This should make both sides angry . . .

Last updated on: April 12, 2022 at 5:29 pm By Dan Peterson

*** Many, many, many years ago, a friend — a former missionary companion — persuaded me to go up for a small protest when Georgia Governor Jimmy Carter visited Salt Lake City during his ultimately successful 1976 presidential campaign. The direct impetus for the protest (beyond, of course, general opposition to the Democratic presidential candidate himself) came from signs that had been displayed by delegates at the Democratic nominating convention earlier that year: “JC can save America!”... Read more

“Let us not mock God with metaphor”

Last updated on: May 13, 2022 at 10:16 pm By Dan Peterson

*** In the 13 March 2022 episode of the Interpreter Radio Show, Terry Hutchinson, John Gee, and Kevin Christensen discuss the Interpreter Foundation’s latest film project, Undaunted: Witnesses of the Book of Mormon, as well as a recent Interpreter journal paper on fiery flying serpents and various aspects of the story of Joseph of Egypt. (You can listen to or download the 13 March 2022 broadcast of the Interpreter Radio Show at the link supplied above.) That... Read more

Seventeen Years

Last updated on: April 11, 2022 at 9:15 am By Dan Peterson

*** Yesterday, 10 April, would have been my mother’s birthday. Today is the seventeenth anniversary of her passing. Continuing my annual tradition, I repost here the remarks that I delivered (very, very poorly) at her funeral in 2005. It’s not much. It’s not anything, really. But it’s an attempt, grossly inadequate, at a tribute to her. An utterly insufficient attempt to tell her “Thanks” and, yes, to keep her in remembrance: My very earliest memories of... Read more

Entering into Easter Week

Last updated on: May 13, 2022 at 10:29 pm By Dan Peterson

*** Virtually all historians, of all religious opinions, agree that Jesus was crucified. The New Testament says that he died just prior to Passover. One of his inner circle of twelve apostles betrayed him, nine fled at his arrest, and another — Peter — pretended not to know him. The last, John, seems to have watched events unfold from a safe distance (Luke 23:49; John 19:25-27). Thereafter, as prominent followers of a convicted and executed “criminal,”... Read more

“But why are the damned in hell?”

Last updated on: April 9, 2022 at 1:27 pm By Dan Peterson

*** I’ve enjoyed the work of Stephen T. Davis, Russell K. Pitzer Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at Claremont McKenna College in California, for a long time. Some time ago, I read his 2015 book After We Die: Theology, Philosophy, and the Question of Life after Death. Latter-day Saints don’t believe in the traditional Christian concept of hell. (Moreover, I personally lean toward a modified form of near-universalism.) But I’ve just finished reading Professor Davis’s defense of... Read more

“Experiential Knowledge”

Last updated on: April 8, 2022 at 9:24 pm By Dan Peterson

*** It’s Friday! Accordingly, two new articles — both of them from authors with strong ties to Canada (whence the flimsy rationale for the photograph that I’ve chosen above) — appeared just a few minutes ago in Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship: “Experiential Knowledge and the Covenantal Relationship in Alma 7,” by Godfrey J. Ellis Abstract: A favorite scripture of many faithful saints is Alma 7 where it describes how the Savior came to... Read more

In defense of Christianized Passover seders

Last updated on: May 13, 2022 at 10:07 pm By Dan Peterson

*** I came across a little piece online yesterday in which a rabbi declared that Christianized Passover meals or seders are anti-Semitic. It got me to thinking, and I’m afraid that I’m going to disagree with him. Full disclosure: I myself have led perhaps half a dozen such Christianized seders, though probably not for at least five years or so. And I will say that — despite the eager accusations of a small handful of people... Read more

A news dispatch from the Galilee

Last updated on: May 13, 2022 at 10:03 pm By Dan Peterson

*** I’m pleased to report that, probably on 25 June this year and barring unforeseen circumstances, I’ll be one of the speakers at the Joseph & Polly Knight 2022 Family Reunion . The meeting will largely, I’m told, also be available online, but it will be held at the East Millcreek Stake Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. I’m looking forward to it. *** Despite my tardiness and neglect, these items on the website of... Read more

An important event in the history of the Book of Mormon

Last updated on: May 13, 2022 at 9:58 pm By Dan Peterson

*** I received an email earlier this morning from my friend Royal Skousen, letting me know that 10 May 2022, slightly more than a month from now, has been set by Amazon.com as the shipping date for the second edition of The Book of Mormon: The Earliest Text, which is published by Yale University Press. I’m pretty excited about this. My first edition of The Earliest Text has been a very useful tool and resource, as... Read more

An appeal from this blog’s author and proprietor

Last updated on: May 13, 2022 at 9:49 pm By Dan Peterson

*** Until just a few weeks ago, I didn’t know that my blog posts can be (and often are) ranked on a one-to-five-star system that’s built into the platform. When people post comments here, they’re invited and provided an opportunity to choose a rating. (Whether they can do so with every comment on a post or merely once per post, I don’t yet know.) But I simply hadn’t noticed. And, even when it was called to my... Read more