With their kind permission, I share tributes to my friend Bill Hamblin from two unique angles. They bear witness to the real Bill Hamblin — the Bill Hamblin that I and others knew — who, though he didn’t shy away from defending what he believed, was never the horrific bogeyman that some critics have imagined him to be. The first of these tributes comes from Don Bradley, who is, among other things, the author of a very important… Read more
December 12, 2019
Is genuine knowledge possible outside of science?
December 12, 2019 By Dan Peterson
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There are those — some of them read my blog — who appear to argue that science is the only valid kind of knowledge, and that anything that isn’t scientific isn’t really knowledge. I find such claims — if that’s indeed what they’re really saying — unspeakably weird. I offer, below, a comment on the subject from the great German philosopher Hans-Georg Gadamer (1900-2002). It’s perhaps just a bit difficult, but his point seems to me unassailably… Read more
December 11, 2019
“Lo, how a rose e’er blooming”
December 11, 2019 By Dan Peterson
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A brief statement has now been published on the website of the Interpreter Foundation: William J. Hamblin (1954-2019) *** The locations for three new temples have been announced: “New Temple Site Locations Announced in Texas and Utah” “McAllen Texas Temple Site Location Revealed” “Location Announced for the Taylorsville Utah Temple” I’m really pleased that the new Orem Utah Temple will be built on a site that is fairly close to my… Read more
December 11, 2019
“Ave Maria, gratia plena”
December 11, 2019 By Dan Peterson
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In this clip, the all-male a cappella vocal group Chanticleer performs what I, at least, consider to be one of the most achingly, exquisitely beautiful pieces of music ever composed, Franz Biebl’s 1964 setting of “Ave Maria”: V. Angelus Domini nuntiavit Mariæ. R. Et concepit de Spiritu Sancto. Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum. Benedicta tu in mulieribus, et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Iesus. V. Maria dixit: Ecce Ancilla Domini. R. Fiat mihi secundum Verbum tuum. Ave… Read more
December 11, 2019
A Christmas-related lecture on Thursday night
December 11, 2019 By Dan Peterson
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I would like to call your attention to a lecture that will be given tomorrow (Thursday) night in West Jordan, Utah. I will be unable to attend it owing to a prior engagement, but I would go if I could: A Stone Manger – Christmas Insights From the Land of Israel Take a trip back in time, before the Christmas traditions we have today even existed — back in time to Nazareth and Jerusalem and Bethlehem… Read more
December 11, 2019
On “the Pope’s divisions”
December 11, 2019 By Dan Peterson
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Bill Hamblin and I wrote a regular column on world religions for the Provo Daily Herald for two or three years. It was, in a way, his idea. We had both been irritated by a previous columnist, an Evangelical Protestant minister who routinely suggested that religions other than his were satanic deceptions and who routinely got the facts wrong. Bill suggested that we write a response to one of his columns. We did, and the Herald editors asked… Read more
December 10, 2019
William J. Hamblin (1954-2019)
December 10, 2019 By Dan Peterson
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I’m shocked and in deep sorrow. My long-time friend and colleague Bill Hamblin passed away suddenly earlier today. I don’t know any details; I’ve only just now confirmed the truth of the report. It sounds like a heart attack, but I don’t know. I first met Bill when he and I were both studying in Cairo. I was already there; he came over for a year at the Center for Arabic Study Abroad (CASA), something of a… Read more
December 10, 2019
Memories of interreligious “trialogue” (II)
December 10, 2019 By Dan Peterson
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Continued from “Memories of interreligious “trialogue” (I)”: When I arrived for the beginning of the Jewish/Christian/Muslim “trialogue” in Graz in January 1993, things were just a bit awkward. I was something of an odd man out, just as Gillian Sorenson had predicted I would be. The others had been meeting previously, sometimes for years. I was new intruder, and, although a Christian, not considered an orthodox or mainstream one — and, although trained in Islamic studies, not… Read more
December 9, 2019
“The Restored Gospel and the Birth of the Modern Age”
December 9, 2019 By Dan Peterson
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“Science & Mormonism Series 1: Cosmos, Earth, and Man: Frequently Asked Questions about Science and Genesis” Part of our book chapter reprint series, this article by Jeffrey M. Bradshaw originally appeared in Science & Mormonism Series 1: Cosmos, Earth, and Man (2016). Abstract: This chapter answers thirty-five questions on topics where science and scholarship meet the scriptures, such as the authorship of Genesis, the Creation, evolution of humankind, the Garden of Eden, the fruits of the Tree of Knowledge… Read more
December 9, 2019
LDS Inc. (Part Eleven)
December 9, 2019 By Dan Peterson
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Some insist on reading what I’ve been writing here as my argument that it’s perfectly fine for a Church to look like and behave like a typical American business or corporation, to be motivated by the same profit incentives that motivate profit-seeking corporations — while exploiting tax breaks that properly pertain only to legitimate churches and non-profits — and that corporate culture is somehow intrinsically good. I’m arguing none of these things. Fundamentally, I do not… Read more
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