Matthew 8:14-17Mark 1:29-34Luke 4:38-41; 7:11-17 Only Luke recounts the story of Jesus raising the son of the widow of Nain from death. But all three of the synoptic gospels mention the healing of Peter's mother-in-law (πενθερά). It's striking that the first pope, as he's often regarded, had a mother-in-law.  That fact rather suggests, unless I'm missing something, that he was married. The traditional site of the … [Read more...]

  For those who may have missed this piece: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865622644/Prophets-and-presidents-11-noteworthy-connections-between-the-LDS-Church-and-the-White-House.html?pg=all It's really quite interesting, and provides several surprising "Gee whiz!" moments.   … [Read more...]

  I found this story (which was brought to my notice by Cassandra Hedelius) particularly interesting, in view of the fact that I've known Dr. Madison Sowell since just before our freshman year at Brigham Young University. http://www.roanoke.com/news/virginia/southern-virginia-university-to-work-on-policy-after-gay-student/article_9bc6e37a-b22d-514b-a9ed-916e6baf9b5b.html I agree with Cassandra Hedelius's comment on the matter (she's a lawyer):   … [Read more...]

  An amusing story from a prominent Evangelical thinker whom I know slightly and respect greatly: http://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2015/02/when-penthouse-magazine-came-calling   … [Read more...]

  These guys were almost as mean-spirited as I'm reputed to be: "He would make a lovely corpse."- Charles Dickens (1812-1870) "I've just learned about his illness. Let's hope it's nothing trivial."- Irvin S. Cobb "I worship the quicksand he walks in."- Art Buchwald "I have never killed anyone, but I have read some obituary notices with great satisfaction."- Clarence Darrow (1857-1938) And, … [Read more...]

  http://www.koat.com/news/mormon-missionaries-held-captive-speak-about-incident/31395090   … [Read more...]

  If there's life elsewhere in the galaxy, or elsewhere in the universe, a recent study by Mary Anne Limbach and Edwin L. Turner of Princeton University suggests that it will occur in solar systems with a relatively high number of planets following roughly circular orbits. The necessity of circular or nearly-circular orbits is fairly obvious:  If a planet periodically came too close to its sun and then veered away too far into space, its temperatures would vary … [Read more...]

  Matthew 8:5-13Luke 7:1-10John 4:46-54Compare Mark 2:1; 7:30 The harmony that I'm using as the basis of this exercise -- Kurt Aland, ed., Synopsis of the Four Gospels: Greek-Gnglish Edition of the Synopsis Quattuor Evangeliorum (14th ed.) -- plainly believes that the incident recounted in John 4 is the same as that described in Matthew 8 and Luke 7.  It may be, but I'm not so sure. In any event, I've always found the centurion's … [Read more...]