Debunking fairmormon letter to a ces director book of mormon. The ces letter in german pdf file ein brief an einen ces direktor. If the church is true, its history and teachings can withstand scrutiny. The fair mormon wiki has done a good job of organizing responses to the objections raised by the letter. Mormon author whose ces letter helped many leave the. Ces letter is one latterday saints honest quest to get official answers from the lds church on its troubling origins, history, and practices. In response, jeremy wrote what later became publicly known as the ces letter originally titled letter to a ces director. Over the past few months, the fair website has made significant changes. Criticism of mormonismonline documentsletter to a ces. Thats me on the left and, on the right, jeremy runnells, author of the ces letter, a man ive wanted to meet since i first began my reply to his work back in 2016. These pages, which had not been copied, were lost by smiths scribe, martin harris, during the summer of 1828 and are presumed to have been destroyed. The only response has been from apologists, not the ces. Mar 31, 2015 the letter to a ces director expresses multiple concerns about the the truthfulness of the church of jesus christ of latterday saints.
Im still waiting for your answers to my ces letter questions. Yep, and there are also five secondhand accounts written by people who heard the story from joseph, too. A letter to an apostle is an online document which is critical of latterday saint truth claims. Below is what i originally wrote, with links to the 2016 version of my reply. The document is comprised of a list of issues that the author states are related to specific questions i. Its there so tbms can read its title, see the extent of what is written, and conclude that smarter minds have looked at the ces letter, so they dont have to. Not only were the answers helpful, but it was a joy to read, given jims wonderful style. Official doctrine of the church of jesus christ of latter day saints. The above donut chart shows percentages of the book of mormon section of letter to a ces director that fairmormon is in agreement, disagreement, and neutral on if one assumes that fairmormons undisputed silence is acceptance of the facts, fairmormon agrees with 62. Many of the essays address controversial issues from the churchs history. So, quick background, fair posted their infamous ces letter response series back in novemberdecember of 2020 after kwaku had been promising to release it for at least an entire year. Criticism of mormonismonline documentsa letter to an.
Ces letter my search for answers to my mormon doubts. Fair was formed in late 1997 by a group of lds defenders of the faith who frequented the america online mormonism message boards. Book of mormon evidences collection by jeff lindsay. Runnells is a critic of the church of jesus christ of latterday saints lds church. The ces letter response videos received more views than any other videos we have with over 200,000 views, gordon said. Mormon essays publishes links to the recent essays written by the church of jesus christ of latterday saints, or the mormon church. The lost 116 pages were the original manuscript pages of what joseph smith, founder of the latter day saint movement, said was the translation of the book of lehi, the first portion of the golden plates revealed to him by an angel in 1827. In response, jeremy wrote what later became publicly known as letter to a ces director. Mormons speaking generally do respond to the ces letter. In the churchs sunday school manual, teachings of the presid. Its a wellorganized, easytoread place to get a highlevel view of the kinds of issues that exist when trying to reconcile the truth claims of the lds church.
Lds scholars weigh in on the merits of his arguments. Mar 24, 2021 and, by some measure, they met fair s expectations. Also included is an 1808 map with hundreds of place names including comora, but not moroni. We fact check their claims about the seer stone, and look at what theyre leaving out of the video to keep members from knowing.
Fairmormons debunking and my responses to other unofficial mormon. It was definitely more impactful for me than the ces letter itself. This is another section with just one main question, the multiple accounts of the first vision. Since 1997, fairmormon has been writing articles that respond to different criticisms of the church of jesus christ of latterday saints. Is confronting church critics through satire effective. The ces letter uses its microscope to try to identify problems with the history and content of the book of mormon, while it completely ignores many remarkable validations that generate the question. If mormonism is all truth, then the brethren should be rushing to switch all quads out for copies of the ces letter any day now. The ces letter outlines a large list of issues runnells has with lds church. Fairmormon on the topic of a pdf booklet titled letter to a ces director. On average, the typical latterday saint has never needed to think outside of the box on mormon related philosophical, historical, or scholarly issues. To access the digital pdf copy containing the url links.
Thats something ive wanted to do for quite some time, as my original pdf is riddled with. Runnells is a critic of the church of jesus christ of latterday saints lds church and author of the book titled a letter to a ces director later renamed ces letter. The book of mormon quotes jesus as saying that he that. Since then, geoff has read the book of mormon more than 10 times and have read the. How could a 24 year old farm boy with perhaps a year of frontier schooling have known those things and written such a book. Sep 28, 2015 bamboozled by the ces letter free download in april 20 jeremy t.
Mar 31, 2015 do not use ces letter or letter to a ces director or imply that its a sequel example. Ces letter is one latterday saint s honest quest to get official answers from the lds church on its troubling origins, history, and practices. Criticism of mormonismwebsitescritical websites initially. Dec 12, 2020 to many, though, the 20 ces letter is no laughing matter. After reading jeremys letter, the director promised him a response. I found their version of mormonism to be alien and foreign to the chapel mormonism that i grew up in attending church, seminary, reading scriptures, general conferences, efy, mission, and byu. Letter from former mormon church educational system ces colleague imploring me to come back. A kinder, gentler fair removes its snarky videos aimed at. A faithful reply to the ces letter from a former ces employee pdf.
Runnells posted an extensive rebuttal to fairmormons response. He served a mission for the church in new york and graduated from churchowned brigham young university. Fair and these unofficial apologists have done more to destroy my testimony than any anti mormon source ever could the authors of letter to a ces director april 20 revision makes the following claim. Thank you for responding to my grandfathers request to answer my concerns and. The ces letter a closer look pdf download an honest, candid, and well thought out approach to issues jaxon more comprehensive than the ces letter deserved matt. Out of almost 90 geographic names in the book of mormon, the author. Fair faithful answers to criticisms of the church of. Jim bennett responds again to the ces letter why the. In 20, jeremy runnells at the request of a ces director wrote a letter documenting the issues he found with the lds church.
Manipulation techniques in the ces letter and how to avoid them. Unfortunately, the reason the ces letter has enjoyed any success is that most latterday saints have never been exposed to some of the more complex matters in early mormon history. Congress limited citizenship to free white persons. Jul 17, 2014 i heard yesterday evening about your letter to a ces director and finished reading it before going to bed. Fairmormons response to my letter to an apostle summary. This pdf is a fantastic read to anyone who wants to know. I think its popular because thats where a lot of us started our journeys.
Debunking fair in the fall of 20, lds apologetic group fairmormon publicly released an analysis of the ces letter. He later published this in a pdf on his website, which is now known as the ces letter. Letter from former mormon church educational system ces. Bamboozled by the ces letter kindle edition by ash. A kinder, gentler fair removes its snarky videos aimed at lds. Jim bennett responds again to the ces letter why the lds. Letter to a ces director by jeremy runnells goodreads. In defending the church against detractors there, this small group. Fairmormons new satirical videos take on church critics. It was a letter to the lds church educational system leadership, which runnels was invited to inquire too.
Are you confused by the information in jeremy runnells letter to a ces director. Jeremy runnells was offered an opportunity to discuss his own doubts with a director of the church educational system ces and was assured that his doubts could be resolved. Oct 07, 2015 it seems a false comparison is being presented. I dont think that the ces letter is so popular because it makes people leave. Nov 16, 2018 jim bennett, son of late us senator from utah, wrote a reply to the ces letter in 2016. How to help a mormon who has been influenced by ces letter. Did joseph smith make up book of mormon geography and maps. The videos were taken down but the infamy should live on, so i decided to post. The new version, while not infallible, has far fewer typos, vastly improved graphics, and close to 50% new material.
Its been hosted over at as part of the new latterday saint survey project. Fair mormon claims to have responded to all of the accusations in the ces letter. Introduction to major lds concerns truth is restored again. The ces letter in german pdf file ein brief an einen ces direktor debunking fair in the fall of 20, lds apologetic group fairmormon publicly released an analysis of the ces letter. Jeremy runnells updated the ces letter in 2017, and so, in 2018, i substantially updated my reply. Now, since the king james version of the bible was a translation product of 54 learned men, who spent four years doing their work, and the book of mormon was the translation product of one unschooled farm boy, over about a 90day period of time, we can say then that there is 250 times as much effort per word that went into the translation of. The author concludes, fair and these unofficial apologists have done more to destroy my testimony than any anti mormon source ever could. In response, jeremy has now released debunking fairs debunking. Debunking fair s response to the ces letter an additional note about fair. In march 2021, fairmormon changed its name to fair, removed the youtube videos directed at the runnells and the ces letter. The ces letter is one of the greatest things that has ever happened to the lds church, and they dont even realize it. Fair mormon finds more maybe technically possible responses. Fairmormon articles generally contain the following structure. This became very popular very fast and within a couple years he had over 100,000 downloads.
And while there are plenty of answers in regard to the ces letter. The church of jesus christ of latterday saints was restored amidst a highly contentious racial culture in which whites were afforded great privilege. Back then, i didnt think people would notice ces letter, but obviously i was wrong. Jeremy runnells is probably a heck of a lot smarter than most humans.
The essays seek to explain the events in an easy to understand format for both members of the church and other individuals that may be interested in mormon history. This booklet, which is now typically referred to as the ces letter, catalogs runnells concerns and reason why he left the church of jesus christ of latterday saints mormons. This booklet, which is now typically referred to as the ces letter, catalogs runnells concerns and reasons why he left the church of jesus christ of latterday saints mormons. A millennials brief guide to the ces letter zelph on the. The document is comprised of a list of issues that the author states are related to specific questions i had and still have with the truth claims of the church. Do not set up or offer ces letter for mass print on or any other printers. Debunking fairmormon letter to a ces director introduction. Headings that introduce the question asked by the critic subheadings that promote main points of the response and.
The above donut chart shows percentages of the book of abraham section of the ces letter that fairmormon is in agreement, disagreement, and neutral on if one assumes that fairmormons undisputed silence is acceptance of the facts, fairmormon agrees with 90. Jeremys rebuttal to fairmormons kevin christensens eye of the beholder essay. The oriental institute of the university of chicago. Fair director scott gordon announced that moving forward they were avoiding personal attacks or derogatory language, while acknowledging that the ces letter response videos received more views than any other videos we. He insists that my lengthy reply to his ces letter is nothing but jokes and insults. This contradicts the teachings of joseph smith and the churchtheres a hill cumorah pageant in palmyra every year for crying out loud. In response to fair s analysis of the ces letter, i wrote debunking fair s debunking. It was a dazzling read, and in writing this email i hope to further increase dialogue. Below youll find a list of all posts that have been tagged as ces letter 81. Faithful answers for those who doubt a ces letter reply. Do not sell, print or offer existing ces letter or your new work for profit or commercial purposes.
The author incorporates much of the text of fairmormons original summary responses and then attempts to, in his own words, debunk them. Runnells grew up as a seventhgeneration member of the lds church with pioneer ancestry. Reflections on the ces letter daniel peterson 2014 fair. This booklet, which is now typically referred to as the ces letter, catalogues runnells concerns and reasons why he left the church of jesus christ of latterday saints. Jim is an incredibly witty, entertaining, and talented writer. This booklet, which is now typically referred to as the. The online document debunking fair s debunking or debunking fairmormon is an apologetic attempt by the ces letter author to respond to an earlier summary version of fairmormons ces letter response. Criticism of mormonismonline documentsletter to a ces director.
Do not use ces letter or letter to a ces director or imply that its a sequel example. The ces letter contains a handy compilation of the latest critiques of the church. Debunking fairmormon home table of contents ces letter. Bamboozled by the ces letter free download in april 20 jeremy t. Fair faithful answers to criticisms of the church of jesus. A faithful reply to the ces letter from a former ces. A latterday saint college administrator worries that fairmormons satirical video assault on the ces letter will do more harm than good with. Dan petersen goes through a few of the objections raised by the writer of letter to a ces director. In 2021 the name was changed back to fair, which now stands for faithful answers, informed response.
Some antimormon invited me to read ces letter years ago, and i didnt give it more than a five second glance because ive heard all the same arguments before. There are at least 4 different first vision accounts by joseph smith, which the church admits in its november 20 first vision accounts essay. On the ces letter by common consent, a mormon blog. Letter from former ces colleague imploring me to come back. The poster went on the explain that this would be a good way of persuading latterday saints to view the letter, noting that 90% of the point of this in my mind would be to get impulse downloads. Fair mormon, defenders of the lds faith, are continuing their efforts to refute the ces letter s author jeremy runnells by releasing a new document titled, fair s debunking of the debunking of the debunking of the debunking of the redebunking of the debunking we hate you jeremy of the debunking of the ces letter s debunking of fair s debunking of the debunking fair s response to. So its not quite pope francis meeting president nelson, but it was still pretty cool. Ces letter is one latterday saints honest quest to get official answers from. These problem statements, however, validated the problems as legitimate for many readers.
If you have questions about ces letter go to lds faith or internet or wherever. The most prominent and detailed page on the website is a letter to a ces director. This is my response to fairmormons disgusting tits smear campaign and. In the late fall of 20, fair, an unofficial lds apologetic group, completed its analysis of letter to a ces director. Runnells collection with its emphasis on problems in the churchs signature scripture, the book of mormon, with founder. Fairmormons new satirical videos take on church critics, but.
Peterson gave a presentation at the 2014 fairmormon. I have never seen such a long explanation and argument for gish gallop before. The authors claim that such blatant materials will help to prepare missionaries for questions and challenges they will face. Formerly, each fair article provided a problem statement that outlined the main issue or concern. Essentially, the argument is the ces letter drops lots of arguments really fast, not giving the responder time to respond to each on its own merits. What does this say about the book of mormon being an ancient record. Fair is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing welldocumented answers to criticisms of the doctrine, practice, and history of the church of jesus christ of latterday saints. New videos recently published on fairmormons youtube channel are. As soon as kwaku announced he was doing a series on the ces letter, i had wanted to do some sort of a response. In the spring of 20, jeremy was approached and asked by a ces director to share his questions and concerns about the lds churchs origins, history, and current practices. In response, jeremy has now released debunking fair s debunking. Fair is staffed completely by volunteers who are students of the scriptures, ancient languages, early christian history, early lds history, and lds doctrine and apologetics.
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