“An acquaintanceship with the literature of the world may be won by any person who will devote half an hour a day to the careful reading of the best books. The habit of reading good books is one that gives great comfort in all the stages and among all the vicissitudes of life. The man who has learned to love good reading is never alone. His friends are the great ones of human history, and to them he... Read more

      One of the very best things that happen at BYU every year is the Annual International Law and Religion Symposium.  Here’s the program for this year’s meetings:   http://www.iclrs.org/content/blurb/files/Symposium%202015%20Program%20Web%20Version.pdf   As a by-product of the 2015 meetings, I was able to attend a special joint lecture this afternoon by Dr. Yahya Al-Btoush, the Grand Mufti of the Jordanian Armed Forces, who spoke in Arabic, and Father Nabil Haddad, a Melkite Catholic priest who founded and directs the... Read more

    http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-10-05/nobel-prize-in-science-how-to-not-win/6821468     Read more

      I would like to call everybody’s attention to this year’s meeting of the Society for Mormon Theology and Philosophy, which will be held at the end of this week on the campus of Brigham Young University:   http://www.smpt.org/conferences_2015.html   There will be a considerable variety of approaches and topics, and I intend to be there for as much of the conference as my teaching schedule will permit.     Read more

    I’m continuing on with my little series about the character of Joseph Smith and his family.  These posts are drawn from a yet-unpublished book manuscript with which I tinker from time to time:   Newell Knight described Joseph in particular as “kind,” and others who knew him recalled his compassionate actions and attitude.[1] “We found him a boy of truth,” remembered Joseph Knight, Jr., of the twenty-one-year-old farmer’s son.[2] “So honest and plain were all his statements that... Read more

    Something very sweet from the Saturday afternoon session of General Conference:   http://ldsliving.com/Touching-Moment-from-Conference-Goes-Viral-Inspires-Thousands/s/80168     Read more

    The only alternative to Joseph Smith’s explanation [of the origin of the Book of Mormon] is to assume the existence of a forger who at one moment is so clever and adroit as to imitate the archaic poetry of the desert to perfection and supply us with genuine Egyptian names, and yet so incredibly stupid as to think that the best way to fool people and get money out of them is to write an exceedingly difficult historical... Read more

    Sadly though predictably, the calls to the apostleship extended to Elders Ronald Rasband, Gary Stevenson, and Dale Renlund have been met in certain circles with indignation and snorts of derision.   Boring.  White bread.  All from Utah.  No diversity.  No fishermen.  No carpenters.  All middle-class to upper middle-class.  All educated.  No poor and illiterate peasants.  Three businessmen.  (Actually, one of them is a cardiologist.  And, by the way, one speaks fluent Japanese and has lived for nearly a... Read more

    Normally a news junkie, I haven’t been watching and listening as obsessively as I normally do while I’ve been traveling over the past two weeks or so.  But my impression is that this aspect of the recent mass shooting in Oregon hasn’t been getting as much attention as it perhaps should have received:   http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2015/10/02/day-christians-were-martyred-on-american-soil.html   Posted from New York City     Read more

    Two interesting items on Catholic-Mormon relations, which, I’m very pleased to say, are probably better now than they have ever been:   http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865637653/Mormon-couple-surprises-Catholics-as-volunteers-for-popes-visit-World-Meeting-of-Families.html?pg=all   http://patersontimes.com/2015/09/27/catholic-and-mormon-churches-partner-to-refurbish-straight-and-narrow-facility/   Posted from New York City     Read more