I’m not — to put it mildly — a supporter of Hillary Clinton.   But even if I were, I would have to acknowledge that she lacks her husband’s smooth political skills.   Here’s an example:   http://www.nationalreview.com/article/422700/hillary-clinton-black-lives-matter-video   Here’s another:   http://www.nationalreview.com/article/422764/hillary-clinton-emails-press-conference-dishonest   Things are really beginning to look up for the Democratic presidential ticket that I prefer, and that I’ve already endorsed:  the socialist Bernie Sanders and the racial statesman and noted authority on taxes Al... Read more

.       My wife and I had Thai food tonight with — clockwise, from left — Neal Rappleye, Ugo Perego, and Stephen Smoot.   Life is good.     Read more

      “All history is present history in the sense that the concerns of the present are bound somehow to affect the way history is studied and written. All history is also personal, since it is impossible to avoid the influence of one’s own opinions and prejudices on the selection and emphasis of one’s historical material.” Paul Cartledge     Read more

    Another disgusting act of repulsive and barbaric cruelty from the nihilistic death-cult calling itself the “Islamic State”:   http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/18/middleeast/isis-executes-antiquities-expert/index.html     Read more

    A remarkable interview with the Catholic philosopher and theologian Stephen Webb, who was just in Utah to speak at the 2015 FairMormon conference and to join in the Interpreter Foundation’s third birthday party:   http://www.americamagazine.org/content/all-things/catholic-and-mormon-author-qa-professor-stephen-h-webb   Enjoy!     Read more

    He’s one of the towering intellectual and spiritual figures in the history of Islam and, I would argue, of philosophical theology anywhere.  I’ll be speaking about him later today at BYU Education Week, so he’s somewhat on my mind:   “Knowledge without action is vanity, and action without knowledge is insanity.”   “Never have I dealt with anything more difficult than my own soul, which sometimes helps me and sometimes opposes me.”   Abu Hamid Muhammad b. Muhammad... Read more

    Did you know that Mormon.org, an official outlet of the Church, has a blog?   I didn’t.   But it does, and here’s a recent entry:   https://www.mormon.org/blog/four-lessons-christ-taught-about-faith     Read more

    A helpful and clear summary:   http://www.symmetrymagazine.org/article/august-2015/the-age-of-the-universe       Read more

    People who know nothing about Interpreter’s peer review process routinely and confidently announce, on the basis of nothing, that it has none.   This, though, is the kind of thing that happens at journals that genuinely don’t have a peer review process:   http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2014/12/08/two-scientific-journals-accepted-a-study-by-maggie-simpson-and-edna-krabappel/   It’s not the kind of thing that’s likely to happen at Interpreter.   Sheer dumb luck, I suppose.     Read more

    Sigh.  I inadvertently did New Testament 242 out of its proper order, so I’m turning back to New Testament 241.  Then we’ll be on track again.   Here we go:   John 7:40-52   Some may vaguely imagine in their hearts — though I doubt that they would ever expressly articulate such a thought to themselves — that, had they lived in the time of Jesus, everything would have been clear and obvious.  No ambiguities.  They would have... Read more