Who ya gonna call?

Last updated on: February 16, 2022 at 4:37 pm By Dan Peterson

*** A whole circle of freak-show demagogues once swirled around the professional anti-Mormon mountebank Ed Decker, who achieved somewhat more than merely his fifteen minutes of fame with the 1982 film The God Makers. (Decker is still reputed to be alive in some sense, up in Washington State.). One of Decker’s associates, Bill Schnoebelen, used to claim that the very architectural form of the Salt Lake Temple, particularly the “trapezoidal” form of its spires, was consciously designed... Read more

“Life is meaningless. Isn’t it beautiful?”

Last updated on: February 9, 2022 at 1:29 pm By Dan Peterson

*** On the flight yesterday, I watched the three-part Hulu series McCartney 3, 2, 1, which I really, really enjoyed. The Beatles were, in my judgment, unambiguously the greatest rock band in history. By light years. *** I’m still slowly going through past blog entries in order to extract things from them that I want to use in future (non-blog) writing. I’m roughly half-way through a first quick pass. Here are three quotations that I... Read more

“A very skillful Watchmaker”?

Last updated on: February 9, 2022 at 1:24 pm By Dan Peterson

*** I have no idea whether or not any tickets are left for the 4 March 2021 premiere of the new Interpreter Foundation docudrama Undaunted: Witnesses of the Book of Mormon, or, if there are, how many of them might remain. So, if you’re interested in attending the premiere, which will take place as part of the LDS Film Festival, you shouldn’t delay any longer. Tickets are available, if they’re available, through this website: LDS Film... Read more

Evil and Death Amid Beauty on the Road to the Temple

Last updated on: February 9, 2022 at 1:18 pm By Dan Peterson

*** After a morning swim, we drove into Honolulu to take a look at a couple of historical sites — Iolani Palace and Washington Place — that were connected with the last queen of Hawaii, Liliuokalani, who was deposed in 1893 by a conspiracy of white businessmen and who died in 1917. She’s one of the foci of a column that I’ve just completed for Meridian Magazine and that I will submit shortly. Thereupon, we drove... Read more

On the psychology of atheism?

Last updated on: February 9, 2022 at 1:34 pm By Dan Peterson

*** I originally published this column in Provo’s Daily Herald, back around 14 April 2000, under the title “Faith of the Fatherless.” In the past two or three days, my blog’s most dogged resident atheist commenter has suggested that theistic belief originates in psychological defect and insinuates that, if I understood psychology, I would see things his way. So I thought that there might be some value in dusting it off and sharing it again: A widespread... Read more

Progress, Science, and Religion

Last updated on: February 9, 2022 at 1:12 pm By Dan Peterson

*** If you would like to watch the two-hour video of a Witnesses-related event that occurred in Provo, Utah, back on 14 October 2021 without needing to get through Deseret Book’s paywall, you can do so here. The completion of the video and its full going-public were slowed by a nearly tragic external factor that has now, thankfully, been largely overcome: “Deseret Book’s “What is My Witness” Event” The Interpreter Foundation is pleased to share here... Read more

“A Deeper Understanding of the Temple in 175 Entries”

Last updated on: February 15, 2022 at 9:51 pm By Dan Peterson

*** A new review article appeared earlier today in Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship: “A Deeper Understanding of the Temple in 175 Entries,” by David M. Calabro Review of Donald W. Parry, 175 Temple Symbols and Their Meanings (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2020). 310 pages. $26.99 (hardcover). Abstract: In a must-have book written for a Latter-day Saint audience, Donald Parry offers profound insights into 175 features of ancient and modern temples, including architectural features, aspects... Read more

Supportive, but Not Conclusive

Last updated on: February 9, 2022 at 1:11 pm By Dan Peterson

*** Two new items from the astoundingly prolific Jeffrey Mark Bradshaw went up today on the website of the Interpreter Foundation: Old Testament Commentary: Genesis 11 Overview: The Tower of Babel Old Testament Commentary: Genesis 12-17: The Covenant of Abraham *** And this is worthy of mentioning here, too: “LDS Film Festival Announces Lineup and New Vision” Don’t forget that the Interpreter Foundation’s new docudrama, Undaunted: Witnesses of the Book of... Read more

Which reminds me of a couple of true anecdotes

Last updated on: February 3, 2022 at 4:23 pm By Dan Peterson

*** Don’t forget about the upcoming 2022 LDS Film Festival, which will run 2-5 March at the SCERA Theater in Orem, Utah. The Interpreter Foundation’s new docudrama, Undaunted: Witnesses of the Book of Mormon, will receive its premiere there, on the evening of Friday, 4 March, and tickets are now available. *** Three new entries went up today on the website of the Interpreter Foundation, all of them from the regular weekly Interpreter Radio Show:... Read more

“A common sense interpretation of the facts”

Last updated on: February 3, 2022 at 4:26 pm By Dan Peterson

*** Audio Roundtable: Come, Follow Me Old Testament Lesson 7 “To Be a Greater Follower of Righteousness”: Genesis 12–17; Abraham 1–2 Shorn of commercials and other distractions, the Interpreter Radio Roundtable for Come, Follow Me Old Testament Lesson 7, “To Be a Greater Follower of Righteousness,” on Genesis 12–17; Abraham 1–2, is now archived and available at no charge for your edification and entertainment. The panelists for this roundtable were Neal Rappleye, Jasmin Rappleye, and Hales Swift, with special... Read more