“The Return of Paganism”?

We at Interpreter are gearing up to be useful — or, at least, to try to be –during the approaching 2019 curriculum year of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  It is, as I’m assuming you’re already aware, destined to be a very different year for members of the Sunday School classes of the Church.  So try this:

“Audio Roundtable: Come, Follow Me New Testament Lesson 1″

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The latest installment of Dr. Jeffrey Mark Bradshaw’s reflections on the two-year mission that he and his wife recently served in Africa has appeared on the website of the Interpreter Foundation:

“The Church in the DR Congo: A Personal Perspective: Part 9, The Temple 2: “Holiness to the Lord””

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A really intriguing piece from the New York Times:

“The Return of Paganism: Maybe there actually is a genuinely post-Christian future for America.”

In it, Ross Douthat draws from a new book entitled Pagans and Christians in the City: Culture Wars From the Tiber to the Potomac.  It’s by Steven D. Smith, a law professor at the University of San Diego.  Readers of this blog will be interested to see where Professor Smith earned his undergraduate degree.

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From the invaluable Dr. Jeff Lindsay:

“The Town of Palmyra vs. the City of Helam: A Subtle but Meaningful Contrast in Communities and Culture”

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What devilry and harm has the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints been up to of late?  What new contributions will it make to your Christopher Hitchens Memorial “Religion Poisons Everything” File?  Find out here:

“Latter-day Saints Around the World Country Newsroom Websites December 21, 2018”

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Back in 2012, Professor John Sorenson published a piece in Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture entitled “An Open Letter to Dr. Michael Coe.”  Here is the summary that precedes it:

“Abstract: In August 2011 John Dehlin conducted a three-part interview with famed Mesoamericanist Michael Coe.  Dehlin operates the podcast series Mormon Stories, which features interviews discussing the faith and culture of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This article examines a large number of dubious claims made in those interviews, providing clarifications, responses, and references to numerous sources dealing with those issues. Much more detail will be forthcoming in Dr. Sorenson’s new book, Mormon’s Codex.”

Of course, Mormon’s Codex: An Ancient American Book has since been published.  It appeared in 2013.  In many ways, its arrival from the press publicly signaled the definitive end of the old Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies (aka FARMS).

Posted from Cairo, Egypt