I don’t know that this has any direct relevance to the claims of the Book of Mormon, but it does — at a minimum — illustrate how very much we still have to learn about the peopling of the Western hemisphere and how complex and multifold that process appears to have been: “Paleo-Mexican Skulls Found in Quintana Roo Show Unexpected Diversity: ‘Talking about the settlement of the Americas is like building a 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle with only about... Read more
Many wise sayings are attributed to ‘Ali b. Abi Talib (d. AD 661), the cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad and, eventually, the fourth Islamic caliph (and the figure around whom the Shi‘i form of Islam ultimately coalesced). I’ve selected a few of them for sharing here, in no particular order: “If you want to know someone’s character, examine the friends he sits with.” “There is no wealth like education and no poverty like ignorance.” ... Read more
To the surprise and considerable irritation of its most devoted critics, the Interpreter Foundation continues to produce, even in this time of official national emergency and international health and economic crisis. Here, for example, are two new items from Hales Swift: “Baptism Understood in Light of the Tree of Life Vision (2 Nephi 31)” A Video Supplement for Come, Follow Me Book of Mormon Lesson 10: “This Is the Way” (2 Nephi 31-33) “Cleansing One’s Garments (Jacob 1)”... Read more
Volcanoes have been on my mind of late. (Oddly, perhaps, when maybe I ought instead to be thinking about plagues.) That’s why, last night, I watched an interesting 31-minute YouTube item on “Krakatoa — Chronology — 416 AD to 2019.” I enjoyed it (if enjoyment is actually the right word) and found it quite informative. Perhaps you will, too: “Krakatoa — Chronology — 416 AD to 2019” This was interesting, as well: “Tambora vs. Krakatoa:... Read more
I’m taking the occasion, with his permission, to correct an error (regarding the date of the 2020 Temple on Mount Zion Conference) and to remedy an omission (regarding the submission deadline) in the call for papers that I received from my long-time friend and colleague (and former companion in the Switzerland Zürich Mission) Professor Stephen D. Ricks a couple of days ago and posted in this space. Once again, if you’re interested in presenting, we would enjoy receiving... Read more
Newly posted on the webpage of the Interpreter Foundation: In God’s Image and Likeness 2: Enoch, Noah, and the Tower of Babel: Moses 7: The City of Enoch 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. Larsen. Abstract: This chapter comments in detail on the prophecy of Enoch, and on his grand vision of eternity. In the... Read more
“President Nelson Gives a Message of Hope at This Troubled Time” *** Greg Smith, an invaluable contributor to the old FARMS Review and now to Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship and the Interpreter Foundation, happens also to be a physician up in Alberta, Canada. He is giving excellent counsel regarding COVID-19, the coronavirus disease, on his blog. Some of it is specific to his region in southern Alberta, but much of it... Read more
Today, writing from deep within Fortress Peterson, I conclude my slow-motion promenade through Bart J. Kowallis, “In the Thirty and Fourth Year: A Geologist’s View of the Great Destruction in 3 Nephi,” BYU Studies 37/3 (1997-1998): An explosive volcanic eruption can be an unimaginably terrifying experience. For instance, Professor Kowallis cites the words of the Roman writer Pliny the Younger (whose own father perished in the catastrophe) describing reactions to the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79: People... Read more
I continue to be struck by a quotation from then-Elder Russell M. Nelson that was, I believe, cited in the September 2014 issue of the Ensign: “We were born to die and we die to live,” he wrote back in 1992. “As seedlings of God, we barely blossom on earth; we fully flower in heaven.” This is one of the great arguments for the desirability of life after death. Not for its truth, of course — it’s... Read more
I offer, for your unlikely but possible interest, a passage from Michael Bonner, Jihad in Islamic History: Doctrines and Practice (Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2006): How were people expected to know that these words of Revelation were indeed of divine origin? One answer to the question was that the Prophet Muhammad, through whom the words came into the world, was a trustworthy man whose life and behavior conformed to established patterns of monotheist prophecy. The... Read more
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