The FAIR Journal: December 2010

Excerpts of The Fair (The Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research) Journal, December 2010

• Communication theorist John Durham Peters; Latter-day Prophecy and Revelation
• Infallibility and Blind Obedience
• North American setting for The Book of Mormon?
• What constitutes LDS doctrine? Does it constantly change?

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You won't want to miss the FAIR Podcast with Blair Hodges
interviewing communication theorist John Durham Peters. Part 2 is
now posted:

  http://www.fairblog.org/2010/11/24/fair-podcast-episode-6-john-durham-peters-p-2

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"Well Nigh as Dangerous": Latter-day Prophecy and Revelation;
Infallibility and Blind Obedience
by McKay V. Jones

Some criticize the Church for claiming living prophets and point out
potential problems with those we sustain as such. In this paper,
McKay V. Jones examines explanations by latter-day Church leaders
about how revelation works and explains how these explanations
resolve difficulties of infallibility, absolute certainty, blind
obedience, and the potential for prophets to lead the Church astray.

  http://www.fairlds.org/Misc/Latter-day_Prophecy_and_Revelation.html


FAIR YOUTUBE
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Because of recent claims made by some that Joseph Smith only taught
a North American setting for The Book of Mormon, we produced a very
quick video, showing quotes from Joseph Smith placing The Book of
Mormon in Mesoamerica. This is not a comprehensive list and we
realize that Joseph Smith placed The Book of Mormon all over North
and South America, but feel it necessary to show that he didn't feel
the need to limit Book of Mormon geography to just North America.

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVCXOpxga3Q

In that same vein, we have also produced a video containing
statements from Prophets giving inspired Temple dedicatory prayers.
What is interesting is that these prayers were given in Mesoamerica
and call the people in that area descendants of Lehi. Prophetic
declarations that Amerindians all over North and South America are
at least partly descended from Lehi match what population genetics
tell us to expect. Those who try to restrict Lehi's descendants to a
small group of modern individuals contradict both genetic science
and the words of the modern prophets.

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOGnSNzKlqQ&NR=1


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Church doctrine
One of the more popular critical claims is that it is impossible to
pin down "Mormon doctrine." Joseph Smith defined our fundamental
core doctrine:

  The fundamental principles of our religion are the testimony of
  the Apostles and Prophets, concerning Jesus Christ, that He died,
  was buried, and rose again the third day, and ascended into
  heaven; and all other things which pertain to our religion are
  only appendages to it.
     --Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 121.

What constitutes LDS doctrine? Does it constantly change? How do the
words of the living prophets related to the standard works? We
examine critical claims related to these questions in a set of
articles here:

  http://en.fairmormon.org/Church_doctrine