Reflections on Hampton Court Palace

Last updated on: June 17, 2023 at 12:13 am By Dan Peterson

Two new articles appeared earlier today on the website of the Interpreter Foundation: “Doctrine and Covenants 21: Metanarrative of the Restoration,” written by Steven L. Olsen Abstract: Joseph Smith dictated Doctrine and Covenants 21 at the inaugural meeting of the Church of Jesus Christ on April 6, 1830. The present study examines the literary craftsmanship of the revelation to plumb the depths of its role in the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The analysis explores the meaning of patterns of... Read more

She would have been nine years old this week

Last updated on: June 16, 2023 at 11:14 am By Dan Peterson

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I maintain a blog for many reasons. One of them is purely personal: It’s a kind of journal for me, and, even more particularly, it’s a way of remembering things, and especially of remembering people, whose memory I refuse to allow to be wholly lost. So, for instance, I’m afraid that readers of this blog will have to put up with my regular yearly memorials to my brother and my parents. This week, though, marks the ninth anniversary... Read more

Of religion, higher education, and other matters

Last updated on: June 16, 2023 at 11:45 am By Dan Peterson

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In the 11 June 2023 episode of the Interpreter Radio Show, Terry Hutchinson, John Gee, and Kevin Christensen discussed Come, Follow Me New Testament lesson 28, the Restoration of the Melchizedek Priesthood, the Joseph Smith Papers project and recent book titles and Interpreter articles. The “New Testament in Context” portion of the 11 June 2023 show, for the Come, Follow Me New Testament lesson 28, “Ye Shall Be Witnesses unto Me,” covering Acts 1–5, will be posted separately on Tuesday,... Read more

“The Last Leaf”

Last updated on: June 14, 2023 at 4:19 pm By Dan Peterson

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A new item has gone up on the website of the Interpreter Foundation: Conference Talks: “Notes from Stephen H. Webb,“ which was presented on behalf of the then recently deceased Stephen H. Webb at the 2016 Second Interpreter Science & Mormonism Symposium: Body, Brain, Mind, and Spirit on Saturday, 12 March 2016: Science and Mormonism have nearly always been on very friendly terms, with Church members sharing the deep conviction that, as expressed by former scientist and apostle Elder... Read more

“Did Christ Visit England?”

Last updated on: June 13, 2023 at 4:17 pm By Dan Peterson

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I published a new article in Meridian Magazine yesterday, and I hope that somebody, somewhere, will read it: “Did Christ Visit England?” Our superb Latter-day Saint guide here in the United Kingdom, Peter Fagg, shared a couple of quotations with us a few days back that, with his kind help, I want to share with you. The first comes from President Lorenzo Snow. On 1 January 1901, in the Tabernacle of the Church of Jesus Christ... Read more

Let us remember Emma Jackson Adams

Last updated on: June 12, 2023 at 4:30 pm By Dan Peterson

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A young Englishwoman named Emma Jackson (1830-1885) converted to the church by 1852 if not earlier, because, by that year, she was in Liverpool preparing to emigrate to Zion. While still there in Liverpool she met a fellow convert named Samuel Lorenzo Adams (1833-1910). Eventually, Brother Adams was called into the office of the Presiding Elder — very possibly Elder Franklin D. Richards of the Twelve — and was informed that he could sail the next day. This... Read more

No more need to leave home

Last updated on: June 11, 2023 at 4:22 pm By Dan Peterson

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Charles W. Penrose (1832–1925) was born into a relatively prosperous family in London, England. When, at eighteen years of age, he was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1850, his mother — who was by then a widow — disowned him and, albeit sorrowfully, he left her behind along with his three sisters. Approximately a year after his baptism, Penrose was called to serve as a missionary for the Church throughout... Read more

In the heart of Middle-earth?

Last updated on: June 10, 2023 at 3:28 pm By Dan Peterson

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We’re lodging not terribly far from Stonyhurst College, a residential school (formerly for boys only, but now coeducational) that has been ranked as the foremost Jesuit prep school in the English-speaking world and described as “Eton for Catholics.” We drove by it early this evening after dinner. The Jesuit poet Gerard Manley Hopkins taught classics at Stonyhurst, and his poems are said to feature details drawn from the local countryside. Given the idyllic beauty of this area, it... Read more

Our only foreign-born Church president

Last updated on: June 9, 2023 at 11:51 pm By Dan Peterson

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Two new articles went up today on the website of the Interpreter Foundation: “The Holy Ghost in the Book of Moroni: Possessed of Charity,” written by Newell D. Wright and Val Larsen Abstract: The role played by the Holy Ghost is an especially important connecting thread that runs through the Book of Moroni. The book illuminates the various ways in which the Holy Ghost transforms fallen human beings into redeemed members of the kingdom of God. Three phrases —... Read more

Intimations of Antemortality

Last updated on: June 10, 2023 at 3:32 pm By Dan Peterson

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After a long day’s drive via country roads from Edinburgh via Hadrian’s Wall and the small market town of Alston, which has a Latter-day Saint historical connection, we’ve finally arrived at the justly famous Lake District, which is known not only for its beauty but for its association with William Wordsworth (1770-1850) and other notable poets and writers associated with English Romanticism. Not very far from us is Dove Cottage, in the village of Grasmere, which is famous... Read more

Which feast was reinstituted with great joy, reading the Law daily for seven days?