Where is our Thomas Aquinas?

Last updated on: May 25, 2026 at 3:21 pm By Dan Peterson

“Was Persecution in Missouri Inevitable?” The latest installment in our Becoming Brigham series is now available online (at, of course, no charge). This episode — the eighteenth — features the Latter-day Saint historian Dr. Matt Godfrey. We’re making every effort to interview premier authorities on the issues that we’re investigating, and to base the content of our series on their work. Some years ago, I was irritated by a gratuitous insult to my faith in Thomas Cahill’s otherwise interesting... Read more

Frustrated Schadenfreude

Last updated on: May 25, 2026 at 3:25 pm By Dan Peterson

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The seventeenth installment of the Becoming Brigham series runs not quite eighteen minutes. Today, being the Sabbath, would be a perfectly appropriate day on which to watch it: Was Zion’s Camp Formative or a Failure? Also, the 47-second “teaser” for the eighteenth installment of Becoming Brigham is up on line for your viewing pleasure: Was the persecution in Missouri inevitable? And did you know that you can subscribe to Becoming Brigham at no charge? Just go to the official... Read more

Passing it on

Last updated on: May 23, 2026 at 9:58 pm By Dan Peterson

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I’m generally tired enough on transoceanic flights that I’ve given up trying to do any serious reading while we’re in the air, and today’s flight was no exception. So I watched four — count ’em, four! — movies on the way home from England: Song Sung Blue, starring Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson. I wasn’t particularly thrilled about seeing this one, but my wife started to watch it so, since I like to discuss movies with her, I chose... Read more

Last Night in England

Last updated on: May 22, 2026 at 4:01 pm By Dan Peterson

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A new article has appeared in Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 69 (2026): 1-22. It is “Joseph Smith and the Twin Priesthood Keys of Authority and Knowledge,” and it was written by Matthew Scott Stenson: Abstract: This article proposes that priesthood keys are of two general categories: 1) keys of authority and 2) keys of knowledge. The keys of authority are the type most often discussed in meetings and classrooms, and thus, are relatively familiar. However,... Read more

Tintagel

Last updated on: May 21, 2026 at 2:02 pm By Dan Peterson

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This little article of mine appeared in Meridian Magazine a few hours ago: “Stepping into Moses’ Shoes and Joshua’s Divine Commission.” It’s striking that, even many centuries after the passing of the great leader of the Hebrew exodus out of Egypt, Jesus described the leaders of Israel of his own day with reference to Moses: “The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat,” he said at Matthew 23:2 — though not exactly with approval. I want to remind... Read more

At Land’s End

Last updated on: May 20, 2026 at 2:20 pm By Dan Peterson

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This article went up today on the website of the Interpreter Foundation: Reprint: “Ḥesed and the Redemption of Abraham,” written by Jennifer C. Lane: Part of our book chapter reprint series, this article originally appeared in Abraham and His Family in Scripture, History, and Tradition, edited by Jeffrey M. Bradshaw, John S. Thompson, Matthew L. Bowen, and David R. Seely. For more information, go to https://interpreterfoundation.org/books/abraham-and-his-family. “Twenty years ago, I explored the redemption of Abraham in the context of covenant... Read more

Raising the Rafters at Westminster Abbey

Last updated on: May 19, 2026 at 3:09 pm By Dan Peterson

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Almost all of our group headed to the airport at Heathrow very early this morning. But my wife and I didn’t. We’re staying just a few extra days. So we caught a Great Western Railroad train that headed out of London to Reading, then on to Taunton and, via Exeter St. David’s and Newton Abbot and Totnes, to Plymouth, in Devon. In Plymouth, we picked up a rental car and drove about ninety minutes to two hours to Newquay... Read more

Stake Conference and the Sung Eucharist in London

Last updated on: May 18, 2026 at 3:45 pm By Dan Peterson

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A new article of mine appeared in Meridian Magazine today: ““Crawling Over, Under, or Around Section 132”: The Debate Over Joseph Smith and Polygamy” And Episode 17 of our Becoming Brigham series went up this morning: “Was Zion’s Camp Formative or a Failure?” I would be pleased and honored if you would take a look at them. And here are a pair of items from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that you should see: “Church Provides... Read more

Created or Discovered? (Part Two)

Last updated on: May 17, 2026 at 2:58 pm By Dan Peterson

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This is a continuation of a previous post. I proceed now with a few more notes taken from (and/or inspired by) Robert Kanigel, The Man Who Knew Infinity: A Life of the Genius Ramanujan (New York and London: Washington Square Press, 1991): In the 1930s, E. T. Bell would remark that Ramanujan had broken the rules by which mathematicians evaluate their own. “When a truly great [algorist, or formalist] like the Hindu Ramanujan arrives unexpectedly out of nowhere, even... Read more

A monument to the transience of power (and of life)

Last updated on: May 16, 2026 at 7:24 am By Dan Peterson

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I had a number of pressing items to take care of today, so I reluctantly stayed in London to catch up on some work. But our group (including my wife!) went out today to Hampton Court Palace, which I last visited about a year ago and have visited multiple times over the years. On the whole, I would rather have gone this time, too. But life intervenes. It’s a structure going back to its foundation in 1514 by Cardinal... Read more

Who was Paul's companion on his first missionary journey?