Two friends and I wanted to visit the bazaar in Tehran while we were there. (He is a historian of Islamic philosophy; she was — unfortunately, she died some years ago, far too young — an anthropologist with a focus on the Middle East. At the time, they were on research leave in Pakistan from their American university.) Bazaars — like the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul and Khan al-Khalili in Cairo — are culturally fascinating places. But, although... Read more
I realize that the overwhelming majority of my readers (there are perhaps as many as four of you out there) aren’t German speakers. But some are. So, for the record (because it will probably have no other use) and for the possible interest of one or two — posting this costs me nothing, after all — I share the text of remarks that I recorded for presentation at an “Education Day,” oriented to young Latter-day Saints, that was... Read more
“Prophet Meets Pope Francis at the Vatican” I’m delighted at this. Despite its notorious current woes, I’m a great admirer of the Catholic Church in many ways and especially of some of its leaders. Pope St. John Paul II, whom I once had the opportunity of seeing at fairly close range when I was invited to attend a meeting with him in Rome’s Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, is a particular hero of mine. ... Read more
Possibly the first serious poem that I ever really liked, that ever actually moved me and had me reading it again and again — maybe (I can’t quite recall) as a freshman in high school — was the “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard,” by Thomas Gray (1716-1771). It’s remarkably quotable, but what I really like about it is its affection, even reverence, for “the short and simple annals of the poor,” and its sense of the deep,... Read more
Back in November, I launched a series of posts about my one and only trip to Iran: “Iran 1: Arriving in Tehran” Incidentally, I think that I failed to mention, in that first entry, that, despite having arrived in the airport at Tehran around midnight, the sun was rising by the time we had completed the reception, the interviews, the hotel registration, and so forth. And then our meetings began at around 10 AM. Unfortunately,... Read more
It being Friday, a new article appeared today in Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship: “Was Adam a Monotheist? A Reflection on Why We Call Abraham Father and Not Adam” Abstract: The three great monotheistic religious traditions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) all claim Abraham as father and prototypical monotheist. Though Adam is the putative first father in all of these traditions, he is seldom remembered in Judeo-Christian scriptural, apocryphal, or pseudepigraphic texts as an... Read more
Humans always want to know “why.” Especially children. It seems that it’s an inherent part of the human mind. At very young ages, kids ask why something is the way it is. But when an adult answers the question with “because x,” the child will ask “But why x?” And if that adult says “x because y,” the child will ask “But how come y?” And when the adult explains that “y because z,” the child will... Read more
Matthew 8:23-27 Mark 4:35-41 Luke 8:22-25 Compare Matthew 8:18 1. The image of Jesus asleep in the back of the boat, and so soundly asleep that even a turbulent storm doesn’t wake him, is significant. It highlights his humanness. He was physically exhausted. The constant press of crowds, the long and strenuous walks all over Palestine (including substantial changes in elevation), the preaching — all of these took their toll on him. And so did healing. (Recall the... Read more
Bill Hamblin and I published the following article in the Deseret News back on 19 October 2013: In late 1997, Brigham Young University Press published a new translation (with the original Arabic text on the facing page) of a volume by the 11th-12th century Islamic thinker al-Ghazali. Titled “The Incoherence of the Philosophers,” it ranks among the most important books ever written in the Islamic world. Many of his faith consider al-Ghazali the second greatest Muslim after... Read more
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In
New Testament Notes 92-93
Matthew 9:1-8 Mark 2:1-12 Luke 5:17-26 Compare John 5:1-9 The logic here is fairly straightforward: Jesus tells the paralytic that his sins are forgiven him. At this, the “scribes” accuse him of blasphemy for arrogating to himself what they correctly believe to be a uniquely divine prerogative (Mark 2:7; Luke 5:21). Jesus responds by saying “‘Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, “Your sins are forgiven,” or to say, “Rise, talk up your... Read more