January 2004

LATIN – apologeticus GREEK – apologetikos 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, 4th edition, Houghton Mifflin Company, 2009).

JOURNAL CONTENTS

• MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT. FAIR has announced the dates and location of its 6th annual apologetics conference. Check the details below and mark your calendars!
• ANTI-MORMON TACTICS USED ANCIENTLY. Two articles, one serious and one humorous, examine how anti-Christian activities of the first century resembled anti-Mormon activities in our day. !
• FAIR’S TOP 25 ARTICLES FOR 2003. Check the list below for the 25 most often accessed articles on the FAIR website. Are there any that you may have missed this year? !
• FAIR ONLINE BOOKSTORE. Check out the monthly specials available in the FAIR LDS Bookstore. !
• 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.

MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

This August FAIR will be hosting its 6th annual FAIR Conference. The conference will be held on Thursday August 5 and Friday August 6 at the South Town Exposition Center in Sandy, Utah. We have some outstanding speakers lined up. More information about the speakers will be forthcoming.

Don’t forget to mark your calendars now!

If you missed any of the previous conferences, you can view online copies of some earlier FAIR Conference presentations here:

FAIR Conferences

This year’s FAIR Conference location:

South Town Exposition Center – 9575 So. State St., Sandy, Utah 84070

This is a really nice facility and we are happy to have our conference here this year. It will give us more room and it is easily accessible by freeway and by the Salt Lake City transit system. There are also several hotels in the area that provide a shuttle to the conference center.

Pictures of the conference center are viewable here:

South Towne Expo Center

ANTI-MORMON TACTICS USED ANCIENTLY

Sometimes we forget about the wonderful resources available on the FAIR website. Aaron Christensen has contributed a fascinating paper that discusses how Celsus, the ancient anti-Christian, worked to attack and undermine the early Christian Church. Not surprisingly, his methods closely resemble those of modern anti-Mormons.

Christensen points out the Celsus used a variety of techniques to attack and defame the budding Christian religion. For example, Celsus claimed special, first-hand knowledge of the inner beliefs and practices of the Christians. Celsus uses derogatory language and ridicule when describing the Christian writings, accusing the Christians of plagiarism, stupidity, and gullibility. He argues that the theology of the Christians is ungodly, devilish, and degrading. And of course, Celsus claims to be doing this in the best interest and for the benefit of the deceived Christians. All of this should sound eerily familiar to anyone acquainted with anti-Mormon ministries and literature.

If you have not yet read this fascinating comparison of modern and ancient tactics, you can view Aaron Christensen’s “Celsus and Modern Anti-Mormonism” at

Celsus and Modern Anti-Mormonism (PDF) by Aaron Christensen

In a similar but humorous vein, John Tvedtnes presents a tongue-in-cheek expose of the first-century “Christian cult” as seen through the eyes of a first century anti-cult activist.

To view John A. Tvedtnes’s “Newly Discovered First-Century Document” go to

Newly Discovered First-Century Document! by John Tvedtnes

FAIR’S TOP 25 ARTICLES FOR 2003

FAIR keeps track of how often each web page and article is accessed over the Internet. This helps us know how the web site is being used and which services are most needed by FAIR members and visitors. At this time of year it is good to look back to see what we did over the last 12 months. Here is the list of the 25 most popular articles on the FAIR website last year.

1. The Truth About “The God Makers” By Gilbert Scharffs
2. Without the Walls of Temple Square By Tiffany Wilde
3. Restoring the Ancient Church: Joseph Smith and Early Christianity By Barry Bickmore
4. Dr. Scott Woodward: DNA and the Book of Mormon“
5. A FAIR Analysis of: Mormonism 101
6. They Lie in Wait to Deceive
7. Anti-Mormon protesters at the October 2003 LDS General Conference
8. Anti-Mormons at Temple Square (cartoon)
9. Ask the Apologist: Word of Wisdom, Caffeine and Hypocrisy
10. DNA and the Book of Mormon By Cooper Johnson
11. Ross Baron Presentation
12. DNA and the Book of Mormon (cartoon)
13. The Tempest in a Teapot: DNA Studies and the Book of Mormon By Brant Gardner
14. Homosexuality and The Church of Jesus Christ: Understanding Homosexuality According to the Doctrine of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints By A. Dean Byrd
15. Answering the Bible Answer Man By J. Cooper Johnson
16. When the Prophet Speaks, Is the Thinking Done?
17. A Brief Review of Murphy and Southerton’s “Galileo Event” By Kevin Barney
18. Blacks and the Priesthood By Marvin Perkins
19. Motivation, Behavior, and Dissension By Allen Wyatt
20. Are Books of Scripture Missing from the Bible?
21. Spotting an Anti-Mormon Book By Davis Bitton
22. How About Tolerance For All? By Bob Lonsberry
23. Does President Gordon B. Hinckley Understand LDS Doctrine? By Michael W. Fordham
24. The Church’s Portrayal of Brigham Young
25. Ask the Apologist: Solomon Spaulding and the Book of Mormon

FAIR ONLINE BOOKSTORE

Many books and articles in the popular press present journalistic accounts of the Latter-day Saints but typically, these distant views accentuate interesting but obsolete or external factors. When Latter-day Saints read these popular accounts, they scarcely recognize themselves in what is being said, for it so often fails to describe the heart and soul of what it means to be a committed follower of Christ in the tradition of the Latter-day Saints. The articles in Latter-day Saint Essentials: Readings from the Encyclopedia of Mormonism attempt to correct that deficiency.

You can read more about this book and others on sale this month by visiting the FAIR Bookstore:

FAIR Bookstore – Monthly Specials

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:

FAIR Editorial Style Guide

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.

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).

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.