My blog’s resident atheistic and scientistic ideologue will undoubtedly denounce me for my alleged hostility to science because I’ve posted links to the following two articles.  Each article questions scientific authority and dissents from powerful consensuses.  However, I doubt that I’m any more hostile to science than either of the articles’ authors is:   “First stars spell trouble for dark matter”   “Seeking the Truth When the Consensus Is against You: You should always listen to the experts—except when... Read more

    I would like to call general attention to a lecture that will be given this next week at Brigham Young University by a friend of mine (also, for what it’s worth, a former student and, later, a colleague) who is currently working as an independent scholar:   “Memory and Erasure in the Story of the West: Or, Where have All the Muslims Gone?” Tuesday, 12 PM to 1 PM; 238 HRCB, Brigham Young University Islamic civilization served as... Read more

    I think that Saturday’s Temple on Mount Zion conference, jointly sponsored by the BYU Department of Asian and Near Eastern Languages, the BYU College of Humanities, and the Interpreter Foundation, was a considerable success.  It was well attended and the presentations were very good.  I’m grateful to all who were involved.   For the final afternoon session, Neal Rappleye took over for Steve Densley, who had to leave in order to meet a Saturday evening stake conference commitment,... Read more

    I now offer the third installment of my brief report from the fourth biannual Temple on Mount Zion Conference, which was co-sponsored by Brigham Young University’s Department of Asian and Near Eastern Languages and its College of Humanities and by the Interpreter Foundation.  The conference, organized by Professor Stephen Ricks of Brigham Young University, convened today (Saturday) on the BYU campus.   Dr. . Jeffrey M. Bradshaw conducted the afternoon sessions, which began following a lunch break.  Rather... Read more

    Here is a second installment of my brief report from the fourth biannual Temple on Mount Zion Conference, which is co-sponsored by Brigham Young University’s Department of Asian and Near Eastern Languages and its College of Humanities and by the Interpreter Foundation.  The conference, organized by Professor Stephen Ricks of Brigham Young University, convened today (Saturday) on the BYU campus.   Dr. Ricks conducted the morning sessions.   Professor Thomas Wayment, who teaches in the Classics program at... Read more

    What follows is the first installment of a brief report of the fourth biannual Temple on Mount Zion Conference, co-sponsored by Brigham Young University’s Department of Asian and Near Eastern Languages and its College of Humanities—those are my department and college—and by the Interpreter Foundation, which gathered today (Saturday) on the campus of Brigham Young University.   The principal organizer of the conference was my long-time friend and former missionary companion in Switzerland Stephen Ricks.  (He also conducted... Read more

    In the few spare moments that I’ve had to think about it up until now, I’ve been concerned about whether I had anything worthwhile to say for my lecture at the University of Notre Dame Australia in Sydney later this month:   Annual Religious Liberty Lecture   This afternoon, I sat down and began to work on it fairly seriously — and now I’m concerned that I won’t have time and space to say all that’s on my mind.... Read more

    New, in Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture:   “Marjorie Newton’s Account of the Faith of the Māori Saints: A Critical Appraisal”   There are by the way, some potentially very interesting developments underway in New Zealand at this very moment.  I hope that we’ll be hearing about them soon.   ***   You should most definitely not forget tomorrow’s symposium on the campus of Brigham Young University:   “Temple on Mount Zion Conference”   It’s entirely free and open... Read more

    I’m beginning to wind down with my note-taking from John L. Esposito and Dalia Mogahed, Who Speaks for Islam? What a Billion Muslims Really Think (New York: Gallup Press, 2007), which I actually read quite some time ago.  Some of these items are merely reminders to me of points that I want to make — or perhaps have already made, but want to be sure not to omit — in a book manuscript that I’m readying for submission and in another... Read more

    A strange but remarkable story that’s included in John Burke, Imagine Heaven: Near-Death Experiences, God’s Promises, and the Exhilarating Future That Awaits You (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2015):   Eleven-year-old Jennifer was in a severe car accident and left her body.  She saw her “limp and lifeless body” below.  The voice of a spiritual being told her she needed to help the unconscious driver.  “His nose is cut off his face; you will need to go back and help... Read more