If you have people who have questions about the CES letter, you will only cause more problems if you send them to FairMormon.
I'll discuss the CES letter more later, but FairMormon is so invested in Mesomania that they are still trying to persuade members of the Church to disbelieve Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery. This is worse than CES, IMO, because FairMormon uses LDS scholars to accomplish their goals.
Here's a prime example of the FairMormon tactics. This is a link that supposedly tries to debunk the CES letter, but they link to FairMormon's unbelievable videos about Book of Mormon geography.
http://debunking-cesletter.com/?page_id=278
Some of the links:
Joseph Smith and Book of Mormon Geography
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZz9SN8cpig
Joseph Smith and Book of Mormon geography
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8BSCwCFEvo
Joseph Smiths Book of Mormon geography
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVCXOpxga3Q
_______________
The next one isn't linked to from the debunking CES letter site, but it's probably the worst of all the FairMormon faith-destroying videos. This video relies on the anonymous Times and Seasons articles and doesn't even mention Letter VII and related events.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rsyAExrNNc&t=172s
My favorite part of this video is this:
If you can't see the timeline, this is an image from the 11:49 mark. FairMoromon uses this note bearing Joseph's signature on it to demonstrate that Joseph Smith actually signed some documents. They don't give a reference, and the note is not listed in the Joseph Smith Papers, but let's assume for now it was authentically signed by Joseph Smith.
Here are the two ironies.
1. There is not a single document signed by Joseph Smith anywhere that links the Book of Mormon to Central or South America. In fact, as I've shown, there is not a single unambiguous historical account of him ever linking the Book of Mormon to Central or South America. Even the Bernhisel letter they misrepresent in this video was not actually signed (or written) by Joseph Smith. By contrast, there are several historical accounts of Joseph linking the Book of Mormon to North America, and Cumorah to New York.
2. This very letter, the one they cite in the video, shows Joseph Smith referring to Zarahemla across from Nauvoo. I'm not aware of any other example of Joseph actually writing a Book of Mormon name. This one, of course, reflects D&C 125. Joseph gave a similar receipt to Isaac Morley regarding land in Zarahemla, here. That one, including Joseph's signature, is in the handwriting of Robert B. Thompson.
For more fun, notice how FairMormon included a series of links to the equally ridiculous publications of the citation cartel. You have to see this list to believe it, so go to the link above and look at the comments section. By now, my readers can easily spot the logical and factual fallacies in each of these references. If you have time, read them and see for yourself.
I'll discuss the CES letter more later, but FairMormon is so invested in Mesomania that they are still trying to persuade members of the Church to disbelieve Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery. This is worse than CES, IMO, because FairMormon uses LDS scholars to accomplish their goals.
Here's a prime example of the FairMormon tactics. This is a link that supposedly tries to debunk the CES letter, but they link to FairMormon's unbelievable videos about Book of Mormon geography.
http://debunking-cesletter.com/?page_id=278
Some of the links:
Joseph Smith and Book of Mormon Geography
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZz9SN8cpig
Joseph Smith and Book of Mormon geography
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8BSCwCFEvo
Joseph Smiths Book of Mormon geography
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVCXOpxga3Q
_______________
The next one isn't linked to from the debunking CES letter site, but it's probably the worst of all the FairMormon faith-destroying videos. This video relies on the anonymous Times and Seasons articles and doesn't even mention Letter VII and related events.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rsyAExrNNc&t=172s
My favorite part of this video is this:
If you can't see the timeline, this is an image from the 11:49 mark. FairMoromon uses this note bearing Joseph's signature on it to demonstrate that Joseph Smith actually signed some documents. They don't give a reference, and the note is not listed in the Joseph Smith Papers, but let's assume for now it was authentically signed by Joseph Smith.
Here are the two ironies.
1. There is not a single document signed by Joseph Smith anywhere that links the Book of Mormon to Central or South America. In fact, as I've shown, there is not a single unambiguous historical account of him ever linking the Book of Mormon to Central or South America. Even the Bernhisel letter they misrepresent in this video was not actually signed (or written) by Joseph Smith. By contrast, there are several historical accounts of Joseph linking the Book of Mormon to North America, and Cumorah to New York.
2. This very letter, the one they cite in the video, shows Joseph Smith referring to Zarahemla across from Nauvoo. I'm not aware of any other example of Joseph actually writing a Book of Mormon name. This one, of course, reflects D&C 125. Joseph gave a similar receipt to Isaac Morley regarding land in Zarahemla, here. That one, including Joseph's signature, is in the handwriting of Robert B. Thompson.
For more fun, notice how FairMormon included a series of links to the equally ridiculous publications of the citation cartel. You have to see this list to believe it, so go to the link above and look at the comments section. By now, my readers can easily spot the logical and factual fallacies in each of these references. If you have time, read them and see for yourself.
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