February 2021 - Sic et Non

February 28, 2021

A Note on Evidence (Part One)

There is a zealous atheist who comments multiple times daily on my blog. ...

February 27, 2021

“Witnesses” News

I'm pleased to report that the Interpreter Foundation's Witnesses theatrical film won first...

February 27, 2021

“Hebrew Literary Features of Moses 1,” etc.

My wife and I will be back at the LDS Film Festival this...

February 26, 2021

“That Which You Have Translated, Which You Have Retained”

I've been busy with cinematic matters today -- among other things, we made...

February 26, 2021

Mostly African Thoughts, But Some Heavenly Ones, Too

My wife and I attended a screening of Heart of Africa 2: Companions...

February 25, 2021

Companion Films

In which I lay out a basic and relatively brief argument regarding the...

February 23, 2021

Film-Making and -Screening in the Plague Year

*** On Facebook: "Heartfelt thanks from Caleb Josiah Spivak aka Oliver Cowdery for...

February 22, 2021

“LDS Film Festival celebrates 20 years of cinema” (with a shout-out to the “Witnesses” movie)

Here's a brief article from Provo's Daily Herald about the LDS Film Festival,...

February 21, 2021

Addendum 2: Some notes on religion in pre-Islamic Iran

For my revised and expanded book on the Middle East for a Latter-day...

February 20, 2021

“Remembrance and Return: Essays in Honor of Louis C. Midgley”

The 7 February 2021 installment of the Interpreter Radio Show is now archived...

February 20, 2021

“Hail Caesar! We who are about to die salute you!”

First, though: "Witnesses Movie Interview and Special Screening" Book of Moses Essays...

February 19, 2021

“All Can Partake, Freely”

New, today, on the website of the Interpreter Foundation: Daniel C. Peterson,...

February 18, 2021

“America’s culture of contempt”

I've written on two previous days here -- see "Love in a Time...

February 17, 2021

Some notes following the death of Rush Limbaugh

I posted a blog entry yesterday ("Love in a Time of Tribalism") in...

February 16, 2021

Love in a Time of Tribalism

It seems that we're going to have to wait a little bit longer...

February 15, 2021

“The Handclasp, the Temple, and the King”

I read just this morning that Latter-day Saint apologetics is literally soaked in...

February 14, 2021

Addendum 1: A First Pass at Some Notes on Pre-Islamic Persia

For the ongoing revision of my book on the Middle East for a...

February 13, 2021

The curious “assumption of intelligibility”

I eagerly await vaccination against COVID-19 -- not only for my own safety...

February 12, 2021

Jaredites, Polygamists, and Political Activists

While we wait to see how long it will be before the long-promised...

February 11, 2021

For want of a butterfly the nail was driven into the tree with a cheetah in it. Or something like that.

You may have heard of the "butterfly effect" in chaos theory, the notion...

February 10, 2021

Take Two, “Tracing Ancient Threads in the Book of Moses”

Yesterday, I mentioned that, after something on the order of eleven years, I...

February 09, 2021

The End of a Personal Era

I've been writing regular newspaper columns for the Deseret News for roughly eleven...

February 08, 2021

“The Book of Mormon as a Resurrected Book and a Type of Christ,” and Royal Skousen on the Witnesses

I published this little article last week in Meridian Magazine: "The...

February 07, 2021

“Archaeologists in Turkey have discovered a major, previously unknown kingdom”

On Friday night, my wife and I watched a new (2021) film called...

February 06, 2021

Revision 8.15. Looking Forward to a Glorious and Peaceful Future for the Middle East

But, first: Book of Moses Essays #41: Moses 1 in Its Ancient...

February 05, 2021

“The Inclusive, Anti-Discrimination Message of the Book of Mormon”

A (massive) new article, this one by David M. Belnap, has just been...

February 04, 2021

Football, Faith, and Freud

Rumor has it that there is a football game scheduled for this weekend,...

February 03, 2021

“New Vice President for The Interpreter Foundation,” Plus a Note on Anti-Semitism

I'm very happy about this: "New Vice President for The Interpreter Foundation"...

February 02, 2021

“Before his death, this man wanted a ride in BYU football’s equipment truck. Here’s how his wish was granted”

New, on the nearly moribund website of the Interpreter Foundation: Audio Roundtable:...

February 01, 2021

“Tree of Life, Tree of Healing”

Newly appearing in Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship, an article...