March 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. More information is available on the upcoming FAIR conference, and FAIR’s president gives a “thumbs up” for several new books. There is still time in March to buy your discounted ticket for the 2004 FAIR Conference!
- NEW ON THE WEBSITE: HARD QUESTIONS AND KEEPING THE FAITH. Michael Ash presents an excellent summary of why it can be important to respond to critics of the Church and how to do so. !
- NEW ON THE WEBSITE: PROBLEMS WITH “ONE NATION UNDER GODS” CHAPTER 9. Michele Ladouceur analyzes another misuse of source material in Abanes’ anti-Mormon book “One Nation Under Gods.” !
- NEW ON THE WEBSITE: DISPELLING THE BLACK MYTH. Renee Olson’s 2002 FAIR Conference presentation is now transcribed and available on the FAIR website. !
- NEW ON THE WEBSITE: ASK THE APOLOGIST. Ben McGuire responds to the charge that Joseph Smith lacked inspiration when he used the purportedly post-Biblical association of Lucifer with Satan. !
- FAIR ONLINE BOOKSTORE. Check out the monthly specials available in the FAIR LDS Bookstore, including a brand-new release from FARMS. !
- NEW FAIR WEBSITE FEATURE. Our FAIR Webmaster has added a new feature to help visitors track down papers and articles. !
- 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
It’s General Conference time again and we can be sure that protestors will be out in force. This time they promise to be even more outlandish in their behavior. The City of Salt Lake has responded by moving the protest areas further from the conference goers. We hope that the members of the church respond appropriately to the protestors by completely ignoring them. Once again, we will have our FAIR reporters on hand to bring you pictures, so you won’t miss a thing.
The FAIR Conference
The FAIR Conference on August 5th and 6th is starting to take shape. We have a fabulous line up of speakers. I can hardly wait!
This year’s speakers include Robert Millet, Roger Keller, Dan Peterson, Davis Bitton, Richard Lloyd Anderson, David Paulsen, Brant Gardner, and Andrea Radke.
Topics will include discussions on women in the LDS church, the apostasy, the Book of Mormon witnesses, reaching out to those in other faiths, Book of Mormon historicity and many other exciting topics.
Our bookstore staff will also be there in force where you can purchase books authored by the speakers and have them signed.
We will have a fund raising auction so plan on bringing books to auction off.
Schedule your time now. I will be there and hope to see you there as well.
Order your tickets here
Don’t forget to order your ticket in March and get a $10 discount!
If you wait until April to buy your conference ticket, you’ll miss out on the March discount, but you’ll receive a $5 coupon for use at the conference bookstore.
President’s Book Recommendations
I just finished reading The FARMS Review, Vol. 15, No. 2. It has some really excellent articles on the Mountain Meadows, DNA, and on Grant Palmer’s book. I would call it a “must read” for LDS apologists. I also recently read the Journal of Book of Mormon Studies Vol. 12, No. 1. It has some great articles on DNA and the Book of Mormon that help clarify the issues. I highly recommend these two books.
You can purchase The FARMS Review at FAIR Bookstore
You can purchase the Journal of Book of Mormon Studies at FAIR Bookstore
For the history buffs, I recently read “Plates of Gold” by Matthew Brown and really enjoyed it. In this book, Brother Brown takes the various historical sources and puts them into a chronological narrative that is really enjoyable reading. It brings to light witnesses to the coming forward of the Book of Mormon that aren’t part of the eleven we usually read about. Understanding this book will help refute many of the anti Mormon claims that continue to come up on this topic. I recommend this book.
You can purchase “Plates of Gold” at
PLATES OF GOLD: THE BOOK OF MORMON COMES FORTH by Matthew Brown
Hard Questions and Keeping the Faith
by Michael R. Ash
Most people associated with FAIR have had the experience of responding to anti-Mormon literature and arguments that have been presented to family, friends, and ward members. Sometimes we are asked if a response to attacks on the Church should ever be made–or rather we should ignore the material and move on with other things. In his article, Ash gives an excellent explanation for why such responses are needed, and when and how such responses should be made. In addition to providing the rationale for apologetics, Ash gives some excellent “how tos” and points to resources available to people needed to search out or create intelligent responses to our critics.
Read the article:
Hard Questions and Keeping the Faith (PDF) by Michael Ash
PROBLEMS WITH “ONE NATION UNDER GODS” CHAPTER 9
by Michele Ladouceur
When Richard Abanes released his anti-Mormon book, “One Nation Under Gods,” it became immediately apparent that there were numerous, serious problems with the references and footnotes. In her article, Michele points out that Abanes’ use of a 1961 quote from Elder Levi Edgar Young was taken out of context and blatantly misused. Elder Young did not pray “that thousands would turn not to God, but to Joseph [Smith].” When read in context, it is clear that Elder Young is commenting on a proposed book dealing with Joseph Smith and his hope was that Joseph’s life and work would be widely publicized.
Read the article:
A FAIR Analysis of: ‘One Nation Under Gods’
DISPELLING THE BLACK MYTH
by Renee Olson
As a black Latter-day Saint and former anti-Mormon, Olson has a unique perspective on the issues relating to black members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In her humor-laced, 2002 FAIR Conference presentation, Olson educated attendees on the history of the priesthood ban, race issues that still exist in the Church, and ideas of how and where we should go from here. Previously available only as audio, this excellent presentation has been transcribed and is available on the FAIR website.
Read the article:
Dispelling the Black Myth by Renee Olson
ASK THE APOLOGIST
FAIR invites the public to submit questions relating to LDS beliefs, practices, and history. Some questions are asked sincerely by members and investigators, others are clearly hostile questions challenging the veracity of the Church and its teachings. Many of these responses may end up on the website as a FAIR paper or brochure. If you have a question, simply send it to the Questions address on our contact page.
A website visitor recently challenged Joseph Smith’s prophetic calling by claiming that the association of Lucifer with Satan was a post- Biblical development. The charge was made that Joseph Smith incorrectly interpretted Bible scriptures relating to Lucifer and that he was fooled into creating a theology based on this incorrect reading. The visitor pointed to a website that claims that the Lucifer-Satan connection began around around the time of Jerome in the fourth century.
Ben McGuire responded by showing that the association of Lucifer with Satan is found in the writings of the early Church fathers, several centuries before Jerome’s usage. In addition, the scholarly community almost universally rejects the being in Isaiah 14 as being the king of Babylon directly. Finally, McGuire discusses Lucifer-Satan traditions from multiple cultures. Joseph Smith did not err in his usage of the name Lucifer nor in his interpretation of Isaiah 14.
Read the article:
Ask the Apologist: Lucifer and Satan
FAIR ONLINE BOOKSTORE
Looking to impress your friends with your esoteric knowledge? Enjoy the blank looks on their faces when you tell them your latest read? This is one way to achieve it and much cheaper than going for that doctorate in ancient Aramaic. Seriously, FARMS Occasional Papers are a great resource for anyone. FAIR is introducing you to the latest of the FARMS collection: “Who Controls the Water? Yahweh vs. Baal — and — Justice and Mercy in the Book of Deuteronomy (OP4).” This triad of papers (includes “Garment of Joseph: An Update”) is available at only $7.95, a 20% savings over retail. Check it out at
and be sure and take the time to take a look at OP1-OP3, at 10-20% discounts as well.
A bestseller as always, the latest FARMS Review (Vol 15, No 2) is out and already is being discussed across the Internet. With multiple reviews of Grant Palmer’s “An Insider’s View of Mormon Origins,” the highly controversial interpretation of the history of the Restoration, plus a legion of other insightful and detailed articles on subjects ranging from DNA in the Book of Mormon to Open Theism, this is a great way to not only pick up ideas for that next book purchase but also to keep up on the latest “hot topics” around apologetic circles. You can’t beat the price: $8.75, a 20%+ savings.
Bookstore Information
EVEN BETTER THAN BEFORE: Sharon, our bookstore powerhouse, has been keeping busy this past month with slashing prices all over our bookstore web pages. There are hundreds of items, so be sure to check out your “I’ll get that next paycheck” list because this may be your time to go for it.
BIG NEWS: We’ve hooked up with LDS Church Distribution in our efforts to become your “top of the list, first stop, only stop” bookstore (non-fluff only, of course) and will be adding many items from their line. If there’s something you think we need, let us know. Our goal is top quality AND ultimate convenience.
NEW BOOKSTORE FEATURE–RATING AND REVIEWS: With all our effort for you, we’d like a little something in return. Nope, not money this time around–just a little effort and insight (though we’ll take the money too!). We’ve recently added a great feature to our listings to add major value for our customers. You can now review and rate to aid others in their search for just the right book, CD-ROM, or audio product. Please, if you have ever read any of our books or used other products, take a little time (or a lot if you are willing) and add some very much needed details to our pages. Don’t be shy; we will not be rating writing skills, though we do reserve the right to correct spelling.
HOW TO REVIEW A PRODUCT: Open the FAIR Online Bookstore Home page at http://bookstore.fairlds.org. You must login to the site by clicking on the link in the upper left hand corner that says, “Log in to Order, Rate or Review Products.” This requires some basic information and a password that you define. We cannot see your password. You can edit this information at any time. If you review the same item more than once, the newest review will replace the old one. Have some fun and help us out big time all at once.
FAQs PAGE: For those new to the bookstore or wanting to keep up on changes, check out our General Information & FAQs page at
This includes the all important shipping and privacy information as well as a list of many of the publishers we are associated with, publishers we will soon be associated with, and other important information.
NEW FAIR WEBSITE FEATURE
Our FAIR Webmaster has added an enhancement to the Topical Guide section of the website–you can now list by title all resource available through the FAIR Topical Guide. To check out this new feature, go to the Topical Guide section of the website (or go there directly using http://www.fairlds.org/apol) and then click on the “Topical Guide, by Title” near the top and on the right of the page title. Or you can go straight to the title list at
Many thanks to Allen Wyatt for his great support of the FAIR website!
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).
FAIR JOURNAL ARCHIVES
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.
