February 2003
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
- 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.
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:
A Brief Review of Murphy and Southerton’s “Galileo Event” by Kevin Barney
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:
The Impact of LDS Temples on Local Property Values by Steven J. Danderson
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:
Archaeology and the Book of Mormon by Michael Ash
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:
Ask the Apologist: Solomon Spaulding and the Book of Mormon
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:
Ask the Apologist: Word of Wisdom, Caffeine and Hypocrisy
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:
Once at the store, look for the link at the left side that says “Conference Tickets – 2003”.
-Scott Gordon FAIR President
BOOK STORE NEWS
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
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:
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).
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