by Team PFAAS
In 2024, Austin Fife published “The Light and Truth Letter” in response to Jeremy Runnell’s CES Letter as well as to Mormon Critics in general. In the letter, he claims that he is addressing those critics with his “Questions & Concerns”, defining his target audience as follows:
“When I say “the critics,” I refer to individuals and organizations that manipulate data and history to harm the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with the intention of persuading current members to resign their membership, former members to stay away, or potential future members to avoid membership. When writing this letter, I preferred to use the term “the critics” as opposed to a more pejorative term like “anti-Mormon.” A disillusioned former or current Latter-day Saint with sincerely held doubts and concerns does not fit this definition of “the critics.”’
(Austin Fife, “Disclosures” in The Light and Truth Letter)
He thought so highly of this treatise that he offered it online, in a paperback edition, and in an eBook edition. He then took to the Mormon online universe where he appeared on faithful podcasts and video broadcasts where he and his work received high praise, high fives, and accolades.
But Mormon critics were not kind to “The Light and Truth Letter.” Some thought it was an attempt at satire, while others thought “Austin Fife” was a clever pseudonym. Yet despite its weak arguments and unknown author, the work succeeded with True Believing Mormons (TBMs). When critics finally noticed they decided to do something about it.
Radio Free Mormon (RFM) initially took on the task of debunking “The Light and Truth Letter” on his podcast. However, he vowed to stop after only one episode because he felt the book wasn’t worth his time or effort. However, due to popular demand, RFM later returned to the task. During that quiet interim, others began their own debunking projects where RFM had initially left off, which was the chapter on Church Finances.
One of these “others” was the members of the Preaching From An Asbestos Suit Facebook group (aka “Team PFAAS”) which is comprised of a group of Biblical Christians in Mormon Studies who regularly engage TBMs on the Internet and in person. The links that follow are to the series of articles that we did to that end. For your convenience, we have also included any corresponding links to RFM’s podcast debunkings.
Mr. Fife claims he wrote “The Light and Truth” to address Mormon critics. However, he refuses to publicly engage with his critics in a public forum where all participants are on a level playing field. Instead, he prefers to engage with critics only in private one-on-one email discussions.
RFM has issued an open invitation to Mr. Fife to appear on his show. We encourage him to accept the invitation and engage in a discussion on the merits of his arguments. We also encourage him to engage with Team PFAAS in the public comments section of this article. If we are wrong, we will gladly – and publicly – admit it. Mr. Fife, you said that you wrote “The Light and Truth” to address Mormon critics. Well, here we are. Let’s talk.
And with that brief introduction, we give you, “Debunking The Light and Truth Letter” by Team PFAAS.
(the links download Adobe Acrobat versions of the articles to your device that you can open and read locally on your device)
Radio Free Mormon and Kolby Reddish also did a bonus podcast entitled, “How Mormons Lie to You!” (click here for the video edition or here for the audio edition) which does a deep dive into how Austin Fife in particular, and Mormon Apologists in general, lie and misrepresent the facts in The Light and Truth Letter and elsewhere. It is highly recommended viewing or listening.
Beggar's Bread 