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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 2004
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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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* MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT. FAIR has announced the dates and
location of its 6th annual apologetics conference. A special
discount is available for those registering in March. Check the
details below and mark your calendars!
* NEW ON THE WEBSITE: THE KRAKAUER JOURNAL. Follow Allen Wyatt's
trek through Jon Krakauer's 2003 best-selling book, "Under the
Banner of Heaven."
* NEW ON THE WEBSITE: IS BAPTISM ESSENTIAL FOR SALVATION. Scott
and Sheri Gordon examine the New Testament support for baptism
as an essential component of conversion and joining the ancient
Christian Church.
* NEW ON THE WEBSITE: BIBLICAL CONDEMNATIONS OF HOMOSEXUAL CONDUCT.
Justin Starr examines both Biblical and ancient extra-Biblical
sources that condemn homosexual behavior.
* NEW ON THE WEBSITE: LETTER FROM A YOUTH PASTOR: FOUR LDS RESPONSES
TO FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS. The FAIR website frequently draws
people seeking answers to specific questions. See how four FAIR
members responded to a query from a Presbyterian youth director.
* FAIR ONLINE BOOKSTORE. Check out the monthly specials available
in the FAIR LDS Bookstore, including a brand-new release from
FARMS.
* FINDING THE FAIR WEBSITE ON THE INTERNET. There are actually two
ways to reference the FAIR website. See which might be the best
for you.
* 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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MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT
The lineup for FAIR conference is beginning to firm up, and we are
pleased to announce that Robert L. Millet will be one of our speakers.
Robert L. Millet is the Richard L. Evans Professor of Religious
Understanding at Brigham Young University. He also serves as Director
of Outreach and Interfaith Relations for the Church Public Affairs
Department. Brother Millet has served as chairman of the department of
Ancient Scripture, dean of Religious Education, and director of the
Religious Studies Center. He is the author of many books and articles,
dealing mostly with the doctrine and history of the Church. He has his
bachelors and masters degrees from BYU in psychology and his Ph.D.
from Florida State University in religious studies.
We have other equally exciting speakers who will be speaking at our
conference, which will be held on Thursday August 5th and Friday
August 6th at the South Town Exposition Center in Sandy, Utah. More
will be announced in next month's FAIR Journal.
Mark your calendars now so you don't miss this great opportunity!
*** CONFERENCE EARLY BIRD SPECIAL DISCOUNT ***
Sign up in March for the FAIR conference and receive a discount. This
month we are offering an "early bird" conference registration price of
$49.95 for both days, including lunch. The cost for this same level of
registration last year was $59.95, and will be at least that price
this year. If you take advantage of this early bird special, you get
nearly 17% off of last year's price!
Take advantage of the discount at this special link:
http://www.fairlds.org/cgi-bin/site.pl?b103
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THE KRAKAUER JOURNAL
by Allen L. Wyatt
In the summer of 2003 Jon Krakauer released a book that purported to
link violence with religious faith, particularly the LDS faith and
Church. When Krakauer's book came out, FAIR released Richard E.
Turley's review of the it (http://www.fairlds.org/pubs/Krakauer.pdf).
Turley pointed out that Krakauer's data, interpretation, and
presentation were so seriously flawed that the book's conclusion was
completely unjustified.
FAIR's Allen Wyatt takes us through a much more detailed tour of
Krakauer's work, reviewing both content and style, with an eye towards
uncovering many of the book's problems as a serious expose of anything
relating to the LDS faith or Church. Wyatt's chapter-by-chapter
summary and commentary show why this book falls short in terms of
accuracy and scholarship. Krakauer fails to deliver what he claims,
and though the book may be an interesting read, it is "skewed at best
and maliciously fallacious, at worst."
Read the article: http://www.fairlds.org/Misc/The_Krakauer_Journal.html
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IS BAPTISM ESSENTIAL FOR SALVATION
by Scott and Sheri Gordon
Most Latter-day Saints are familiar with the arguments of those who
claim that baptism is desirable but non-essential in the life of a
true follower of Christ. The Gordons review each instance of
individuals and groups being converted as recorded in the New
Testament book of Acts. They point out that in every recorded
instance of conversion, we see the ordinance of baptism as a component
of that transition into the Kingdom of God. The ancient Christian
apostles taught that the proper response to accepting the Gospel
message included baptism.
Read the article: http://www.fairlds.org/Bible/Is_Baptism_Essential_for_Salvation.html
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BIBLICAL CONDEMNATION OF HOMOSEXUAL CONDUCT
by Justin W. Starr
The theological basis for condemning homosexual behavior has been
hotly debated for several decades, and the discussion seems to be only
increasing in volume and intensity. In this paper Starr examines both
biblical and extra-biblical sources to help us understand how
homosexual activity was viewed in the ancient Jewish and Christian
cultures. Drawing on source material as well as commentary, Starr
concludes that "[t]here is no question that the Bible, from Creation
through the New Testament, condemns homosexual conduct" and that if
one were to deny that "one is left wondering whether the Bible has any
modern relevance at all."
Starr's heavily annotated paper (including four pages of references)
is here: http://www.fairlds.org/pubs/BiblicalHomosexuality.pdf
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LETTER FROM A YOUTH PASTOR: FOUR LDS RESPONSES TO FREQUENTLY ASKED
QUESTIONS
A Presbyterian youth director recently contacted FAIR for information
about "what the LDS church really believes." The youth director freely
admitted that his goal was "to refute the LDS church to the kids," but
he wanted to be sure that he was doing so with accurate information
about LDS doctrine and beliefs. As is usual in such instances, a
number of FAIR members responded independently to the youth director's
e-mail. Some respondents answered the query by taking a point-by-point
approach to the issues, while others gave a general, holistic response
to the e-mail.
The youth director's e-mail and four of the responses have been put on
the Website. The responses are interesting, and represent different
ways that Latter-day Saints can respond to these and similar
questions. The original e-mail and the responses make for fascinating
reading.
Read the article: http://www.fairlds.org/Misc/Four_LDS_Responses_to_Frequently_Asked_Questions.html
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FAIR ONLINE BOOKSTORE
Hot Off the Press! Specials on the latest FARMS release: "Glimpses of
Lehi's Jerusalem," as well as Matthew B. Brown's book, "Plates of
Gold: The Book of Mormon Comes Forth."
FAIR is pleased to offer the newest work from the Foundation for
Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, "Glimpses of Lehi's Jerusalem,"
available immediately at a 20% savings.
This book presents a solid, scholarly context for the words of Nephi,
Jacob, and subsequent Book of Mormon prophets in reference to their
Israelite origins. It adds depth and perspective to Old Testament
studies as well, and its list of suggested readings provides a
starting point for further research of a fascinating yet understudied
period of scriptural history.
Nineteen distinguished scholars unite their expertise in twenty-two
chapters to portray the city and its times, including politics,
culture, archaeology, women, agriculture, literacy, law, history,
prophecy, and religion from the vantage points of Israel, Egypt,
Babylon, and Arabia.
You can read more about this book and others on sale this month by
visiting the FAIR Bookstore:
http://www.fairlds.org/cgi-bin/site.pl?s002
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FINDING THE FAIR WEBSITE ON THE INTERNET
There are actually two ways to reference the FAIR Website from your
Web browser: http://www.fairlds.org and http://www.fair-lds.org.
The main FAIR Website is reached using the fairlds reference (without
the hyphen between "fair" and "lds"). This takes you straight to the
FAIR home page and displays the basic site menu, the "FAIR hot spots"
and the "What's New On the FAIR Website" list. If you are familiar
with the FAIR Website, this might be the fastest way for you to find
what you need.
The second Web address, fair-lds.org (with the hyphen), takes you to a
page that presents highlights from the FAIR Website organized by
topic. For example, the fair-lds.org page shows you a collection of
papers relating to recent DNA discussions, several new or hot items in
the FAIR bookstore, a pointer to the FAIR Topical Guide, and many
more. Of course, you can go straight from here to the main FAIR
Website by clicking on the entry under "FAIR: Your Mormon Apologetics
Gateway!"
If you know of anyone who might benefit from the resources available
at FAIR, be sure to let them know where our Website is. Better yet,
get them to subscribe to the FAIR Journal and help them keep up-to-date
on developments in the field of LDS apologetics!
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ARTICLE SUBMISSIONS
We welcome article submissions for the FAIR Journal and website. 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, Paul McNabb
(FAIR contact page). An appropriate article would be one that 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 figures,
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 Website (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 "Join &
Support FAIR" 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 & Support FAIR"
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 as 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 Website (www.fairlds.org).
--------------------------------
FAIR JOURNAL ARCHIVES
For past issues of the FAIR Journal, go to
http://www.fairlds.org/FAIR_Journal
--------------------------------
Copyright (c) 2004 by The Foundation for Apologetic Information &
Research (FAIR). All rights reserved.
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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