FAIR Topical Guide

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Additional Topics

The following are additional topic areas related to Apostasy and Restoration. If there is a bracket number after the topic, that number indicates how many actual articles there are related to that subject. If the link for the topic is not live, it simply means the topic is a 'planned area' for future growth.

• Apostasy, Personal [11]
• Apostate Groups [3]
• Creation Ex-Nihilo [6]
• Dispensations and the Restoration [4]
• Great Apostasy [24]
• Great and Abominable Church [2]
• New Testament Church [21]
• Restoration [27]

FAIR Resources

These links are either to Web pages hosted on the FAIR Website, or to FAIR Papers. FAIR Papers are short articles about specific topics or questions, written by members of FAIR. These articles can be downloaded and read in PDF format and are intended to be distributed by e-mail or print for the general use of our patrons. (To read FAIR Papers you will need to have Adobe Acrobat Reader. It can be downloaded free from the Adobe Web site.) Click on a title below to visit a FAIR Web page or to read the latest version of a FAIR Paper.

Barry R. Bickmore, "Apostasy," Mormonism 201 (Mesa, Arizona: FAIR) Despite the claims of the anti-Mormon book Mormonism 101, Bickmore demonstrates that there is good evidence for history and the scriptures to support the LDS belief in an apostasy of the divine Church shortly after the death of the Apostles.

Barry R. Bickmore, "The Restoration of the Ancient Church: Joseph Smith and Early Christianity," (Ben Lomond, CA: Foundation for Apologetic Information & Research, 1999) Bickmore's entire book - online!

Barry R. Bickmore, "Were an Apostasy & Restoration Predicted?," (Mesa, Arizona: FAIR, 3 July 2001) Was the great apostasy foretold? Discover the answer in this FAIR Paper.

John Gee, "The Corruption of Scripture in the Second Century," (Mesa, Arizona: FAIR, August 1999) When were "plain and precious things" removed from scripture? An analysis of events in the second century A.D. helps to answer the question.

Roger Keller, "The Apostasy," (Mesa, Arizona: FAIR, August 2004) Roger Keller explains the apostacy as the loss of authority in the Church and analyzes some misconceptions some Latter-day Saints hold about God's work outside the Church. (2004 FAIR Conference presentation.)

Daniel C. Peterson, ""What Has Athens to Do with Jerusalem?": Apostasy and Restoration in the Big Picture," (1999 FAIR Conference presentation.)

Encyclopedia of Mormonism

The resources listed below are articles available in the Encyclopedia of Mormonism. These links are to information not located on the FAIR Web site.

Todd Compton, "Apostasy," Encyclopedia of Mormonism, Edited by Daniel H. Ludlow (New York: Macmillan Publishing, 1992), 56-58

Other Resources

The resources listed below are related items available on the Web that should be of interest. These links are to information not located on the FAIR Web site.

Keith Norman, "Ex Nihilo: The Doctrines of God and Creation in Early Christianity," BYU Studies (1977), 1-26 Joseph Smith taught that the first principle of revealed religion is to know for a certainty the character of God, and his reaffirmation of Deity as the loving, personal Father of the scriptures stands in conspicuous contrast to the confusion and obscurity of traditional and modern theologies. Just as the orthodox doctrine of an incomprehensible God who creates ex nihilo is clearly odds with the prophetic proclamation in both the Old and New Testaments, by the same measure the Latter-day Saint conception of divine creation in terms of the organization of eternal man provides a remarkable commentary on Joseph Smith’s claim to be a prophet of the Living God and on his work in the restitution of all things.

Noel B. Reynolds, What Went Wrong for the Early Christians?. This paper was originally delivered at a BYU-Idaho Devotional. Reynolds talks about the Apostasy and some common myths among members concerning the Apostasy.

Stephen E. Robinson, "Nephi's "Great and Abominable Church"," Journal of Book of Mormon Studies (Provo: FARMS, 1998), 32-39

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Last Updated April 27, 2008
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