July 2006
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. With the annual FAIR Conference right around the corner, preparations are moving quickly to make sure that everyone has a great time.
- FAIR CONFERENCE AUCTION. A tradition at our annual conference, the auction brings together some great deals and some interesting items.
- PRESS RELEASE. A short press release you can share with family, friends, and anyone else interested in the conference.
- CONFERENCE HOUSING. Need a place to stay when you come to the FAIR Conference? A great choice is our official hotel, just minutes from the South Towne Expo Center.
- GERMAN WEBSITE. We are pleased to announce the official launch of the German-language FAIR Web site. In addition, we’ve included selections from the first German FAIR newsletter that just went out.
- 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.
- FAIR LDS BOOKSTORE. Build your library by taking advantage of this month’s specials at the FAIR 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. All of the FAIR Journal issues since October 2001 are on the FAIR web site.
MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT
As we prepare for our annual conference in Sandy Utah on August 3 and 4, we decided to send out the FAIR Journal now instead of waiting until the end of the month. Right before the conference is the busiest time of year for our FAIR volunteers, and many of our Journal subscribers will be traveling to Utah at that time. We wanted to make sure everyone had the conference information prior to the conference, and we wanted to announce our new German language web site that just went live.
If you have not already done so, sign up now for the FAIR conference. We have an outstanding lineup of speakers that will be covering exciting topics. You really won’t want to miss this.
As always, we will set up a bookstore at the conference with great deals and specials.
FAIR CONFERENCE AUCTION
As in years past, we will have an auction table to auction off interesting used books, so bring your used LDS or even anti-LDS books to the conference to donate to the auction table.
PRESS RELEASE
We sent out the following press release on the conference. Feel free to share this with your friends. You may also wish to download and post the FAIR publicity poster which you can find here:
Here is the press release:
MORMON APOLOGETICS GROUP TO MEET
SALT LAKE CITY – The Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research (FAIR), will be sponsoring its annual conference at the South Towne Exposition Center located at 9575 South State Street in Sandy, Utah, on August 3 – 4, 2006 from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm each day.
Speakers will address various topics defending Latter-day Saint doctrine, history and practice including the legal trials of Joseph Smith, DNA and the Book of Mormon, Mark Hofmann’s Mormon document forgeries, the Book of Abraham, New World evidences of Book of Mormon historicity, reflections on race and the restored gospel, linguistic connections between the Middle East and the Americas, and other issues.
The public is invited to attend the conference. More information is available at www.fairlds.org.
FAIR is an independent organization dedicated to defending the LDS faith through sound research and logic. FAIR is not affiliated with nor do they receive support from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. FAIR is made up of independent researchers who are both members and non-members of the LDS Church.
CONFERENCE HOUSING
We have reserved a block of rooms with the Best Western Cotton Tree in Sandy, Utah, for those who are traveling to the conference. To reserve your room call 801-523-8484 or call 800-662-6886 and tell them you want one of the rooms has been reserved for FAIR. If you don’t tell them you are with FAIR, they will tell you they’re sold out–as the rest of the hotel is sold out. You are also free to stay in any of the other hotels in the area, but make your reservation now as there are other conferences that weekend as well, and rooms are going fast.
GERMAN WEB SITE
We are excited to announce our German language web site at:
http://www.deutsch.fairlds.org/
We also have a German language FAIR Journal which we have named the FAIR Newsletter. To sign up for future issues of the FAIR Newsletter (in German) go to the following link:
http://www.deutsch.fairlds.org/JoinFAIR/FAIRNewsletter.html
We have a German language FAIR apologetics group as well. This is a mirror image of our English speaking volunteer Group. If you would like to join that group, go to the following link:
http://www.deutsch.fairlds.org/JoinFAIR/FAIRMitgliederliste.html
If you speak German, we can certainly use your help translating articles into German. Feel free to translate the English-language article that interests you and send it to us in an e-mail to our project director, Rene Krywult at [email protected] or to me, Scott Gordon, through the FAIR contact page:
We would like to do the same thing in other languages. So if you speak Spanish, Portuguese, or another language and would like to assist in this effort, please contact me through the above contact page. We move very slowly as we are in all-volunteer organization. But we are always looking for more volunteers who can enthusiastically get the work done.
For those who are able to read German, here is a selection from the first German language FAIR Newsletter:
FAIR NEWSLETTER Juli 2006
The Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research
Unter Apologetik [..] versteht man die Verteidigung einer (Welt-) Anschauung, insbesondere die wissenschaftliche Rechtfertigung von Glaubens-Lehrsätzen, und den Teilbereich der Theologie, in dem man sich mit der wissenschaftlich-rationalen Absicherung des Glaubens befasst. [..] Während es die Funktionen der Apologetik als vernunftgemäße Verteidigung des eigenen Glaubens und der eigenen Weltanschauung auch in vielen anderen Religionen und Weltanschauungen gibt, wird die Bezeichnung Apologetik gewöhnlich nur für die Verteidigung des christlichen Glaubens verwendet. http://www.wikipedia.de – Stand 10.07.2006IN DIESER AUSGABE BOTSCHAFT DES PRÄSIDENTEN – FAIR für Deutschland, Österreich und die Schweiz geht online FAIR KONFERENZ. Die 8. FAIR Konferenz findet dieses Jahr in Sandy, Utah statt. NEU AUF DER WEBSITE: Gott hat einen Körper (von Barry Bickmore) NEU AUF DER WEBSITE: Beweise für das Buch Mormon (von Dr. Daniel C. Peterson) NEU AUF DER WEBSITE: Ewiger Fortschritt (von Stephen E. Robinson) NEU AUF DER WEBSITE: Behauptet die Bibel, unfehlbar zu sein? (vo Barry Bickmore).
BOTSCHAFT DES PRÄSIDENTEN
Vielleicht haben Sie es schon selbst erlebt: Ein Zeitungsartikel oder eine Fernsehsendung bringt „Informationen“ über die Kirche Jesu Christi der Heiligen der Letzten Tage in ein unvorteilhaftes Licht setzen. In so einem Fall warten wir oft darauf, daß die PR/PA-Beauftragten der Kirche den Fehler korrigieren. Aber was tut man, wenn man auf ein Buch stößt, oder ein eMail zugesendet bekommt, das „Enthüllungen“ über den Mormonismus verheißt? Was, wenn man selbst Fragen hat, die man nicht beantworten kann, weil einem die Fakten fehlen?
So ging es dieser Tage einigen JAEs, die von einem gewissen Manfred Trzoska angeschrieben wurden, der sie als „Freunde der Wahrheit“ bezeichnete, nur um dann zu behaupten, die Kirche Jesu Christi der Heiligen der Letzten Tage informiere nicht aufrichtig, sondern gebe nur gefilterte, zensierte und gefälschte Informationen weiter. Er macht Werbung für die älteste antimormonische Website im Deutschsprachigen Raum und für seine Übersetzungen von antimormonischen Schriften, Großteils aus dem ersten Viertel des 20. Jahrhunderts.
Ist da was Wahres dran? Fälscht die Kirche Informationen? Betreibt sie Zensur? Was ist die Wahrheit?
Hier kommt FAIR ins Spiel: Es ist unser Auftrag, die Angriffe, die gegen die Lehren, die Glaubenspraxis und die Führer der Kirche Jesu Christi der Heiligen der Letzten Tage gerichtet sind, mit gut dokumentierten, leicht lesbaren Texten zu widerlegen.
FAIR verwendet dazu aktuelle Wissenschaft, Kirchenlehren, historische Literatur und gesunde Logik, um solide Antworten zu geben.
Wir sehen unsere Aufgabe nicht darin, andere Gemeinschaften oder Personen anzugreifen, sondern wir bieten verläßliche Informationen an.
FAIR wurde 1997 in den USA gegründet, heute hat unsere Organisation über 300 aktive Mitglieder. Mit dem 10. Juli 2006 ist auch unsere Deutsche Website verfügbar, die von treuen Kirchenmitgliedern aus Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz geführt wird. Das FAIR Journal, die englischsprachige Ausgabe des FAIR Newsletters, hat derzeit über 7000 Abonnenten.
Das Deutschsprachige Projekt fängt klein an: Mit vier eigenen Artikeln und einigen von FARMS, BYU. Natürlich wächst unsere Artikeldatenbank (der Themenführer) mit der Zeit. Manche Artikel werden aus dem Englischen übersetzt (sie stammen von http://www.fairlds.org , unserer englischsprachigen Site), andere werden von unseren Mitgliedern geschrieben.
Sollten Sie auf unserer Site die gewünschte Antwort nicht finden, schreiben Sie uns doch ihre Frage: [email protected]. Die Mitglieder unserer Apologetenliste werden sich um eine Antwort für Sie bemühen.
Selbstverständlich wird Ihre eMail vertraulich behandelt.
Hinweisen möchte ich noch auf unsere jährliche FAIR Konferenz. Sie findet nun schon das achte Mal statt, und ich bin mir sicher, dass sie auch dieses Jahr ein Erlebnis wird.
Dieses Jahr sprechen Wayne Arnett, Mike Ash, Joseph Bentley, Matthew Brown, Claudia Bushman, Brant Gardner, Brian Hauglid, Marcus Martins, Steve Mayfield, Kim Östman, Dan Peterson, Matt Roper, David Stewart, Brian Stubbs, George Throckmorton, und Allen Wyatt zu uns (Eine Beschreibung der Sprecher und ihrer Themen finden Sie hier: http://www.fairlds.org/conf06b.html).
Allgemeine Informationen über die Konferenz erhalten Sie hier:
http://www.fairlds.org/conf06a.html
Wir wünschen Ihnen viel Vergnügen und Erbauung beim Besuch unserer Site und hoffen, Sie bei unserer Konferenz willkommen zu heißen.
–Scott Gordon Präsident, 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.
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, you may submit it through the FAIR web site.
Questions sent to FAIR 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
The FAIR LDS Bookstore is busy getting ready for the year’s biggest event–the bookstore at the annual FAIR Conference. When you come to the conference, stop by the bookstore and take advantage of some great deals.
Thanks for your continued support of the FAIR Bookstore.
– 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.
