clips as well as two photo essays:
1. "An Introduction to LDS Apologetics"
A fireside presentation by Kevin Barney. (01:17:58)
http://www.fairlds.org/cgi-bin/site.pl?c101
2. "Anti-Mormon protesters at the April 2003 LDS General Conference"
There are three short video clips in addition to a photo essay.
http://www.fairlds.org/cgi-bin/site.pl?c102
3. "Anti-Mormon efforts at the 2003 Mesa Easter Pageant"
A photo essay.
http://www.fairlds.org/cgi-bin/site.pl?c103
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FAIR PROJECT UPDATE
In the March 2003 issue of the Journal we announced that a new project
that FAIR is presently working on. A series of one-page brochures to
answer some of the most common questions which investigators ask. The
topics are varied and new ones are added to our to-do list every week.
This is a work-in-progress and FAIR welcomes your feedback as well as
your suggestions for topics.
This past month we've added a six-part series on various Book of
Mormon anacronisms written by Mike Ash. An "anachronism" is something
that doesn't fit the time or place for which it is claimed. For
example, a tale of King Henry VIII watching television would be
anachronistic (wrong time frame). Hunting zebras in Greenland would
also be anachronistic (wrong place - zebras don't live in Greenland).
The Book of Mormon has frequently been charged with containing
numerous anachronisms.
For a preview of the "missionary" brochures:
http://www.fairlds.org/Bookshelf.html
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FAIR CONFERENCE UPDATE
Clear your calendar, book your plane tickets, and buy your tickets for
the upcoming FAIR Conference on August 7th and 8th in Orem UT.
We are really excited about this year's lineup. We have several
speakers that would pack the house if they came to your Know Your
Religion activity for your stake. At the FAIR Conference, you can
listen to them, ask questions of them, eat lunch with them, and have
them autograph their books (which you can pick up at the conference.)
We have speakers on the Book of Abraham, the Mountain Meadows
massacre, Book of Mormon evidences, DNA and the Book of Mormon, grace
and works, and many other subjects.
We have Egyptologists, historians, professors, ex-pastors, explorers,
researchers and scientists all working to bring you high quality
information on these topics.
Since last month, we have made another great addition to the lineup.
In light of the 25th anniversary of the priesthood revelation, Armand
Mauss, PhD, professor emeritus of sociology and religious studies at
Washington State University will be addressing issues related to that
event.
We need your help advertising this conference. Advertising the
conference is one of the biggest expenses that we have and costs us
thousands of dollars. The more word-of-mouth advertising we can do,
the more able we are to keep the price of the conferences at a
reasonable level.
Download this flyer and post it up at your institute and ward building
(with permission of course):
http://www.fairlds.org/poster03.pdf
Pass it out to your friends, and put it up on your Web site. Most
importantly, invite your friends to come with you to the conference.
See you at the FAIR conference!
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A MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT
If you think FAIR is doing a good job, please donate!
I know that sounds blunt, and it isn't something you want to hear. You
donate to the church, you donate at work, and you donate to your kids.
I know. I do that too. I understand. I have one missionary out, and I
am sending the second out this month.
FAIR has been successful and is growing, and I want to keep it that
way. I have received emails from members all over the world thanking
us for providing information which has helped them through a difficult
time or answered questions that they perceived to be difficult.
But it costs money to operate.
There are anti-Mormon ministries that are very well funded. IRR has
given out thousands of videos and books for free. Living Hope
Ministries has also given out thousands of videos for free. I wish we
could do that.
Your donation is needed.
With your donation, we will pay for hosting and advertising the
upcoming FAIR conference. We will print pamphlets and books for those
who need them. We will cover our operating expenses. Someday, if we
ever get the funding for that specific project, we would like to do a
video.
Just as a reminder, the operating expenses of FAIR do not include any
salaries or draws for our volunteers. We have no paid staff. Our time
is all donated.
So instead of going out to lunch this week, donate to FAIR. Instead of
going to the movies, donate to FAIR. Instead of making the down
payment on your new home, donate to FAIR--OK, I'm kidding about that
last suggestion. But you can still donate to FAIR.
You can donate at:
http://www.fairlds.org/cgi-bin/site.pl?s001
You can also donate by mailing a check to FAIR, PO Box 491677, Redding,
CA 96049. FAIR is a non-profit 501(c)3 corporation. All donations
should be tax deductible, but check with your tax advisor.
-Scott Gordon
FAIR President
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BOOK STORE SPECIALS
* The Gate of Heaven: Insights on Doctrines & Symbols of the Temple
by Matthew B. Brown
* Personal Writings of Eliza Roxcy Snow
Maureen Ursenbach Beecher, Editor
* Religions of the World: A Latter-day Saint View
by Spencer J. Palmer, Roger R. Keller, Dong Sull Choi, and James
A. Toronto
* Selected Collections from the Archives of The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints (2 Volume DVD set)
Edited and produced under the direction of Richard E. Turley, Jr.
Detailed information on these specials is located later in this issue
of the FAIR Journal.
http://www.fairlds.org/cgi-bin/site.pl?s002
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).
--------------------------------
FAIR JOURNAL ARCHIVES
For past issues of the FAIR Journal, go to 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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November 11, 2006
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