FAIR Conference runs Thursday, Friday at South Towne Exposition Center

SANDY — If Mormon apologetics is the defense of beliefs, history and practice of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, then the FAIR Conference is controversy's line in the sand.

The annual conference is Thursday and Friday at the South Towne Exposition Center in Sandy and is presented by the Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research, or FAIR.

This year there is some pre-conference buzz about a presentation on the Book of Abraham, part of the LDS Church's canon of scripture. William Schryver, a software engineer, says he has solved one particular question about the Book of Abraham's origins. One online commenter, Greg Smith, put it this way: "Schryver has, I think, pretty much killed, buried and nailed the coffin shut on the idea the (Kirtland Egyptian Papers) are the 'translation documents' of the Book of Abraham, and then thrown the coffin into Mount Doom, before dropping Mt. Doom under the continental plates."

Other presenters include David Bokovoy, Jeffrey Bradshaw, William Duncan, Craig Foster, John Gee, Brian Hales, Valerie Hudson, Gary Lawrence, Steve Mayfield, Daniel Peterson, Shirley Ricks, Stephen Ricks, Matthew Roper, Royal Skousen and Peter Watkins. Topics that will be discussed at the conference include the original text of the Book of Mormon, historian Fawn Brodie's mistakes about Joseph Smith and plural marriage, Book of Mormon geography, the "Big Love" television program, how people view Mormons and more.

More information can be found on FAIR's website, www.fairlds.org/conf10a.html. Live online audio streaming of the event will be available for a fee during the conference.

If you go:

What: FAIR Conference

When: Aug. 5-6, 9 a.m. to 5:45 p.m. Registration begins at 8 a.m.

Where: South Towne Exposition Center, 9575 S. State, Sandy.

Cost: Prices at the door range from $59.95 for the full conference to $19.95 for students for one day. Online registration is closed.

e-mail: mdegroote@desnews.com