December 2005
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. Scott Gordon introduces the new FAIR on-line bookstore.
- NEW ON THE WEBSITE: “George Q. Cannon and the Apostates.” Davis Bitton summarizes President George Q. Cannon’s statements on why people apostatize and how apostates should be viewed.
- NEW ON THE WEBSITE: ” Shining New Light on the Mountain Meadows Massacre.” In his 2003 FAIR Conference presentation, Gene Sessions discussed the Mountain Meadows Massacre and how the story of the horrific event is often distorted by anti-Mormon authors.
- ASK THE APOLOGIST. Got a question you are dying to ask? Here’s how.
- FAIR TOPICAL GUIDE. The Topical Guide on the FAIR Web site is one of the most popular resources offered. Learn what is available and help us expand our references.
- FAIR LDS BOOKSTORE. With the changes in the on-line bookstore, browsing and ordering is faster and easier than ever. Check out the new format and this month’s special offerings.
- 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. All of the FAIR Journal issues since October 2001 are on the FAIR web site.
MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT
We are pleased to introduce our FAIR bookstore in a new format. With the number of books we carry (over 1600), plus the number of visitors we have to the bookstore, we continually exceeded our bandwidth and disk storage space with our third-party bookstore Web site provider. So we moved the bookstore to the FAIR server and implemented a new format more in line with the rest of the FAIR Web site. The result is a much faster bookstore. You can see it at
It is still in the beginning stages, so there are features that aren’t yet active. We plan to add a search feature in the near future. If you have other suggestions, feel free to pass them our way by sending an e-mail to the bookstore.
We appreciate the many hundreds of hours of volunteer labor that goes into the FAIR bookstore, and we hope that our guests to the FAIR Web site find it to be a valuable resource.
We rely on volunteer labor and on your donations to keep FAIR up and running. But given our growth and size, this sometimes becomes difficult to manage. If you are able to make a charitable contribution this year, and if you feel that FAIR is a valuable resource, please consider making a donation to FAIR at
We appreciate all of the support we receive. Thank you!
We at FAIR hope you all had a good Christmas and wish you a happy year.
–Scott Gordon President, FAIR
FAIR is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, so if you are in the United States, your donation is tax deductible. Without your donations, FAIR would cease to exist. Thank you for your support.
George Q. Cannon and the Apostates
by Davis Bitton
President George Q. Cannon lived during some of the most intense anti-Mormon activity in Church history. His perspective on apostasy and apostates is still highly relevant for our time. In this paper, Bitton looks briefly at some of the anti-Mormon events witnessed by Cannon, and Bitton gives Cannon’s four causes of apostasy. Bitton gives examples of statements by Cannon on apostates and demonstrates that Cannon spoke boldly and uncompromisingly about the dangers and tactics of apostates.
“We have here analyzed George Q. Cannon’s different pronouncements on individual apostasy. But he did not stand alone. On all the essential points other Church leaders from Joseph Smith to Lorenzo Snow expressed similar views.”
Read the article:
George Q. Cannon and the Apostates by Davis Bitton
If you are interested in further reading, the following related items are available from the FAIR Bookstore.
- George Q. Cannon: A Biography (hardcover)
- George Q. Cannon and the Apostates (CD)
- Reaching Black Saints –and– George Q. Cannon and the Apostates (WMV)
- Defending Zion: George Q. Cannon and the California Mormon Newspaper Wars of 1856-1857
- Defending Zion: The California Mormon Newspaper War of 1856-57 (CD)
- Monotheism, Messiah, & Mormon’s Book –and– Defending Zion: California Mormon Newspaper War (WMV)
- Defending Zion: The California Mormon Newspaper War of 1856-57 (DVD)
- My First Mission
- Shining New Light on the Mountain Meadows Massacre
by Gene Sessions
In his 2003 FAIR Conference presentation, Sessions reviews the agendas and scholarship found in the recent publications about the Mountain Meadows Massacre. Although Latter-day Saints have historically often been reticent or defensive about the atrocity, anti-Mormon authors go far beyond the evidence in their effort to use the massacre to paint a damning picture of the 19th century Church and its leaders. Sessions also discusses anti-Mormon criticism of the Church’s alleged suppression of evidence and other rumors that so frequently surround publications critical of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Read the article:
Shining New Light on the Mountain Meadows Massacre by Gene Sessions
If you are interested in further reading, the following related items are available from the FAIR Bookstore.
- Shining New Light On the Mountain Meadows Massacre (CD)
- Shining New Light On the Mountain Meadows Massacre (DVD)
- Shining New Light On the Mountain Meadows Massacre –and– The Unchanging Ways of Anti-Mormons (WMV)
- The Mountain Meadows Massacre
- Excavating Mormon Pasts: The New Historiography of the Last Half Century
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 Web site as a FAIR paper or brochure. If you have a question, simply mail it to our Questions address. Email sent to this address will be shared with members of FAIR, so it is not uncommon to receive several responses that approach the issue from different angles.
FAIR TOPICAL GUIDE
The Topical Guide is one of the most important LDS apologetic resources available. If you aren’t familiar with this part of FAIR’s Web site, check it out at
FAIR LDS BOOKSTORE
We are so excited now that the FAIR Bookstore is up and running again. To celebrate we are offering some great books with fantastic sale prices. Don’t forget to check out these sale items and other offerings in the FAIR Bookstore.
Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling
While many “experts” continue to view Joseph Smith as a controversial figure, renowned scholar (and Latter-day Saint) author Richard L. Bushman locates Joseph in his historical and cultural context, fleshing out the many nuances of nineteenth-century American life that produced such a fertile ground for emerging religions. You can purchase this book for $27.95, 20% off its retail price. (It is regularly $35.00.)
Lengthen Your Stride: The Presidency of Spencer W. Kimball
Written by his son Edward L. Kimball, this book recounts the last twelve years of Spencer W. Kimball’s life, covering events that were important to him and to the Church. The book allows the reader to interpret both the events and motivation of those who played a part in his life during this time. Included in the book is a CD-ROM that covers material in more depth and provides extensive notes on the book. You can now purchase this book for $20.97, 30% off its regular retail price of $29.95.
Lehi in the Wilderness: 81 New, Documented Evidences that the Book of Mormon is a True History
Two Latter-day Saints, with unprecedented access to the lands of the Middle East, have completed a six-year odyssey documenting the actual locations of Lehi’s journey from Jerusalem to the land of Bountiful. Their discoveries provide real, tangible verification of locations described in the Book of Mormon.
This book makes an excellent addition to any library, complete with beautiful photographs and vivid descriptions of the sites located by the authors during their travels. This book normally retails for $39.95, but you can have it for the special price of $27.97, a full 30% discount!
To see all of our specials for this month in one place, visit this special page:
FAIR Bookstore – Monthly Specials
Thanks for your continued support of the FAIR Bookstore. We hope you have a great new year!
– 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).
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.
