“Nephite Daykeepers: Ritual Specialists in Mesoamerica and the Book of Mormon”

Last updated on: July 30, 2020 at 10:37 pm By Dan Peterson

New on the website of the Interpreter Foundation, a piece by Mark Alan Wright: “Nephite Daykeepers: Ritual Specialists in Mesoamerica and the Book of Mormon” Abstract: Mark Alan Wright describes a common type of ritual specialist among the Maya called a “daykeeper.” He discusses similarities and differences with descriptions of ritual specialists in the Book of Mormon, including those who used the Urim and Thummim, performed rituals of healing, experienced near-death episodes at the inauguration of their calling,... Read more

Revision 2.10 “The epitome of pre-Islamic Arabian generosity”

Last updated on: July 30, 2020 at 10:34 pm By Dan Peterson

Closely related to the obligations felt by a host toward his guests is the notion of generosity, which was one of the leading virtues of a pre-Islamic Arabian hero. And, of all those heroes, there’s one whose name became virtually synonymous in subsequent Arab tradition with the idea of generosity—Hatim of Tayyi. He is once reputed to have said to his wife Mawiyya, The guest’s slave am I, it’s true, as long as he stays with me, / Although... Read more

In support of “Heart of Africa”

Last updated on: July 30, 2020 at 10:43 pm By Dan Peterson

I was heartbroken at what happened to the Latter-day Saint film Heart of Africa upon its debut on 13 March 2020. That was the very day — Friday the thirteenth, no less — on which BYU classes were canceled for the first time because of the surging coronavirus pandemic. (I remember the date very well, obviously, because it affected me directly and personally.) Much else throughout Utah and across the United States more generally shut down that day... Read more

“A superbly structured universe where mind is an integral component”

Last updated on: July 28, 2020 at 10:05 pm By Dan Peterson

The British paleontologist Simon Conway Morris (1951-) established his international reputation on the basis of his studies of the fossilized fauna of the Burgess Shale and, not coincidentally, of the so-called “Cambrian Explosion.” (The Burgess Shale is located in the British Columbian portion of the Canadian Rockies.) Stephen Jay Gould’s bestselling 1989 book Wonderful Life made him relatively famous among non-specialists. However, in his own popular book on the subject, The Crucible of Creation (1998), he criticized Gould’s interpretation of his work. ... Read more

Revision 2.9. “Fidelity to One’s Promises in Ancient Arabia (and the Book of Mormon!)”

Last updated on: July 28, 2020 at 10:03 pm By Dan Peterson

As in the case of Shanfara, the devotion to one’s oath among these ancient Arabians is striking. They were a people who saw words themselves as sacred, as containing a power of their own, independent of the intentions of those who uttered them. Such a notion wasn’t uncommon among pre-modern peoples. (We ourselves still speak of “casting a spell,” an expression that seems to reflect a similar past belief in the literal power of words themselves.) The story... Read more

“Death is nothing more than a doorway, something you walk through.”

Last updated on: July 28, 2020 at 10:01 pm By Dan Peterson

The birth of contemporary interest in near-death experiences is often credited to Raymond Moody’s 1975 bestseller, Life After Life.. In a sense, though, it was the near-death experience of the twenty-year-old soldier George Ritchie (1923-2007) during World War II that launched modern fascination with the subject. Ritchie went on to become a physician and a psychiatrist, not only in private practice (mostly in Virginia) but, at various times, as president of the Richmond Academy of General Practice, chairman of the Department of... Read more

“Sacred Time, Sacred Space, & Sacred Meaning”

Last updated on: July 25, 2020 at 8:56 pm By Dan Peterson

I’m. pleased to announce the appearance of a new book from the Interpreter Foundation, edited by Stephen D. Ricks and Jeffrey Mark Bradshaw and featuring articles by Matthew L. Bowen, Jeffrey M. Bradshaw, David Calabro, and Camille Fronk Olson: Sacred Time, Sacred Space, & Sacred Meaning: Proceedings of the Third Interpreter Matthew B. Brown Memorial Conference: “The Temple on Mount Zion,” 5 November 2016 And here’s something that you might also enjoy: Book of Moses Insights... Read more

Revision 2.8 “Shanfara of Azd, and friends”

Last updated on: July 25, 2020 at 8:47 pm By Dan Peterson

In my previous installment, I wrote about the pre-Islamic Arabian value of revenge, rather than charitable forgiveness. So we continue: The story of Shanfara, a poet and outlaw of the tribe of Azd, will also illustrate something of the ideal Arabian hero. The story is told that when he was just a young child, he was kidnapped by another tribe, known as the Banu Salaman. (Banu, here, means “sons [of].”) He was brought up among them and... Read more

“Galileo: Science vs. religion or truth vs. fiction?”

Last updated on: July 25, 2020 at 8:40 pm By Dan Peterson

The latest installment of my regular Deseret News column was actually published yesterday (Thursday): “Galileo: Science vs. religion or truth vs. fiction?: The intellectual situation surrounding Galileo’s case was rife with politics, and the battle lines were by no means clear cut” *** Sam LeFevre kindly brought this article to my attention: “Estimated County-Level Prevalence of Selected Underlying Medical Conditions Associated with Increased Risk for Severe COVID-19 Illness — United States, 2018” Summary What... Read more

“Moses 1 and the Apocalypse of Abraham: Twin Sons of Different Mothers?”

Last updated on: July 25, 2020 at 8:35 pm By Dan Peterson

A nicely illustrated new article appeared today at noon in Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship. Written by Jeffrey M. Bradshaw, David J. Larsen and Stephen T. Whitlock, it is entitled “Moses 1 and the Apocalypse of Abraham: Twin Sons of Different Mothers?” Abstract: This article highlights the striking resemblances between Moses 1 and a corresponding account from the Apocalypse of Abraham (ApAb), one of the earliest and most important Jewish texts describing heavenly ascent. Careful comparative analysis demonstrates a sustained sequence of... Read more