The brutal murders committed by the so-called “Islamic State” aren’t precisely redeemed by their determined cultural barbarism:   http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/isis-blew-ancient-temple-palmyra-180956383/?no-ist   (Thanks to Ira Laney for reminding me of this tragic story.)   Posted from Mentor, Ohio     Read more

    Joseph Smith recalled that, during the dedication of the Kirtland Temple on 27 March 1836, “George A. Smith arose and began to prophesy, when a noise was heard like the sound of a rushing mighty wind, which filled the Temple, and all the congregation simultaneously arose, being moved upon by an invisible power; many began to speak in tongues and prophesy; others saw glorious visions; and I beheld the Temple was filled with angels, which fact I declared... Read more

    Almost since the beginning, Sidney Rigdon has been a principal suspect among those who don’t want to believe Joseph Smith’s account of the Restoration.  He consistently declined the honor:   http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865637440/Did-Sidney-Rigdon-write-the-Book-of-Mormon.html   Posted from Nauvoo, Illinois     Read more

      http://www.mormoninterpreter.com   Posted from Nauvoo, Illinois     Read more

      Yesterday, I posted an item — part of a larger series of posts indicating his sincerity — to illustrate Joseph Smith’s apparent lack of affectation.   This was much the same impression that his contemporaries had of Joseph, even late in his career. “He is a man that you could not help liking as a man,” George W. Taggart wrote from Nauvoo to his three non-Mormon brothers in the fall of 1843, “setting aside the religious prejudice... Read more

    It’s interesting to see this discussion of the history and nature of religious studies, and to reflect upon what the widespread (and, in some places, the rather sudden and imperious) adoption of the contemporary religious studies/Mormon studies paradigm might portend for the Saints and the Church:   http://fornspollfira.blogspot.com/2015/09/a-brief-history-of-religious-studies.html   Posted from Nauvoo, Illinois     Read more

    http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/news/2015/sep/22/earthquakes-could-be-triggered-by-sound-waves-that-fluidize-faults   So please whisper, and turn your sound system down.   Posted from Nauvoo, Illinois     Read more

      You want impressive?  Consider this:   http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/saudiarabia/11712286/Billionaire-Saudi-prince-to-give-away-32-billion-fortune.html   Thanks to Charles Steinman for bringing it to my notice.   Posted from Nauvoo, Illinois     Read more

    Solemn reflections today, as we visited Carthage Jail, due east of Nauvoo, and particularly as we sat in the room where Joseph and Hyrum Smith, respectively the President and Patriarch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, were attacked along with John Taylor and Willard Richards of the Council of the Twelve.   It’s a privilege to be traveling in company with Gary Ernest Smith, who has created some memorable art responding to the martyrdom of... Read more

    I had to find just the right blade of grass to stand on, and then to remain absolutely motionless, in order to do an interview with KSL Radio’s Doug Wright yesterday on the continuing uproar about Ben Carson’s remark that a Muslim shouldn’t serve as president of the United States.   I’m frankly appalled that at least a few Latter-day Saints — and so closely following Mitt Romney’s candidacy! — seem to favor a religious litmus test for... Read more