*** I want to share with you the links to three articles from a prior number of Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship: Daniel C. Peterson, “Celebrating Exactitude, When It’s Appropriate” Abstract: It’s almost always better to be right than to be wrong, to be exact than to be sloppy. In scholarship generally and serious scriptural study specifically, it’s important to work toward precision in both interpretation and explanation. However, the Lord is fully... Read more
*** Two new pieces, both of them book reviews, went up today in Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship: “A Masterpiece on Resisting Our Impulses to Leave,” by Daniel Ortner Review of S. Michael Wilcox, Holding On: Impulses to Leave and Strategies to Stay (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2021). 128 pages. $11.99 (paperback). Abstract: In his latest book, S. Michael Wilcox has written a masterpiece on grappling with doubts and overcoming our impulses to leave the Church. Wilcox displays a refreshing... Read more
*** Flying eastward today, I watched and enjoyed the film Black Nativity, which I had never seen before. It’s based on a 1961 play by the famous Harlem Renaissance writer Langston Hughes (1901-1967). Originally released in late November of 2013, it really is a Christmas film. And, although not entirely unpredictable, it’s far more thought-provoking (and actually far more Christian) than the typical Lifetime or Hallmark Channel movie. I enjoyed it. I also read part of... Read more
*** Contrary to the reputation that’s been carefully cultivated for me in some circles over the past decade or two, I’ve never favored nor enjoyed no-holds-barred internet fisticuffs. Nor have I ever supported personal attacks. People who really know me, I think, will have no problem believing that, in fact, I’m very far from the image of the mean-spirited attack dog that some cherish of me. I do believe that frank disagreement and honest argument... Read more
*** Come, Follow Me — D&C Study and Teaching Helps: Lesson 52, December 20-December 26: Christmas (“The Living Christ”) Another piece kindly produced for the Interpreter Foundation by Jonn Claybaugh. Audio Roundtable: Come, Follow Me Doctrine and Covenants Lesson 52 “The Matchless Gift of God’s Divine Son”: Christmas The Interpreter Radio Roundtable for Come, Follow Me Doctrine and Covenants Lesson 52, “The Matchless Gift of God’s Divine Son” on Christmas features Terry Hutchinson, John Gee, and Kevin Christensen.... Read more
*** I’ve been hoping to find a nice uninterrupted period for reflection and writing. I intended to use it to write a little piece—inadequate though it would inevitably be —about my friend and long-time colleague John L. Sorenson, who died last week at the age of ninety-seven, only a few days after the passing of the Latter-day Saint Mesoamericanist V. Garth Norman. Obituary for John Leon Sorenson And here is the testimony that he wrote back... Read more
*** The Interpreter Foundation has now posted a video of an event that Deseret Book and Excel Entertainment sponsored in Provo on the evening of 14 October 2021: Deseret Book’s What is My Witness Event The gathering celebrated the release of the Interpreter Foundation’s dramatic film, Witnesses, on DVD and via streaming. Most though not quite all of the program was occupied by a conversation onstage led by Tammy Uzelac Hall, who hosts the Sunday on Monday podcast... Read more
*** An interesting new — very new — item was posted today on the website of the Interpreter Foundation: “The First Days and the Last Days: Commentary on Joseph Smith—Matthew” Please take a look! *** Just in time for Christmas and the beginning of the 2022 Old Testament Come Follow Me curriculum, two new books by Jeffrey M. Bradshaw: The First Days and the Last Days: A Verse-By-Verse Commentary on the Book of... Read more
Here are five articles from a previous number of Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship that you might find of interest: M. Steve Andersen, “The Practice and Meaning of Declaring Lineage in Patriarchal Blessings” Abstract: In this paper, I show that declarations of lineage in patriarchal blessings have, since the earliest days of the Restoration, evolved in terms of frequency of inclusion, which tribal lineages predominate, and understanding of the meaning of the declaration. I... Read more
*** We spent much of today up in Bountiful with my wife’s father, one of our sons, my brother- and sister-in-law, and a niece. It was nice to see them again and to catch up. We visit my father-in-law pretty much weekly, even taking our travels into account, but some of the other family members have been more elusive. So this was very nice. *** With the patchy and inadequate access to the internet that... Read more
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