Sic Et Non

    As I write, there are only twenty-five shopping days remaining until Christmas.  But I hope that, amidst all of the frenetic activity that precedes the biggest holiday of the year, we’ll all be able to find at least a little bit of time for reflection.   Here is something that I wrote for […]

    For various reasons — some probably having to do with the emotions and sentiments of the holiday season and others no doubt connected with American tax policy and the Internal Revenue Service — a disproportionate percentage of annual charitable donations are made during the final quarter of the year, at least in the […]

    Slightly more than four years ago, I posted two back-to-back blog entries about an experience that made a deep impression on me and that, consequently, has remained with me for many decades, well into my current state of advanced geezerly old age.  It was that important to me.  I reproduce the two blog […]

    A newly available video is up online from the Interpreter Foundation:   “Witnesses of the Book of Mormon — Insights Episode 32: To Be a Witness” The need to stand as a witness is not just something from historical times, but just as necessary today. President of the Interpreter Foundation, Dan Peterson, shares his […]

    Two new articles have just gone up in Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship:   “Rethinking the Encounter between Jacob and Sherem,” written by Loren Blake Spendlove Abstract: The Book of Mormon story of Jacob and Sherem has been evaluated and interpreted from many different viewpoints over the years. In his retelling of […]

    I wrote these two columns in 2016 and 2017:   It’s not insignificant that the verbs “to think” and “to thank” (compare German “denken” and “danken”) share the same linguistic root.  The scriptures are replete with exhortations to “remember,” to reflect, to thank: “O give thanks unto the Lord,” says the psalmist (105:1-5), […]

    Happy Thanksgiving!   I hesitated just a bit before deciding to call your attention to a new piece that has appeared on the blog of the Interpreter Foundation, where it will remain for the next several weeks.  Today is an important holiday here in the United States, and I don’t want to mar […]

    I wrote these two newspaper columns for Thanksgiving 2019:   As we in the United States approach the national Thanksgiving holiday for 2019, it’s appropriate to consider things for which we should express our gratitude.  Obviously, of course, there’s the good food that many of us will be eating.  There are the family […]

    Four items went up today on the website of the Interpreter Foundation.  Please do enjoy!   Conference Talks:  “Latter-day Houses of the Lord: Developments in Their Design and Function,” delivered by Richard O. Cowan This presentation, originally delivered on Saturday, 22 September 2012,  traces the modern-day usage and understanding of temples from the […]

    I reported yesterday on the efforts of a small handful of zealous critics of the Church to blame the recent mass murders in Colorado Springs on the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and, specifically, on President Dallin H. Oaks, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, and the late Elder Neal A. Maxwell.  I […]

    First, though, I need to announce three new items that have gone up on the website of the Interpreter Foundation:   Nibley Lectures:  Time Vindicates the Prophets — Rhetoric and Revelation Between 7 March 1954 and 17 October 1954, Hugh Nibley delivered a series of thirty weekly lectures on KSL Radio that were also […]

    As many of you are no doubt aware, about a week ago the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints released a statement regarding current federal legislative efforts to frame a bill regarding same-sex marriage:  “Statement on the United States Congress Respect for Marriage Act”   Now, in response to overwhelming public demand — […]

    After our friend and her two young daughters left for home, my wife and I spent the late afternoon and early evening in nearby Arches National Park, where we enjoyed a variety of spectacular and almost otherworldly landscapes.  I have to say that my adopted home state offers some truly remarkable vistas.  The […]

    A new, short video — accessible to you at no charge — went up this evening, Saturday evening, on the website of the Interpreter Foundation.  I hope that you’re watching these, and that you’re sharing them with family members, friends, and anybody else who might be interested in what they have to say […]

    Two new articles went up today on the website of the Interpreter Foundation:   “Twenty Years After “Paradigms Regained,” Part 1: The Ongoing, Plain, and Precious Significance of Margaret Barker’s Scholarship for Latter-day Saint Studies,” written by Kevin Christensen Abstract: Twenty years ago, the Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies published “Paradigms Regained: […]

    No recording was made of Royal Skousen’s remarks at Utah Valley University last weekend.  But the paper on which his remarks were based is now available online at the Interpreter Foundation website, along with the slides that he used to illustrate his talk.  What he had to say was both important and interesting […]

    Ann Madsen, widow of the late Truman G. Madsen, passed away on 26 October 2022 at the age of ninety.  Her funeral service will be held this coming Saturday.  As I’ve recently had occasion to note, Truman Madsen had a crucial influence on me at a time when I was choosing the general […]

    The week-to-week functioning of the Interpreter Foundation owes a very great deal to the volunteer efforts of Allen Wyatt, who currently serves as a member of our Board of Trustees, as our Vice President of Operations, and as the managing editor of Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship.  Last night, […]

    Video and audio recordings of the presentations that were given at the Interpreter Foundation’s recent conference on the temple are now available, at absolutely no charge, for your edification and enjoyment:   2022 Temple on Mount Zion Conference: Videos and Audio Recordings   We hope that you will devote some time to them. […]

    But, first:  Yesterday evening, at 7 PM Utah time, another new episode of our series of Witnesses-related video “Insights” went up on the website of the Interpreter Foundation:   Witnesses of the Book of Mormon — Insights Episode 30: No Matter the Consequence If the Book of Mormon was a fraud, why would supposed […]