Geology and Third Nephi (13): “Whole Face of Land Changed” (Part Two)

Last updated on: March 8, 2020 at 11:52 pm By Dan Peterson

Yup. Here’s another set of notes drawn mostly from 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): After a violent eruption, the volcano and the area surrounding it often appear completely foreign. The volcano itself may have changed from a towering, symmetrical peak to a blackened stump, stripped of foliage and unrecognizable as the mountain it used to be. Local officials who went to investigate... Read more

A democratic salvation

Last updated on: March 8, 2020 at 11:58 pm By Dan Peterson

A recurring theme in the texts that we’ve been reading in my Islamic philosophy class — particularly, I think, in the Faṣl al-Maqāl (“The Decisive Treatise”) of Ibn Rushd and in Ibn Ṭufayl’s Ḥayy ibn Yaqẓān (“Alive, Son of Awake”) — is the notion that the real theological and philosophical truth should be restricted only to the elite and that it should be carefully and deliberately withheld from people unqualified by their (presumably inferior) natures from being able to deal with... Read more

Geology and Third Nephi (12): “Whole Face of Land Changed” (Part One)

Last updated on: March 7, 2020 at 10:37 pm By Dan Peterson

I’m plugging on, posting another set of notes drawn mostly — today, entirely — from 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): Dr. Kowallis points out, quite correctly in my judgment, that we would be wrong to read 3 Nephi as saying that the landscape was literally totally and fundamentally transformed. A . . . careful reading makes it obvious that the basic... Read more

Why I object to the word “homophobia” (conclusion)

Last updated on: March 7, 2020 at 10:33 pm By Dan Peterson

The term homophobia is modeled upon familar predecessors such as agoraphobia, acrophobia, arachnophobia, and claustrophobia. I’ll take them in turn: The word agoraphobia is from the Greek ἀγορά (agorā́), which refers to a “public square,” a “public space,” or a “market,” and φοβία (phobía), which means “fear.” It denotes an extreme, irrational terror of public spaces. The term acrophobia is from the Greek ἄκρον (ákron), meaning “peak,” “summit,” or “edge,” and φοβία (phobía), which, again, means “fear.” As... Read more

Why I object to the word “homophobia” (introduction)

Last updated on: March 7, 2020 at 10:30 pm By Dan Peterson

Responding to one of my recent posts on the general issue of BYU and homosexuals, a critic used the word homophobia to characterize those of us who don’t share his views. I replied that homophobia is “a nonsense word.” Now, why would I say such a thing? I knew when I said it that I would need to explain myself. So here goes: First of all, anybody curious about my comment should probably understand... Read more

20 March 2020

Last updated on: March 6, 2020 at 10:22 pm By Dan Peterson

I recently received a note from Lucy Goodman, a former student in my class on the Humanities of Islam. Still a university student, she is also currently the Operations Coordinator for Camp Kesem in Utah Valley, which she explains below. I post this selection from her note with her permission: Outside of school, I am also a volunteer with Camp Kesem in Utah Valley. Since 2008, we have been hosting a free summer camp for children affected... Read more

Geology and Third Nephi (11): Cities Burned, Buried, and Drowned (Part Three)

Last updated on: March 6, 2020 at 10:25 pm By Dan Peterson

I’m still going, still posting notes principally drawn from an article that was written by my longtime friend Bart Kowallis about the natural cataclysm described in the Book of Mormon as having occurred in the New World at the death of Christ: 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): Dr. Kowallis observes that, in addition to burial by falling ash and burial by... Read more

“The Character and Knowledge of Mary, the Mother of Christ”

Last updated on: March 6, 2020 at 10:24 pm By Dan Peterson

A new article has appeared — surprise! — in Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship. It’s by A. Keith Thompson: “The Character and Knowledge of Mary, the Mother of Christ” Abstract: The Virgin Mary is arguably the archetype of the virtuous woman and even the divine feminine on earth, but we know very little about her. She is remembered in Christianity in a variety of ways including with cathedrals built in her honor. Though many... Read more

“Remain faithful to the end, and everything will be all right.”

Last updated on: March 5, 2020 at 10:11 pm By Dan Peterson

Here is a file that has newly been posted on the website of the Interpreter Foundation: Interpreter Radio Show — March 1, 2020 The 1 March 2020 broadcast of the Interpreter Radio Show — edited to remove commercial breaks — has been archived and is now available at no charge for your listening pleasure. The hosts for this installment of the weekly program were Neal Rappleye, Jasmine Rappleye, and Hales Swift. In this episode, they discuss current... Read more

On a current controversy involving BYU (2)

Last updated on: March 5, 2020 at 10:13 pm By Dan Peterson

Continuing from the immediately previous blog entry: 6. The announcement of the revision of the Honor Code was not well handled. It left many people in a state of perplexity and uncertainty. 7. It’s understandable that some concluded that public expressions of same-sex attraction would now be welcomed on the BYU campus. 8. Those drawing that conclusion should not have been surprised to see a “correction” from the Church and the University. 9. The fundamental problem is... Read more