The LDS Church said it is not surprised at being the focus of the campaign. In denouncing the DVD campaign, the church compared the mass-distribution with the church's own missionary effort.

"When Latter-day Saint missionaries visit homes or engage others in conversation, they ... declare their own message honestly and openly and allow people the freedom to choose," says the statement. "That will continue to be the church's approach, not just because honest and open dialogue is what most people want, but because in our view it best represents the spirit of the gospel of Jesus Christ."

Since the DVD's initial distribution on Sunday, McElveen says the DVD's Web site, www.goodnewsforlds.com, has been flooded with e-mails and attention. The same can be said for another Web site, www.fairlds.org, that has published a point-by-point rebuttal of "Jesus Christ/Joseph Smith."

The Web site was created by the Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research to defend Mormonism, but is not affiliated with the LDS Church. Scott Gordon, president of FAIR, said his organization obtained a copy of the DVD about a week before it was distributed, and volunteers prepared the rebuttals.

The questions raised — and their answers — aren't anything new, Gordon says.

Gordon said the DVD misses the target because it attempts to discredit tenets that are not true representations of LDS beliefs.

"My feeling about this DVD is they took a shotgun and said, 'We're going to give you everything we've got,"' Gordon said. "Then we say, 'If that's everything you've got, then it's not enough."'

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