I know. I know. I already mentioned Es ist ein Ros entsprungen here a couple of weeks ago. But it’s so beautiful that I can’t simply omit it from this rundown of favorite Christmas pieces. I still vividly remember the exquisite thrill that went through me when, many years ago, I first heard it sung by a small Latter-day Saint branch choir in Interlaken, Switzerland. The sheer beauty of it entranced me. And it still does. I love the melody. But I... Read more
“Lift up your head and be of good cheer; for behold, the time is at hand, and on this night shall the sign be given, and on the morrow come I into the world, to show unto the world that I will fulfill all that which I have caused to be spoken by the mouth of my holy prophets” (3 Nephi 1:13). *** In this clip, Chanticleer performs what I, at least, consider to be one... Read more
Roughly a year before his death, we recorded a two-day interview with Richard Lloyd Anderson (9 May 1926 – 12 August 2018). Armed with a law degree from Harvard and a doctorate in ancient history from the University of California at Berkeley, Richard was a meticulous scholar who devoted a large portion of his life to the careful study and evaluation of the Witnesses to the Book of Mormon. (I consider his Investigating the Book of Mormon Witnesses... Read more
Among the glories of the Christmas season is its music. I would like to share here a few of my favorite pieces. First, though, please permit me to remind you, yet again, of the magnificent eighteen-minute video The Christ Child, produced by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It ranks very high, in my judgment, among all of the filmic depictions of the Christmas story that I have ever seen, and I recommend it very enthusiastically. ... Read more
Perhaps, had he not been born so close to the superholiday of Christmas, Joseph Smith’s birthday would have been widely commemorated among contemporary Latter-day Saints, more or less in the manner of, say, Pioneer Day. Perhaps. As it is, like a celestial object that’s positioned adjacent to the sun in the daytime sky, any thoughts of Joseph’s birth that might arise among members of the Restored Church are overwhelmed by the festival of Christ’s birth and the celebrations... Read more
I call to your attention two new items that have been posted on the website of the Interpreter Foundation: Audio Roundtable: Come, Follow Me Doctrine and Covenants Lesson 1 “Hearken, O Ye People” (D&C 1) This is an Interpreter Radio Roundtable for Come, Follow Me Doctrine and Covenants Lesson 1, “Hearken, O Ye People,” on D&C 1. The panelists for it were Steve Densley, Matthew Bowen, and Mark Johnson. This roundtable was extracted, freed from commercial and other interruptions, from the 22 November 2020... Read more
Two items were published on the website of the Interpreter Foundation today. The first, by David R. Seely, appears in Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship: ““A Prophet Like Moses” (Deuteronomy 18:15–18) in the Book of Mormon, the Bible, and the Dead Sea Scrolls” Abstract: David Seely provides a wide-ranging survey of interpretations of the prophecy in Deuteronomy 18:15–18 concerning “a prophet like unto Moses.” He examines relevant passages in the Book of... Read more
I’ve assembled links below to various Christmas-related columns that I’ve written over the past decade or so for the Deseret News. It occurred to me that someone out there might enjoy reading one of them. If nothing else, perhaps one of my handful of obsessive and implacable anonymous online critics will be able to find some additional redundant evidence in them of my mean-spirited mendacity, my hateful cruelty, and my unspeakable corruption: “What is the appeal of... Read more
But first, a new item appeared yesterday on the website of the Interpreter Foundation: “Book of Moses Essays #34: Moses 1 in Its Ancient Context: Moses in the Spirit World (Moses 1:1–8)” *** I’ve been very much enjoying Sheri Dew, Insights from a Prophet’s Life: Russell M. Nelson (Salt Lake City, Deseret Book, 2019), and I’ve decided to share a story from it, told on pages 68-72: A Brother Lyman, a stake patriarch who was... Read more
Don’t miss this important (and relevant) monument from the history of Israeli popular music: As the Center came under attack it was clearly the Church itself that was being assaulted. The Latter-day Saint claim that this was a university building, an academic facility, rather than a mission home or a church, was almost universally brushed aside as a smoke screen. Still, many people in and out of Israel rose to the defense. Mayor Kollek did not... Read more
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