In a time of terrorist violence, fear, mistrust, misunderstanding, and, all too often, sensationalized misinformation, this effort toward building bridges between Islam and Christianity represents a really refreshing and welcome change:   http://www.acommonword.com/     Read more

    Controversy has swirled around this minor issue for many years.  It’s nice to hear from an informed voice of reason:   http://etherscave.blogspot.ie/2017/01/a-new-york-cumorah-not-hill-we-have-to.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed:+EthersCave+(Ether%27s+Cave)     Read more

      “Be hard on yourself, easy on others.” Abū ‘Abdullāh Muhammad ibn Idrīs al-Shāfi‘ī (d. AD 820)     Read more

    Way back in 1990 — I never imagined myself being as old as I am now! — I published two articles with what was then called the Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies (FARMS) in which, among other things, I argued that the so-called “Gadianton robbers” of the Book of Mormon weren’t merely a criminal syndicate but represented an alternate and dissident form of religiosity:   “Notes on ‘Gadianton Masonry'”   “The Gadianton Robbers as Guerrilla Warriors”   Later,... Read more

    This story pleases me very, very much:   http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865671591/LDS-church-provides-place-for-displaced-Muslim-community-to-pray.html   What doesn’t please me is that I’ve forgotten who called it to my attention yesterday.  (I was slow in blogging about it.)  I apologize.   But it reminds of a statement from the Prophet Joseph Smith.   He said many wonderful things, of course.  Among my favorites is this, from a 15 December 1840 letter that he wrote to the Twelve from Nauvoo, Illinois.  It was published in Times and Seasons (1 January 1841,... Read more

    Some of you may find this thirty-minute talk by Dr. David H. Bailey of interest.  It was given at a 2013 Interpreter Foundation conference on science and religion:   “Science vs Religion: Can This Marriage Be Saved?”   Brother Bailey, a computer scientist and mathematician, worked for fourteen years at NASA Ames Research Center and then, after 1998, as a Senior Scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.  He is now officially retired, but he remains active as, among other things, a... Read more

    A superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions. Confucius (Kǒng Zǐ, 551 BC – 479 BC)     Read more

    Some will take this as an attack on science:   “Science falling victim to ‘crisis of narcissism'”   They will, as always, be wrong.     Read more

    Just off the phone with a friend — a prominent Syrian intellectual — in Damascus.  It was about midnight when our call ended.  He was very tired, but he still had to go out and find water.  ISIS has evidently destroyed one of the major water pipelines into the city; for the past month or so, four million or more people have been obliged to get their water from tanker trucks.   He’s happy that Mr. Obama is... Read more

    This article was, no doubt, occasioned by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir’s participation in the 2017 presidential inauguration:   http://www.economist.com/blogs/erasmus/2017/01/mormons-and-music   The Choir’s performance on the steps of the Capitol yesterday, whatever one thinks of the decision to perform or (for that matter) of Mr. Trump, brought international attention to both the Choir and the Church.  I haven’t gone looking for evidence of such attention, but I haven’t had to:  The Economist is a British magazine.  And, last night, I... Read more