28 Facsimile 3 response

The CES Letter Doctored this quote by Keith Norman

First, it is a prooftext that deletes several words without acknowledging the deletion in the text.  This makes all of the quotations in The CES Letter suspect because it is apparent that its author is more concerned about his agenda than accuracy.  Here’s the actual quotation:

The revolution in twentieth-century physics precipitated by Einstein dethroned Newtonian physics as the ultimate explanation of the way the universe works.  Relativity theory and quantum mechanics, combined with advances in astronomy, have established a vastly different picture of how the universe began, how it is structured and operates, and the nature of matter and energy.  Not only does this new scientific cosmology pose a serious challenge to the Mormon version of the universe, but some of its main features seem remarkably congruent to the orthodox Christian doctrine of creation opposed by Mormonism.

This may seem like a small problem, but providing ellipses to accurately cite the original quote reflects good reliable scholarship, rather than agenda driven polemics.

Another problem is there are no ending quotation marks.  It is unclear whether the next paragraph (on page 29) is a continuation of Norman or commentary from Grant Palmer or something else.  

Keith Norman also wrote that concerning "Scientific cosmology": "some of its main features seem remarkably congruent to the orthodox Christian doctrine of creation opposed by Mormonism." That "scientific cosmology" would be congruent with creationism is a less popular opinion and was not included in the original quotation.

This quotation is from an 1986 article in Sunstone magazine. Keith Norman is entitled to his own opinion, but a thirty-year-old quotation from Sunstone would not generally be considered the most authoritative on any subject.

It is apparent that The CES Letter would benefit from a source checker.