I pick up here with a brief allusion to the story that I told yesterday (Thursday): Several observations can be made about this story. First of all, like the story before it, it illustrates the power of the pre-Islamic Arabian poet. But it also says a great deal about primitive Arab notions of where poetry comes from. The image of Jarir writhing upon his bed, and the old woman’s judgment that he was mad, are extremely significant.... Read more
Shortly before our departure for Colorado, a good friend — formerly our branch president in Cairo and, upon his retirement from government service in many parts of the world, an Arabic teacher in my department at BYU — brought over a gift that he and his family quite rightly knew that I would love. It bears the title s Nöi Teschtamänt Züritüütsch — “The New Testament in Zürich German [Dialect]” — with the subtitle us em Griechische übersetzt... Read more
When we were out and about along the Blue River near Breckenridge, Colorado, the other day, this passage in Felicie Williams and Halka Chronic, Roadside Geology of Colorado, 3rd ed. (Missoula, MT: Mountain Press Publishing Company, 2014) struck me: Glaciers flowing down this valley and its side canyons scoured the mountain walls, exposing and grinding up gold-bearing veins. Swift mountain streams, able to transport heavy loads, carried the glacial debris downhill, rounding its boulders and cobbles, sorting... Read more
But first, the following item was called to my notice by a high school friend, who is married to a Ukrainian Orthodox priest. On 24 July 2020, the magnificent church of Hagia Sophia — for centuries the cathedral of Constantinople and the largest church in the world, then an Ottoman mosque and then a museum for the past century — again became a mosque. From what I can tell, support for President Erdogan’s regrettable decision is far from... Read more
New materials from the Interpreter Foundation: Interpreter Radio Show — July 26, 2020 Shorn of commercial breaks, the 26 July 2020 installment of the Interpreter Radio Show is now available online at no charge. The participants that evening were Steve Densley, Mark Johnson, and Matthew Bowen. In this episode, they interviewed Dr. Jeffrey Bradshaw about his substantial work with the Book of Moses, including recent and upcoming publications. Audio Roundtable: Come, Follow Me Book of Mormon Lesson 31 “Stand Fast... Read more
On our way home this afternoon, we stopped by the fossil quarry at Dinosaur National Monument, not far from Vernal, Utah. Approximately 1,500 dinosaur bones are embedded in a “wall” there in the Quarry Exhibit Hall. Remains of various species are represented, including the thirty- to forty-foot-tall Allosaurus, dominant predator of its era; the giant sauropods Apatosaurus, Camarasaurus, and Diplodocus; and Stegosaurus. (Camarasaurus is the most common dinosaur species found in the park.) . The “wall” is a layer of rock... Read more
A couple of stories will make clear the power that poets were thought to enjoy [among the ancient, pre-Islamic Arabs]. The first concerns a man by the name of Maymun ibn Qays, who is generally known by the name of al-Asha. He was a professional troubadour, to borrow a later term. He traveled from one end of the Arabian Peninsula to the other, harp in hand, singing the praises of those wise enough to reward him. He was... Read more
We have been shocked and disheartened to see the amount of damage that has been done to the forests here in Colorado by bark beetles. We saw it in and around Rocky Mountain National Park and, today, especially in the area up by Rabbit Ears Pass, especially on the western side. In some areas, well over 50% of the trees appear to be dead. We have been horrified, previously, to see similar levels of destruction in forests in... Read more
Many years ago, at the annual meeting of the Evangelical Philosophical Society in Denver, Colorado in November 2001, I participated in a debate focused, officially anyway, on creation ex nihilo, cosmology, and trinitarianism. Moderated by Richard J. Mouw (president of Fuller Theological Seminary at the time), the three-hour discussion involved not only me but Blake T. Ostler (Salt Lake City), Hollis T. Johnson (Indiana University), and David L. Paulsen and Stephen D. Ricks (both, like me, affiliated with Brigham... Read more
Poetry was the sole medium of literary expression in pre-Islamic Arabia. In a real sense, it was the only form of art. This is related at least partially to the high Semitic reverence for the word that we’ve already mentioned. It’s also undoubtedly related to the fact that nomads, constantly on the brink of starvation and always on the move, are hardly likely to produce great architecture or monumental sculpture. They need to be able to carry their... Read more
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