*** If you’re perhaps wondering why the news of the atonement and resurrection of Christ is so very, very important, you might watch this eight-minute segment from CNN. If you can get through it without at least coming close to tearing up a bit, your heart is even harder than mine: “Some Russians think images of these killed children are fake. Keilar shows they are not: In the wake of the Russian war in Ukraine, many... Read more
*** Rebecca Reynolds Lambert wrote the Interpreter Foundation’s Easter message for this year. It appeared earlier today in Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship: “Our Faithful Lord: Passover to Easter” Abstract: Studying the origins and traditions of Passover enriches our understanding of Easter. We can deepen our own worship and expand our ritual memory by an acquaintance with these traditions. Latter-day Saints possess unique understandings that further illuminate the constancy and plenitude of the... Read more
*** If you’re unaware of the documentary Remembering Heaven, you should know that it will have its premiere on Wednesday, 4 May 2022, at 7:00 PM. The screening will take place at the Megaplex at Jordan Commons, located at 9335 State Street in Sandy, Utah. Specifically, it will be in Auditorium 13, which is a 292-seat theater. (Moreover, I’m told that Auditorium 13 has been fully converted to luxury seats. Just in case you’re wondering about that.) ... Read more
*** I had a good time last night delivering a lecture up in West Jordan, Utah, about the history and character of the famous Oberammergau Passion Play. (Whether anybody in the audience had a good time or not is, of course, a quite separate question.) By the way, I learned last night that six or perhaps even seven vacancies have opened up for the tour that I’m accompanying to Oberammergau (including a performance of... Read more
*** I’ve been deeply saddened to hear the news that Laura Harris Hales, the wife of Dr. Brian C. Hales, passed away this morning. She had been ill for a relatively brief time with a grievous form of cancer. She and Brian have been associates, allies, and friends for a long time. She will be greatly missed by many. *** I’m just a bit behind in announcing them, but there are some new items on... Read more
*** 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
*** 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
*** 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
*** 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
*** 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
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