A new article went up today in Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship. It is entitled “Parallels between the Book of Moses and the Book of Mormon, Part 1: Details of Their Distribution and Relationships to the JST,” and it was written by Jeff Lindsay. Abstract: In previous work, unexpected textual relationships between the Book of Mormon and the Book of Moses that seem consistent with a brass-plates version of Genesis with similarities to the modern... Read more
Christ is the Morning Star, who, when the night of this world is past, gives to his saints the promise of the light of life, and opens everlasting day. – The Venerable Bede (d. 735 AD) Because of his boundless love, Jesus became what we are that he might make us to be what he is. – St. Irenaeus (d. 202 AD) First of all, I wish a wonderful Christmas to everybody out there. Including all of you Radical... Read more
Here are a few of the columns that I’ve published during previous Christmas seasons. Maybe you’ll find something of value in one of them: “What is the appeal of Christmas beyond Christian believers? The birth of a baby — any baby — is a moment of hope and the inauguration of virtually boundless possibilities, and Christmas powerfully reminds us of these things once more each year”. (19 December 2019) “Christmas after the Protestant Reformation” (22 December 2017, with William J.... Read more
Today marks the 220th anniversary of the birth of the Prophet Joseph Smith. For the past several years, I’ve awakened every 23 December to the distant braying of donkeys. Cynically contemptuous of the Prophet Joseph Smith, they’re mocking “Smithmas,” an alleged Latter-day Saint holiday that they’ve invented as a vehicle for sneering not only at him but at those who respect him and accept him as a prophet. The claim among a small handful of critics of the Church... Read more
This little article of mine went up earlier today in Meridian Magazine: “Christmas Solves the Ultimate Question: Is the Universe Friendly?” “Modern science raises the question of a friendly universe—Christmas answers it in the form of a Child.” And there is still time to see this excellent and (to me) very moving eighteen-minute film from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: The Christ Child: A Nativity Story. This might also be helpful for your Christmas observance, and... Read more
An unexpected story about the late actor Donald Sutherland showed up — unexpectedly — in my in-box yesterday, and I thought that I would share it with you: In 1968, Sutherland was thirty-three, having experienced a career breakthrough in The Dirty Dozen just the year before. He went to Yugoslavia to film a World War Two comedy titled Kelly’s Heroes, with Clint Eastwood, Telly Savalas, Don Rickles, and Carroll O’Connor. (I haven’t seen the film since roughly about the... Read more
With my wife and two direct heirs and a third-generation unit, I attended a performance this afternoon of Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory at The Ruth and Nathan Hale Theater in Pleasant Grove — which, I think, will likely soon be rechristened as The Donald J. Trump and The Ruth and Nathan Hale Theater. I am not now and never have been a fan of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. But the actors did a very fine... Read more
This year’s Interpreter Foundation Christmas message went up earlier today: “Christmas Stars: Inviting Us to Come to Christ,” written by Shirley S. Ricks: Abstract: The Christmas season evokes tender feelings within us as we contemplate the newborn Christ child, whose life and mission would change the world forever. Many retellings of the nativity story include the unusual—the awkward boy/innkeeper who impulsively offers his own room to Mary and Joseph or the Herdman kids who unwittingly impart a realistic view... Read more
Up yesterday — sorry! — on the website of the Interpreter Foundation: The Interpreter Foundation Podcast — December 15, 2025 — “Christmas, the Matchless Gift of God’s Divine Son”: It’s a discussion between Martin Tanner and Terry Hutchinson. And here is my Christmas music selection for the day: I’ve chosen a thrilling Nigerian carol, Betelehemu, sung in the original Yoruba by — of all people! — the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9gXWuqZcNw Awa yo, a ri Baba gb’ojule (We rejoice for... Read more
First, though: A very happy 250th birthday to Jane Austen! This article, which was written by John E. Clark, went up today on the website of the Interpreter Foundation: Steadfast in Defense of Faith: “Archaeology and the Book of Mormon: Thomas Stuart Ferguson’s Ambivalent Testimony”: Part of our book chapter reprint series, this article originally appeared in Steadfast in Defense of Faith: Essays in Honor of Daniel C. Peterson, edited by Shirley Ricks, Stephen D. Ricks, and Louis Midgley. For... Read more
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