It’s time for me to begin extracting notes from certain Islam-related books in order to move forward with a substantial and much-delayed writing project of mine. I begin with Gilles Kepel, Jihad: The Trail of Political Islam, translated by Anthony F. Roberts (Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press, Harvard University Press, 2002). At the time of writing, Gilles Kepel was Professor of Middle East Studies at the Institute for Political Studies in Paris. I start with an insightful passage... Read more
A preliminary partial draft of one of my manuscripts-in-progress: In 1848, the year before he died, Oliver Cowdery received rebaptism into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at Kanesville, Iowa. “I feel that I can honorably return,” he told the high council there. “I have sustained an honorable character before the world during my absence from you. This though a small matter with you, is of vast importance.”[1] Before an audience of approximately two thousand,... Read more
Matthew Wheeler kindly called my attention to this item: “Malaysia’s Queen is cooking for frontline workers during the coronavirus outbreak: She’s treating hospital workers to a well earned meal” Doug Ealy called this one to my notice: “Israel delivers 3,000 more COVID-19 test kits and 50,000 masks to Palestinian Authority” *** I’ve shared this favorite passage from the Qur’an on several prior occasions, but it occurs to me to share it yet again: ... Read more
Up now on the website of the Interpreter Foundation: “Teachings and Testimony of the First Vision: Pure Apostolic Witness and Testimony of the First Vision”: Part 20 of a Series Compiled by Dennis B. Horne Hales Swift: “The Gospel of Jesus Christ in the Words of Jesus (3 Nephi 27)” A Video Supplement for Come, Follow Me Book of Mormon Lesson 14: “He Shall Rise … with Healing in His Wings” (Easter) Jonn Claybaugh: Come, Follow Me — Study... Read more
Yes, I’m enough of a troglodyte to have read Jonathan Wells, The Politically Incorrect Guide to Darwinism and Intelligent Design (Washington DC: Regnery, 2006). Jonathan Wells is a Senior Fellow at the Discovery Institute in Washington. He earned a Ph.D. in religious studies at Yale University with a focus on historical reactions to Darwinism, and then proceeded to earn a second Ph.D. in molecular and cell biology from the University of California at Berkeley. Here is a passage... Read more
Herewith, I offer two additional passages — reports from actual “experiencers” — that I’ve extracted from J. Steve Miller, Near-Death Experiences As Evidences for the Existence of God and Heaven: A Brief Introduction in Plain Language (Acworth, GA: Wisdom Creek Press, 2012): I saw a bright light, and on my way there I heard beautiful music and I saw colors I’d never seen before. The light . . . was of a kind that I’d never seen... Read more
My friend and former FARMS colleague Matt Roper has shared this prescient passage from a prayer that was given roughly 127 years ago by President Wilford Woodruff of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. With the temples all closed during the coronavirus contagion and with the Salt Lake Temple specifically closed for seismic retrofitting, President Woodruff’s prayer seems almost eerily appropriate: “Heavenly Father, when Thy people shall not have the opportunity of entering this holy... Read more
In this genuinely weird time of lock-downs and social distancing, rising unemployment and wildly fluctuating markets, we’re rightly most concerned about the lives that the coronavirus contagion threatens. But there are other victims, including those whose social and mental health have been put at risk by the countermeasures that we’re all taking. And charities, too, are suffering. As donors see their wealth shrinking, they are understandably less inclined to contribute to charitable causes — and especially to... Read more
As Messala said to Ben Hur, “It goes on, Judah. It goes on.” Here are two new items that have appeared today on the website of the Interpreter Foundation: In God’s Image and Likeness 2: Enoch, Noah, and the Tower of Babel: Genesis 7: The Flood Part of our book chapter reprint series, this article originally appeared in In God’s Image and Likeness 2: Enoch, Noah, and the Tower of Babel (2014) by Jeffrey M. Bradshaw and David J.... Read more
Here are a couple of additional passages that I’ve marked in Bruce Rosenblum and Fred Kuttner, Quantum Enigma: Physics Encounters Consciousness, 2d ed. (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2011): The first is about Albert Einstein: [B]ack in 1935 he had startled the developers of quantum theory by pointing out that the theory required an observation at one place to instantaneously influence what happened far away without involving any physical force. He derided this as... Read more
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In