Sic Et Non

  I would have found this remarkable at any time.  But it pleases me especially now, as open and unashamed anti-Semitism erupts on the campuses of several of my country’s elite universities:  “Jewish, Latter-day Saint friends found themselves singing together in the Taylorsville Utah Temple: ‘Chills were rising on our skin and tears were forming in […]

  As happens several times each week, something new has yet again been posted on the never-changing website of the Interpreter Foundation:  Come, Follow Me — Study and Teaching Helps (2024): Lesson 18, April 29-May 5: Mosiah 4-6: “A Mighty Change,” written by Jonn Claybaugh Editor’s Note: Four years ago, Jonn Claybaugh began writing the Study […]

  Some of you might find this interview of interest.  I did it with Ben Hancock, who is based in the United Kingdom, on his podcast “For All the Saints”:  “Latter-Day Saint Scholar Discusses Fasting, Muslims & Ramadan – Daniel C. Peterson”  If you can just get past all of my characteristic sneering, slandering, cruelty, […]

  In our sacrament meeting today, the ward choir performed “Be Still, My Soul.”  The words were translated by Jane Borthwick (1813-1897) from the original German of Katharina von Schlegel (b. 1697), and the exquisite music (from Finlandia) was written by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius (1865-1957).  If you’re unfamiliar with it, you can listen […]

  This passage from somewhere came across my radar screen earlier today, and I think it worthy of sharing: “I asked an elderly woman once what it was like to be old and to know that the majority of her life was now behind her. She told me that she has been the same age […]

  “The Unwritten Debates in Moroni1’s Letter,” written by Morgan Deane Abstract: Moroni1’s letter in Alma 60 is not simply an angry and intemperate screed against the government; it also responds to arguments about just tactics (what modern readers would call ethics) taking place among Nephite leaders at this time. Moroni1’s letter argues for his […]

  Scott Gordon sent me a link yesterday to the video of a talk that I gave nearly a quarter of a century ago:  “The Divine Source of the Book of Mormon in the Face of Alternative Theories Advocated by LDS Critics,” presented by Daniel C. Peterson at the 2001 FAIR Conference Scott’s discovery is […]

  The rear passenger-side door in our luxurious brand-new minivan — just under 275,000 miles on the odometer! — stopped opening, locking, and unlocking reliably, and we’ve had to go get that fixed.  For the second time in the past several weeks.  Just in time, as it happens, since our garage door just fell shut […]

  Newly posted on the never-changing website of the Interpreter Foundation: The Book of Mormon in Context Lesson 17: “Filled with Love towards God and All Men” (Mosiah 1-3) On the evening of Sunday, 31 March 2024, Martin Tanner and Terry Hutchinson discussed Book of Mormon lesson 17, “Filled with Love towards God and All […]

  “A conservative is someone who stands athwart history, yelling Stop, at a time when no one is inclined to do so, or to have much patience with those who so urge it.”  (William F. Buckley, Jr.) I was powerfully reminded of that famous early quotation from the late William F. Buckley while reading the […]

  On several occasions over the past few years, in various venues — see here, for example — I’ve published a list of four books that I recommend as a kind of “basic  packet” or “starter kit” for people struggling with their testimonies, and I’ve explained that I think it important to preemptively strengthen faith […]

  This entry was newly posted today on the blog of the Interpreter Foundation:  “Hearing the Voice of the Lord in the Mind: Additional Testimonies” (Part Seven of a Series Compiled by Dennis B. Horne): See the Introductory blog (#1) for explanation about this series on hearing the voice of the Lord in the mind. […]

  Two new articles went up today on the moribund and perpetually static website of the Interpreter Foundation: ““Our Great God Has in Goodness Sent These”: Notes on the Goodness of God, the Didactic Good of Nephi’s Small Plates, and Anti-Nephi-Lehi’s Renaming,” written by Matthew L. Bowen and Pedro Olavarria Abstract: Anti-Nephi-Lehi’s speech (Alma 24:7–16) […]

  This just went up on the website of the Interpreter Foundation:  “Hugh Nibley Observed: Nibley and the Environment,” written and presented by Terry Ball: “I am honored to participate in this lecture series remembering the studies, life, and legacy of Professor Hugh Nibley. I did not have the privilege of personally knowing Professor Nibley. […]

  I want to share a few more passages that I marked during my recent reading of Amy Tanner Thiriot, Slavery in Zion: A Documentary and Genealogical History of Black Lives and Black Servitude in Utah Territory, 1847-1862 (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 2022). It seems that the Saints in Utah were, by […]

  Some while ago, I read William J. Peters, At Heaven’s Door: What Shared Journeys to the Afterlife Teach About Dying Well and Living Better (New York and London: Simon and Schuster, 2022), written with Michael Kinsella. A practicing grief and bereavement therapist, William Peters holds degrees from Harvard’s Graduate School of Education and the […]

  For one of the monthly reading groups to which we belong, we read Amy Tanner Thiriot, Slavery in Zion: A Documentary and Genealogical History of Black Lives and Black Servitude in Utah Territory, 1847-1862 (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 2022).  Her biography on the back cover of the book identifies Sister Thiriot […]

  Like many of you, I expect, I was powerfully struck by the remarks of President Jeffrey R. Holland in the Saturday morning session of the just completed General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  And, given my own peculiar personal interests, I found this passage from it of particular note: […]

  I expect that I am not the only person today who was impressed by the powerful and remarkable testimony of President Jeffrey R. Holland.  I’m so very grateful that he is still with us. There was also a passage in President Henry B. Eyring’s remarks in the morning session that really hit me.  I’ll […]

  An article written by . . . well, written by me has just appeared in Meridian Magazine:  “An Important Lesson in Getting the Most Out of Conference.”  So far, the general consensus — based on a survey of me and my very kind and longsuffering wife — is that it may not be altogether […]