“The Light of Christmas”

Last updated on: December 23, 2021 at 9:41 pm By Dan Peterson

*** Interpreter Radio Show — November 28, 2021 The 28 November 2021 broadcast of the Interpreter Radio Show, which featured Mark Johnson, Matthew Bowen, and Kerry Muhlestein, has been purified from commercial and other interruptions, archived, and, now, made available to the general public at absolutely no charge. In the first hour of this episode, Brothers Johnson, Bowen, and Muhlestein discussed new books on Abraham, Moses, and Isaiah. The second portion of the show, by contrast, was... Read more

“This is My Work and My Glory”

Last updated on: December 23, 2021 at 9:43 pm By Dan Peterson

*** I failed to mention that some new pieces went up yesterday on the website of the Interpreter Foundation. Here they are: Nibley Lectures: Come, Follow Me Old Testament Lesson 1 “This Is My Work and My Glory”: Moses 1; Abraham 3 During the Winter Semester of 1986 at Brigham Young University, Dr. Hugh W. Nibley, a professor emeritus of ancient scripture at BYU, presented a series of twenty-six lectures to an Honors class on The... Read more

“Conspiring men in the last days”

Last updated on: December 22, 2021 at 7:43 am By Dan Peterson

*** As we’ve often done when we’ve been here in the Richmond area, we’ve driven past a huge Philip Morris production facility at least twice each day. Right now, it’s brightly lit up with Christmas ornaments and Christmas trees; its six prominent towers are illuminated in alternating red and green light. Merry Christmas! I’ve long wondered, though, about cigarette companies. What would it be like to work in an industry of which the product, if used... Read more

“The Struggle for Survival”

Last updated on: December 21, 2021 at 9:44 pm By Dan Peterson

In scattered moments at the beginning of the day and at its end, I’ve been reading a condensed version of Churchill — Der Kampf ums Überleben 1940/65, which is a German translation of Winston Churchill –The Struggle for Survival 1940-1965, which (in its turn) is allegedly (though somewhat controversially) based on the diary of Lord Moran (Sir Charles Wilson), his personal physician. It offers an interesting perspective on Churchill and the Second World War. I’ve marked just a... Read more

An example of the witness of ancient texts for modern scripture

Last updated on: December 20, 2021 at 9:24 pm By Dan Peterson

*** A new “pre-print” has appeared on the website of the Interpreter Foundation: Enoch and the Gathering of Zion: The Witness of Ancient Texts for Modern Scripture Bradshaw, Jeffrey M. Enoch and the Gathering of Zion: The Witness of Ancient Texts for Modern Scripture. Orem, Springville, and Salt Lake City, UT: The Interpreter Foundation, Book of Mormon Central, and Eborn Books, 2021. https://interpreterfoundation.org/books/enoch-and-the-gathering-of-zion/. Have a look at it. There’s still time to get a copy of the... Read more

In which a vocal “Heartlander” compares me to Satan

Last updated on: December 20, 2021 at 9:16 pm By Dan Peterson

*** Some who accept the common political spectrum that puts Communists on the left and Nazis on the right like to point to the fact that the two extremes often come to resemble each other. (It’s partly for reason of precisely that resemblance that I’ve never accepted the traditional left/right spectrum, although that’s a matter for another discussion.) Anyway, I’ve just been alerted to yet another area where seemingly opposing positions appear to converge: “Jonathan... Read more

“Religious Americans Less Likely to Divorce”

Last updated on: December 20, 2021 at 9:29 pm By Dan Peterson

*** I found this item in the Christopher Hitchens Memorial “How Religion Poisons Everything” File©, and thought that some here might find it delectably horrifying: “Research: Religious Americans Less Likely to Divorce: Recent data suggests that faithful young adults can marry in their 20s without increasing the risk of separation.” One noteworthy fact that is mentioned in passing in the article is this: More than 70 percent of American marriages are preceded by cohabitation. Does... Read more

“Ask the Egyptologist” — A Virtual Fireside with John Gee

Last updated on: December 20, 2021 at 9:38 pm By Dan Peterson

*** Back on 1 December, Scott Gordon sat down with Dr. John Gee to interview him. That interview was accessible live to “Sustaining Members” of FAIR. It has now, however, been made more generally available and at no charge: “”Ask the Egyptologist” – Virtual fireside with John Gee” I’m impressed that John was willing to do this interview so soon after our return from the Interpreter Foundation’s “Ultimate Egypt” tour. We had just returned fairly... Read more

“And the war came.”

Last updated on: December 18, 2021 at 8:10 pm By Dan Peterson

*** This was another day when things didn’t go even remotely according to plan, but it turned out to be a good one anyhow. We spent most of it walking around the pool at the western end of the National Mall. We visited the memorials to the Korean War, the Second World War, and the Vietnam War. Especially looking at all the names on the Vietnam wall, it’s impossible not to think of the lives cut short,... Read more

Still thinking about Arlington, and about Christ

Last updated on: December 21, 2021 at 9:46 pm By Dan Peterson

*** Yesterday’s visit to Arlington National Cemetery was a substitute for what we had thought we would be doing. Plans changed. But it was both interesting and meaningful. Arlington is replete with former presidents, generals, admirals, justices of the Supreme Court, senators, secretaries of State and Defense, and other dignitaries. It’s a class on American history. But it also, iconically, features row after row after row of virtually identical white headstones that mark the final earthly... Read more