Here’s a thought from President Russell M. Nelson that I think especially appropriate for the Christmas season: In a coming day, you will present yourself before the Savior. You will be overwhelmed to the point of tears to be in His holy presence. You will struggle to find words to thank Him for paying for your sins, for forgiving you of any unkindness toward others, for healing you from the injuries and injustices of this life. You will thank... Read more
The new official portrait of the current Quorum of the Twelve Apostles was recently released, and I’ve shared it above. Which makes this a good occasion, I think, to say a bit more about the Twelve, both now and historically. For one thing, I’m very happy with the Quorum’s growing internationalization. Among its members are a German, a Brazilian, a Briton, and a Frenchman — at least two speakers of German (one native), two speakers of French (one native),... Read more
“Church Issues Statement Following Tragedy in Australia” For what it’s worth, my wife and I know the area just a bit. I’ve been there a few times. I believe that we’ve walked across the specific bridge from which the two gunmen were firing. I was, sadly, not at all surprised to learn that the shooters at Bondi Beach bear Muslim names, but I was very pleased to discover that the heroic man who disarmed one of them is named... Read more
This year’s Jewish festival of Hanukkah begins tomorrow evening, Sunday evening, 14 December 2025, and continues through Monday, 22 December 2025. I’m hoping to find our menorah and set it up between now and tomorrow night. Seriously. (I like Passover, too, and have led several seders. They’re great teaching tools.) How much do you know about the holiday? It’s actually rather interesting: The Associated Press: “What to know about Hanukkah and how it’s celebrated” The Jerusalem Post: “Hanukkah miracle: Israel... Read more
This new article went up today in Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship: “Irregular Kings and Precious Things: Viewing Nephi and Joseph Smith through the Lens of Ancient Near Eastern Kingship,” written by Noel Hudson: Abstract: Political legitimacy is a key concept related to the exercise of political power. Legitimacy was especially critical for “irregular kings,” so named because they were not automatically legitimated by the existing political structure. There are many examples of apologetics from... Read more
I wrote the Christmas letter below for the Interpreter Foundation’s volunteers and donors. It went out two or three days ago, and I think that sharing it here might now be appropriate: Dear friends: We’re in the thick of the Christmas season. It can be a hectic time of the year, but it’s also a wonderful occasion, if we handle it well, to think about the things that matter most to us, including family and the unspeakably good news... Read more
Here are a couple of intriguing documented “last words”: On his deathbed, the inventor Thomas Edison (1847-1931) — who, for whatever it’s worth, is thought to have been a deist who rejected common orthodox Christian notions of a personal God — is reported to have said, just before he went silent, “It is very beautiful over there.” The final words spoken by Steve Jobs (1955-2011) were reported by his sister, Patty, who had been by his bedside, in the... Read more
We had lunch today at The Farmhouse at Roger’s Gardens, here in Newport Beach. It’s a tradition for us now, of several years’ standing, though it doesn’t go back to my time with my parents. Instead, it was our late neighbor and friend Melanie Bastian who introduced my wife to it. And we’ve loved the place ever since. My zealous critics over at the Peterson Obsession Board will have already guessed at the truth, so I might as well... Read more
Well, at 3:30 PM ET on 27 December, the BYU football team will face Georgia Tech in the 2025 Pop-Tarts Bowl, in Orlando, Florida. Given the name of the bowl game, it’s reasonable to assume that the half-time show will be headlined by the cast of Secret Lives of Mormon Wives. And, after all, why not? They seem to be everywhere else these days. (See this, for example, from the New York Times via the Salt Lake Tribune: “Mormon... Read more
I’ve just begun looking at a book by Michel-Yves Bolloré and Olivier Bonnassies that is entitled (in English) God: The Science, The Evidence: The Dawn of a Revolution. I’m told that, in its original French edition, it has been a bestseller. Early in the book — which is roughly as far as I’ve gotten so far — the authors offer a brief but, I think, usefully clarifying discussion of “evidence” and “proof.” Absolute proof, they say, is — or... Read more
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