I posted an item the other day entitled “Some preliminary notes on fine-tuning and the ‘four fundamental forces’.” In it, among other things, I noted that If the electromagnetic force were slightly stronger or weaker, atomic bonds could not form — which would mean that molecules could not form. If the value of the gravitational constant were slightly larger, stars would become too hot and would burn out too quickly. If it were smaller, stars would never… Read more
April 18, 2019
A bit more on two of the four fundamental forces
April 18, 2019 By Dan Peterson
0 Comments
April 18, 2019
A note on Middle East Studies at BYU
April 18, 2019 By Dan Peterson
0 Comments
I’m happy to pass this note on from Professor Quinn Mecham, the Coordinator for Middle East Studies — which shouldn’t be confused with the parallel program in Ancient Near Eastern Studies — at Brigham Young University: The 2019 issue of BYU MESA’s student research publication Al-Buhuuth, has just been published on-line. Thanks to Nick Hainsworth of the MESAS leadership committee and to Joshua Gubler of the Political Science department for leading out on the editorial work, as… Read more
April 18, 2019
“Can modern people believe in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ?”
April 18, 2019 By Dan Peterson
0 Comments
Here is my 2019 Easter column for the Deseret News: “Can modern people believe in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ?” *** I published the Easter article below in the 24 March 2016 issue of the Deseret News: Since the appearance of the Father and the Son to Joseph Smith in the spring of 1820 and its formal organization in April 1830, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has resounded with testimonies of… Read more
April 18, 2019
Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, C.S. Lewis, and the hope of Easter
April 18, 2019 By Dan Peterson
0 Comments
I published this article in the Deseret News on 13 April 2017: A decade ago, in February 2007, came the dramatic announcement that Jesus’ ossuary or “bone box” (and perhaps even his bones) had been found in Jerusalem’s southern neighborhood of East Talpiot. Scholars overwhelmingly rejected the claim, and it’s largely forgotten today. Briefly, though, it enjoyed a flurry of media attention — including an interview with Larry King, then a major television celebrity. “Is this the end of… Read more
April 17, 2019
New Testament Notes 223-225
April 17, 2019 By Dan Peterson
0 Comments
Luke 16:10-12 Some of the Lord’s commandments, critics occasionally point out, seem so . . . well, so small. And, in a sense, they are. I remember once being asked whether I thought that a single cup of coffee would keep me out of the celestial kingdom. And, in a sense, I don’t. But if I were to adopt the attitude that the Lord’s will is unimportant to me, a matter of no consequence, that might…. Read more
April 17, 2019
“I wish to God I did not know it.”
April 17, 2019 By Dan Peterson
0 Comments
The Interpreter Radio Show for 24 March 2019 is now archived, stripped of commercial breaks, and available for listening at no charge on the website of the Interpreter Foundation. Co-hosts Steve Densley and Matt Bowen discuss the New Testament with Professor Eric Huntsman: https://interpreterfoundation.org/interpreter-radio-show-march-24-2019/ But that’s not all: “Audio Roundtable: Come, Follow Me New Testament Lesson 15 Easter: ‘O Grave, Where Is Thy Victory?'” The audio roundtable above — extracted from the 24 March 2019 broadcast of… Read more
April 17, 2019
“Not long after the Big Bang, chemistry as we know it took its first baby steps”
April 17, 2019 By Dan Peterson
0 Comments
First, two items about water or water-like liquid in space: “Meteoroid Strikes Eject Precious Water From Moon” “Saturn’s moon Titan sports phantom hydrocarbon lakes: Three features that were filled with liquid appear to have dried up” When I was a kid, thinking (perhaps not seriously enough) about a possible career in something related to astronomy — see “For me, the horizon was a bit too close” — detailed information like that above about Titan simply… Read more
April 17, 2019
Irena Sendler (1910-2008)
April 17, 2019 By Dan Peterson
0 Comments
Winning the Nobel Prize is a remarkable achievement. But sometimes . . . umm, well, mistakes are made. Here’s a possible example: During the Second World War, Irena Sendler, a Polish Roman Catholic, received permission from the Nazi occupation authorities to travel into and out of the Warsaw ghetto as a plumbing and sewer specialist. That’s an odd specialty for a woman who was a social worker by training. German officials were concerned about a… Read more
April 17, 2019
“Infected with doubt”
April 17, 2019 By Dan Peterson
0 Comments
A significant passage from Jana Riess, The Next Mormons: How Millennials Are Changing the LDS Church (Oxford University Press, 2019), 31-32: Mormons who are divorced or separated are more than twice as likely to be doubters as those who are married (28 vs. 12 percent). . . . The factor that makes the most difference, though, is not about age or political affiliation or marital status. It has to do with the people around you. . …. Read more
Browse Our Archives
TRENDING AT PATHEOS Mormon
New Testament Notes 226-229
Luke 16:16-17 Compare Matthew 5:18; 11:12-13; 24:35; Mark 13:31; Luke 21:33 This passage may not seem entirely clear. But one thing is clear: Jesus is not denouncing the Law of Moses. Forms of Protestantism that denigrate the Law do so in opposition to the Savior himself, in whose name they sometimes claim to do it. Luke 16:18 Compare Matthew 5:32; 19:9; Mark 10:11-12 This is an extraordinarily tough standard. There’s much to be said… Read more