For Holy Saturday

uj83u4uj399ufrv49rnvhjnmosjsvndfnvebeyhnvhweurhnuhnurhjioee8686859403 — The logo or masthead of *Conversations with Interpreter*

Freshly posted on the famously somnolent website of the Interpreter Foundation is this new item: Conversations with Interpreter: Daniel Peterson and Becoming Brigham:

This episode features Dr. Daniel C. Peterson, professor emeritus and president of the Interpreter Foundation. Dr. Peterson discusses the exciting new web series Becoming Brigham, which presents a fuller picture of the person and ministry of Brigham Young than is sometimes presented in our broader discourse. Although definitely a product of the Nineteenth Century, the historical evidence shows that Brigham Young was not the authoritarian leader of popular imagination. In the podcast, Dr. Peterson shares some of his favorite stories about President Young that give a different perspective on him, including on issues of race and plural marriage. This episode serves as a taste of what is available to watchers of Becoming Brigham.

Incidentally, too, a thirty-second “teaser” for the forthcoming eleventh installment of the Interpreter Foundation’s Becoming Brigham effort is now up online: “TRAILER—Becoming Brigham series, Episode 11.” And, by the way, the home page of the Becoming Brigham project, where all of the currently available episodes are available for free viewing, is located here.

Chora Anastasis — Between his crucifixion and his resurrection, Christ visits the world of spirits and, taking them by the hand, lifts Adam and Eve from their lost state. This fresco — entitled “ἀνάστασις” (*anastasis* or “Resurrection,” but really a representation of the “Descensus” or the “Harrowing of Hell”) — appears in Istanbul’s (Constantinople’s) marvelous “Chora Church,” which is also known as the Kariye Mosque (Turkish: Kariye Camii), or the Church of the Holy Savior in Chora (Greek: Ἐκκλησία τοῦ Ἁγίου Σωτῆρος ἐν τῇ Χώρᾳ), and is located in the Edirnekapı neighborhood of Istanbul, Turkey, near the city’s great ancient Byzantine walls. (Wikimedia Commons public domain image)

I hope that you’ll set aside a few minutes to read the 2026 Interpreter Foundation Easter message, which appeared yesterday and which was written by Janet Ewell. It has particular relevance to today, Holy Saturday, the day (often rather overlooked) between the crucifixion of Christ on Friday and his resurrection sometime early on Sunday morning: “Easter and Doctrine and Covenants 138: Our Harrowing of Hell, Our Descensus Christi ad Inferos, Our Anastasis”

I believe, too, that I failed to mention the new installment of The Interpreter Insights Podcast that went up on Thursday, 2 April: “The Interpreter Insights Podcast — April 2, 2026: “Stanford Carmack and the Language of the Book of Mormon”

In the 2 April 2026 episode of The Interpreter Insights Podcast, our host Martin Tanner is joined by Stanford Carmack to discuss the language of the Book of Mormon.

In my own defense, I have to say that it’s sometimes very difficult to keep up with the Interpreter Foundation’s complete lack of activity.

Jesus carries his cross in a scene from the official Bible videos produced by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. (LDS Media Library). This is a depiction of a scene from the life of Jesus Christ, as it appears in the gospel of John. It isn’t a specimen of “cross symbology” or “veneration” or “adoration.” Blacking out depictions of Christ’s cross and his crucifixion from Church art would be almost as strange. in my judgment, as excising mention of them from the New Testament text itself would be.

Citing yesterday’s blog entry, one of the regulars at the Peterson Obsession Board summarizes it as follows: “Peterson now agrees that placing a statue with cross symbology in front of the Church’s flagship temple, IS a significant shift from the past.”

I had opened that blog entry with the following comment:

One of the first steps in a serious, intellectually honest disagreement is to attempt to understand (and perhaps even to restate) the differing position of a discussion partner in such a way that she would recognize it as expressing her own actual opinion.

Here is my actual opinion, in my own actual words:

I don’t think that the Michael Hall statue of Jesus Christ Carrying the Cross is an instance of “cross symbology” . . . Placing Michael Hall’s statue on Temple Square indicates no reversal on the use of “cross symbology.” We haven’t adopted “cross symbology.”

How do you rate the POB poster’s attempt to understand and restate my position on this matter? I have to be honest: I don’t think that his effort is, umm, fully adequate. Can you discern any difference between what I said and his proposed summary of it?

I dunno. I’ve decided to forego further futile attempts to help the folks on the Obsession Board understand my viewpoint on this matter. I’ve seen no evidence that they’re interested.

The official poster for The Good Samaritan

I’m pleased to pass on the news that The Good Samaritan, a 45-minute-long film created by our very good friends at Emmaus Road Media, is now available for streaming via Angel Studios. It’s part of a larger project to bring “The Parables of Jesus” to the screen.

At one point, there was a serious effort to involve the Interpreter Foundation in this project. It was ultimately thwarted by factors beyond our control, but I watch what they’re doing with particular interest. It’s not only that they’re friends. You may or may not have noticed it, but I have a special personal interest in the power of film to convey the message of the Restoration.

Meyer Passover — A *fin-de-siècle* image of Passover, painted by Mathilde Hahn Meyer
(Wikimedia Commons public domain image)

I hope that you’re having a wonderful Easter weekend and General Conference weekend! I think it’s wonderful that they coincide this year, and that both coincide, more or less, with the Jewish season of Pesach or Passover. On several occasions in past years, though not recently, I’ve had the privilege and opportunity to conduct slightly modified Passover seders for Latter-day Saints. I’ve enjoyed them immensely, and I think them a superb and memorable opportunity to teach not only about the Israelite exodus from Egypt and the Lord’s Last Supper but about salvation and the Atonement more generally. I’ve wished that more Latter-day Saints could have some such experience.