An article by Kevin L. Barney has just gone up on the website of the Interpreter Foundation. It will appear in Volume 39 of Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship: “Baptized for the Dead” Abstract: This thorough treatment of the mention of baptism for the dead in 1 Corinthians 15:29 gives a meticulous analysis of Paul’s Greek argument, and lays out the dozens (or perhaps hundreds) of theories that have been put forth with respect... Read more
Many out there will recognize the name of George Mitton, who has been a friend of mine for years now, and who has made many contributions, as both author and editor, to the Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies (FARMS); then to the pre-2012 Maxwell Institute; and, since its founding in 2012, to the Interpreter Foundation. Through those associations, I also came to know George’s wife. She passed away on Friday night after a lengthy period of... Read more
President Spencer W. Kimball used to speak of the thirteen Articles of Faith, encouraging members of the Church to memorize them so that they would have in their minds a simple and orderly outline of some of the basic teachings of the restored gospel. There is nothing in Islam that is precisely comparable to the Articles of Faith. But there exists a list of five essential Islamic practices—the so-called “Five Pillars of Islam”—that can serve for us something... Read more
This 2.5-minute-long video vividly introduces an astonishing fact: “The Mind-Blowing Mathematics of Sunflowers …From Scientific American Magazine on Their 175th Birthday” And even seemingly simple little animals still pose surprising puzzles: “High-Tech Tracking Reveals ‘Whole New Secret World of Birds’: A study of Kirtland’s warblers found that some continue exploring long distances even after they reach their breeding grounds” *** Some short notes from J. Steve Miller, Near-Death Experiences As Evidences for... Read more
In my experience, theistic anti-Mormonism is largely (though not entirely) a conservative Protestant or evangelical enterprise. (Secularist anti-Mormonism is increasingly visible and influential, but it’s another story completely.) There is some Catholic anti-Mormon activity; I picked up a little pamphlet attack the faith of the Latter-day Saints in the Colorado Rockies just a few weeks ago. In fact, I’ve even seen a Muslim anti-Mormon pamphlet. Still, it’s Protestants who are, by and large, the folks who set... Read more
Here are some notes from “Identification of a Regional Earthquake Fault Zone,” Chapter 10 of Jerry D. Grover, Jr., Geology of the Book of Mormon (2014), pages 139-148. (See this and further works by him and others at Brother Grover’s Book of Mormon Scientific and Linguistic Research site.). Brother Grover — who, incidentally, served from 1995 to 2007 as a member of the Utah County Commission — is a licensed Professional Structural and Civil Engineer and a licensed Professional Geologist, with... Read more
The sins that are likely to characterize the wealthy in a commercial society come in for particular attention in the Qur’an. For instance, believers are told to give just weight and full measure in their market and trade exchanges.[1] The Qur’an shows special solicitude for the treatment of orphans. Its admonitions resemble the principle in the epistle of James, that “pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in... Read more
It’s Friday and, accordingly, a new article has appeared in Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship. This one is by Dr. Matthew L. Bowen, of Brigham Young University – Hawaii: ““God Hath Taken Away His Plainness”: Some Notes on Jacob 4:14, Revelation, Canon, Covenant, and Law” Abstract: This article examines Jacob’s statement “God hath taken away his plainness from [the Jews]” (Jacob 4:14) as one of several scriptural texts employing language that revolves around the Deuteronomic canon... Read more
My attention was called some time back to a 2014 blog article titled “So just what do Mormons think about evolution?” According to this article, Latter-day Saints are among the least evolution-friendly religious groups in the United States. Recent discussions of Latter-day Saints and evolution prompt me to revisit that article. I have no reason to reject it, but I think that I would like to unpack things just a bit. The question from the Religious Landscape... Read more
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Revision 4.12 “The Treatment of Women”
In terms of their prospects for going to either heaven or hell, there is no distinction between men and women in Islam. “All human beings are equal,” the Prophet Muhammad taught, “equal as the teeth of a comb. There is no superiority of a white over a black nor of any male over the female.” “Men as well as women,” declares the Qur’an, “shall be rewarded for their labours.”[1] “The believers who do good works, whether men or... Read more