A new article went up today in Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship. (It’s Friday. You weren’t expecting a new article today? Seriously?) The title of the new article is, simply, “Credo.” And, well, umm, I’m the author of the thing. Heck, I even recorded it, and the audio is available at the link that I’ve supplied. Abstract: The Restoration began with the stunning divine declaration to the Prophet Joseph Smith that the Christian sects of... Read more
The first presentation at today’s FAIR Conference was “BYU-Pathway: Serving the Hidden Many” from Brian K. Ashton, the president of BYU-Pathway Worldwide. It was absolutely thrilling. BYU-Pathway Worldwide (obviously yet another horror drawn from the Christopher Hitchens Memorial “How Religion Poisons Everything” File™) is something of which, I think, all members of the Church — in the developed world and beyond, ought to be aware. (There are more students currently enrolled with BYU-Pathways Worldwide than there are at... Read more
The Interpreter Foundation has been around long enough that, rather in the manner of Turner Classic Movies, it has amassed a considerable library of good materials that are as satisfying today as they were when they first appeared. Here is one of them, which went up earlier today: “Conference Talks: “By the Blood Ye Are Sanctified”: The Symbolic, Salvific, Interrelated, Additive, Retrospective, and Anticipatory Nature of the Ordinances of Spiritual Rebirth in John 3 and Moses 6“ Jeffrey... Read more
So, yes, I’ve now seen Oppenheimer. And yes, it’s very long (though I didn’t feel it so) and, yes, it contains a few minutes of (pretty mundane) nudity and a couple of quite unappealing (and not exactly necessary) sexual episodes. But I liked it very much. Largely, I suppose, because it covers history that I have always found quite interesting and involves figures with whom I’m reasonably well acquainted. It was fun to see Albert Einstein show up,... Read more
If you’re in Utah or planning to be in Utah between now and sometime in October, you really should stop by the free, full-scale, outdoor “Tabernacle of the Old Testament” exhibit that is running in various locations here. Currently, in fact, and continuing on through 15 August, the Tabernacle stands on the park area immediately adjacent to my own Orem stake center. Another reproduction of the Tabernacle is in South Jordan through this Wednesday, 2 August, and will... Read more
I’m sitting on an open-air balcony looking across a golf course up at the mountains during a gentle but solid rain. The aroma is delicious. Life can be very good. The remarks below are based largely though not quite entirely upon Roger Trigg, Does science undermine faith? (London: Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge, 1918), 1-11. Roger Trigg is Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at the University of Warwick and Senior Research Fellow at the Ian Ramsey Centre... Read more
Earlier this year, in preparation for sitting down to interview Professor Alexander in connection with the Interpreter Foundation’s Six Days in August film project, I re-read Thomas G. Alexander, Brigham Young and the Expansion of the Mormon Faith (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2019). That interview with him — he’s been a friend of ours for many years now — will eventually figure in the docudrama portion of the Foundation’s film effort. Here are some passages from his very good... Read more
Some of you, I think, will enjoy this: “How to watch the Tabernacle Choir’s pilot of ‘Music & the Spoken Word’ in Spanish: The Spanish pilot of the Tabernacle Choir’s ‘Music & the Spoken Word’ airs Sunday, July 30” There is much food for thought in the survey data reported here. I’m not sure whether to be encouraged or discouraged: “Where Boomer Faith in God Is Low, Gen Z Belief Is Up: What nearly 20,000 people in 26... Read more
Two new items went up on Friday on the website of the Interpreter Foundation: “Nephi’s Eight Years in the “Wilderness”: Reconsidering Definitions and Details,” written by Godfrey J. Ellis Abstract: A traditional reading of Nephi’s chronicle of the trek through Arabia relies heavily on two verses in 1 Nephi 17. In verse 4, Nephi states that they “did sojourn for the space of many years, yea, even eight years in the wilderness.” In verse 5, he reports that... Read more
“2023 FAIR Conference: Ticket sales close on July 28! Save your spot now!“ I disagreed fairly comprehensively with what I knew of her views on politics and religion, but I did and do love her rendition of “Nothing Compares 2 U”: “Singer, activist Sinead O’Connor has died at the age of 56: O’Connor, the controversial Irish singer-songwriter who transformed Prince’s ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’ into a power ballad that became a No. 1 hit worldwide, died of unknown... Read more
Select your answer to see how you score.
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In