Fairmormon has now updated their website with quotes from hales attack on jeremy runnells at rational faiths, but the screen shot of a previous version of the page taken in july 2014 shows that they indeed did not mention the discrepancy, and used the rlds version themselves, which is where jeremy got that testimony from. A large portion of ces letters 84 pages is mere repetition. Not only were the answers helpful, but it was a joy to read, given jims wonderful style. The ces letter introduces the book of mormon section with two quotes, one by president ezra taft benson and another by elder jeffrey r. John dehlin june 18, 2014 best of mormon stories, book of mormon, church history, exmormon stories, top 10 exmormon, top 10 truth claims, top 25, top mormon faith crisis stories 167 comments. Petersons some reflections on that letter to a ces director fairmormons response to debunking fairmormon. This is what ferguson wrote after 17 years of trying to dig up evidence for the book of mormon. A millennials brief guide to the ces letter zelph on.
The letter to a ces director expresses multiple concerns about the the truthfulness of the church of jesus christ of latterday saints. These either blatantly contradict the prior doctrines, demonstrate a dangerous attitude of institutional ignorance, or otherwise violate the origin stories so strongly that any objective observer would quickly conclude the religion was a fraud. Mormonism, but i felt it would be worthwhile to respond to this critic, jamie huston, on this blog. The ces director said he would get back to him with answers, but he did not, according to the story. In response, jeremy wrote what later became publicly known as the ces letter originally titled letter to a ces director. As the ces letter is revised or expanded, additional pages with associate links will be added to this version.
Do not sell, print or offer existing ces letter or your new work for profit or commercial purposes. Joseph had members sign an affidavit which lied about his practice of polygamy. The author incorporates much of the text of fairmormons original summary responses and then attempts to, in his own words, debunk them. Jeremy runnells and the book of abraham rational faiths. Jim is entertaining, bright, articulate, and lots of fun to read. Fair mormon has thousands of pages of answers that can be searched via an internal search engine. As a person already familiar with the history and issues being discussed, i found this incredibly frustrating. By academic standards, the ces letter is inadequate. The ces letter contains a handy compilation of the latest critiques of the church. Jul 11, 2016 reflections on the ces letter daniel peterson 2014 fair mormon conference fair mormon. Jeremy runnels a member of the church of jesus christ if latterday saints was approached and asked by a church education system ces director to share his concerns and questions about the lds churchs origins, history, and current practices. Ive decided to go through jeremys rebuttal and pull out the key points that he and the apologists could agree on.
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. Jim bennett, son of late us senator from utah, wrote a reply to the ces letter in 2016. Do not use ces letter or letter to a ces director or imply that its a sequel example. The following are fair responses to the basic priesthood issues in the ces letter. He later published this in a pdf on his website, which is now known as the ces letter. Chapter 2 book of mormon concerns 1 what are 1769 king james version kjv edition errors errors that are unique to the 1769 kjv that joseph smith owned doing in the book of mormon. It should first be noted that many critics ignore versus in the book of mormon that refer explicitly to the high priesthood of melchizedek such as. Lds church loses faith in jeremy runnells after reading ces. There are many other sources, and these are just good places to start.
On the ces letter by common consent, a mormon blog. Why i lost my testimony, and it was written, as the story goes, by request of a ces director who wanted to know why this young man had decided to leave the church. Both these groups believe in the claims of the book of mormon. Recent findings suggest the vast majority of mormons have few doubts about their religion apparently half have none whatsoever, but there are some working hard to change that. Although the priesthood is now taught to have been restored in 1829, joseph and oliver made no such claim until 1834. Jul 20, 2014 jeremy was asked by this ces director to share his concerns over email, so jeremy then wrote his letter for the ces director to respond to. These quotes establish the premise that the churchs religious truth claims hinge on the book of mormon. Jim bennett responds again to the ces letter why the lds.
Most of his objections are addressed in my new booklet 20 answers. 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. Jim is an incredibly witty, entertaining, and talented writer. Like the first vision story, none of the members of the church or joseph smiths family had ever heard prior to 1834 about a priesthood restoration from john the baptist or peter, james, and john. John dehlin june 18, 2014 best of mormon stories, book of mormon, church history, ex mormon stories, top 10 exmormon, top 10 truth claims, top 25, top mormon faith crisis stories 167 comments. And what better way to do that then to surreptitiously leave ces letter passalong cards in hymnals and grocery stores, and to write ces letter graffiti in marriott nightstand copies of the book of mormon, and to send anonymous emails of the ces letter to the student body of lds colleges, and to leave a pdf of the ces letter on local library. The letter by runnells has many mormon apologists very concerned about its contents and soon after jeremy. Jim bennett responds again to the ces letter why the. I have been reading everything that is out there for decades, pro, anti, and every shade in between. Nov 16, 2018 fair mormon has thousands of pages of answers that can be searched via an internal search engine. Dec 06, 2017 as felixfabulous already said above, the root issue here is that the ces letter raises some valid questions and points out some big holes in the narrative. Book of mormon witnesses, except for martin harris, are related. Nov 16, 2018 jim bennett, son of late us senator from utah, wrote a reply to the ces letter in 2016. I came across the pdf a few years ago when i started investigating the lds church.
Approximately eight or nine months after we produced our original response to the letter to a ces director, the author produced an apologetic called debunking fair s debunking, later changed to debunking fairmormon. Just in time for christmas, jeremy runnells has released both printed and electronic copies of his ces letter 2. Runnells published a pdf booklet entitled, letter to a ces director. What does the book of mormon, the most correct book really say. Jeremy runnells is probably a heck of a lot smarter than most humans. Why did it take five years for joseph or oliver to tell members of the church about the priesthood. By leaving previous claims that the author of the ces letter has eliminated, readers will be able to examine the allegations that were once deemed useful, but were later discarded. Ces letter my search for answers to my mormon doubts.
Chapter 3 book of mormon translation concerns 15 joseph smith used a rock in a hat to translate the book of mormon. This became very popular very fast and within a couple years he had over 100,000 downloads. On growing up mormon and the genesis of the ces letter duration. What are 1769 king james version edition errors doing in the book of mormon. The online document debunking fairs 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. Some reflections on that letter to a ces director posted on august 11, 2014 by meg stout the videos from the fair mormon conference are now available, for those of us who missed the actual conference itself. Categories uncategorized tags antimormon literature, big list, critics, faith. He also briefly discusses anachronisms, archaeology, and a theory that the book of mormon place names actually originated in the area around new york. Criticism of mormonismonline documentsletter to a ces. After reading it through a few times, i decided to look up some counterarguments everyone deserves a shot to defend themselves and stumbled across this response to the ces letter that seemingly made a lot of sense. There have been many articles on this including one that was used as a reason for belief written as a rebuttal to the ces letter as seen here. This web page is dedicated to the accomplishments of jeremy runnells and his dealings with the mormon church. Exclusivity is a large part of the culture of mormonism, hence, to an apologist type the ces letter simply reveals the classstrata of mormon that runnells used to be although he is clearly not naive regarding the issues now, it is fair to say. In response, jeremy wrote what later became publicly known as letter to a ces director.
The irrational world of brian hales polygamy part i. If you havent already read the ces letter, i would encourage lds and christians to do so. By leaving previous claims that the author of the ces letter has eliminated, readers will be able to examine the allegations that. Ill list four other resources that have responded to each and every criticism within the ces letter. Bamboozled by the ces letter shaken faith syndrome. After my july 27th catholic answers live appearance, i was directed to an open letter written to me by a mormon english teacher. These sideline issues of vernal holley and claims of shock value trumps plausibility do little to really move the ball forward. If the church is true, its history and teachings can withstand scrutiny. 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. Gold plates werent used in producing the book of mormon.
Aug 24, 2015 both these groups believe in the claims of the book of mormon. After reading it through a few times, i decided to look up some counterarguments everyone deserves a shot to defend themselves and stumbled across this response. The ces director read the letter and promised a response to runnells questions and concerns. Ces letter has been downloaded an estimated 600,000 times to date, and over 12,000 lds church members have reached out to runnells after reading the ces letter. Do not set up or offer ces letter for mass print on or any other printers. This reply is filled with media and notes, some of them individual essays in and of themselves and so it took us many years to finish. Priesthood archives mormon discussion by bill reel. Jeremy runnells and his ces letter have sort of become icons in the mormon world. Jeremy was asked by this ces director to share his concerns over email, so jeremy then wrote his letter for the ces director to respond to. A current lifelong latterday saint, jeremy runnells was asked by a ces director in april 20 to share with him jeremys questions and concerns regarding the lds church and its truth claims.
Lds scholars weigh in on the merits of his arguments. Attempts to spread the word about the ces letter and media response elder christofferson quote. One latterday saints questions and concerns about the lds churchs origins, history, and current practices. We know as members of the church of jesus christ of latterday saints that to get a full understanding of a topic, we should read all the various related.
Keep up the good work and i look forward to reading more. Are you confused by the information in jeremy runnells letter to a ces director. Reflections on the ces letter daniel peterson 2014 fair. Sep 28, 2015 bamboozled by the ces letter free download in april 20 jeremy t. Many of the essays address controversial issues from the churchs history. Letter to a ces director with questions and concerns about mormonism. Bamboozled by the ces letter free download in april 20 jeremy t. Ces letter authorized instagram account of the ces letter. We sit down with jim bennett, son of former utah senator bob bennett, to discuss jims response to the ces letter.
But for someone who has never heard of these issues and experiences feelings of shock and betrayal as they are being fed this new information, this is a highly effective way for the negative frame to be internalized in the. According to jeremy runnells, of all the issues he deals with in his letter to a ces director the book of abraham is the issue that has both fascinated and disturbed me the most. Fair mormon finds more maybe technically possible responses. Response to the fairmormon response to the ces letter. The author asks why italicized text and errors from the king james bible are present in the book of mormon. Much of the material is simply an incorporation of our original summary responses to the individual issues, and the authors reassertion of his original claims. Enjoy your blog, stumbled on it through twitter a year ago. The ces letter which i finally, grudgingly, got around to last year, and it was as shallow and poorly thought out as i suspected it would be, the fair response, the counterresponse, etcetera ad nauseum. Needless to say as a christian it shocked me to the core. I had a coworker who was lds and i wanted to learn more about their beliefs. Mormon essays publishes links to the recent essays written by the church of jesus christ of latterday saints, or the mormon church. Jim bennett and bill reel and the issues of 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. A common reference on this sub, the ces letter, was introduced to me by a friend at school.
I had to read the ces letter and than when i reread this post it all made more sense. It is a section on polygamy in jeremys response titled debunking fairs debunking that brian hales addresses in the above mentioned article posted on the. A millennials brief guide to the ces letter zelph on the. Its very likely if you talk to a faithful mormon they will call the ces letter. There is one more claim in chapter 1 of the ces letter, which says, the book of mormon taught and still teaches a trinitarian view of the godhead my response is, no, it doesnt. Jim updated his response here to this antimormon pdf and released the update today. 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. Reflections on the ces letter daniel peterson 2014 fair mormon conference duration. Theskepticchristian finds that that letter is full of bad arguments and patternicity, and calls particular attention to what the fairmormon debunking says at the end. Jeremy made a promise to give a response to brian hales many accusations against him about the information in the ces letter and elsewhere, and enlisted the aid of johnny stephenson in crafting a reply.