“’Somebody Wrote It:’ The Book of Mormon’s Missionary Message to a 21st-Century World”

Last updated on: January 17, 2020 at 11:40 pm By Dan Peterson

Quelle surprise! It’s Friday, and a new article has appeared in Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship. This one is by Jim Bennett: “’Somebody Wrote It:’ The Book of Mormon’s Missionary Message to a 21st-Century World” Abstract: Nathan Oman’s “Welding Another Link in Wonder’s Chain: The Task of Latter-day Saint Intellectuals in the Church’s Third Century” wisely called for “new language in which to celebrate the Restoration.” That new language can be found in understanding the... Read more

“‘Hard’ Evidence of Ancient American Horses” (Part 1)

Last updated on: January 17, 2020 at 11:41 pm By Dan Peterson

I’ve begun to extract notes from an article about Pre-Columbian horses in the Americas that appeared in 2015: Daniel Johnson, “‘Hard’ Evidence of Ancient American Horses,” BYU Studies Quarterly 54/3 (2015). It will probably take me several blog entries to complete the extraction. I thought that some here might find my notes (and potentially the article itself) of interest. First of all, the author, Daniel Johnson, states the problem: The suggestion of horses and chariots in... Read more

“Dating the Departure of Lehi from Jerusalem”

Last updated on: January 17, 2020 at 11:43 pm By Dan Peterson

I would like to note here an article by a BYU colleague and longtime friend who has accumulated extensive experience over the course of more than three and a half decades of living and excavating pretty much annually in the Holy Land — Jeffrey Chadwick, “Dating the Departure of Lehi from Jerusalem,” BYU Studies Quarterly 57/2 (2018): 6-51. Based on a meticulous reading of the relevant passages in both 1 Nephi and the Old Testament as well as... Read more

“Cyrus the Great and Persian control of the Middle East”

Last updated on: January 17, 2020 at 11:47 pm By Dan Peterson

My most recent column for the Deseret News appeared today. It’s about one of the greatest figures not only in Iranian history but in human history as a whole: “Cyrus the Great and Persian control of the Middle East” Cyrus’ empire is the first known multiethnic, multicultural, multilingual and multireligious state. Wisely, he respected local cultural, religious and administrative practices, which gained him considerable support from the subjects of his vast domain. *** I’m more than a... Read more

Underdetermination and Games

Last updated on: January 17, 2020 at 11:49 pm By Dan Peterson

There is, perhaps, some hope for me: “‘Remarkable’ Blood Flow Discovery Could Pave the Way to New Treatments for Dementia and Migraines” Alas, though, things still look fairly grim in Oceania: “Australian fires have incinerated the habitats of up to 100 threatened species: Scientists warn of an ecological catastrophe as crucial habitats of rare plants and animals burn” But not entirely so: “World’s Last Known ‘Dinosaur Trees’ Saved From Australian Bushfires Thanks to Determined... Read more

From the Skousen presentation (2)

Last updated on: January 15, 2020 at 11:11 pm By Dan Peterson

Learn More About Parts 5 and 6 of Volume 3 of the Critical Text Project of the Book of Mormon [cont.] The first chapter of part 6 will reverse the common belief among LDS people that spelling had not yet been standardized when the Book of Mormon was published in 1830. Although in the early 1800s individuals showed great variety in spelling in their own writing, typesetters had been using an informally agreed upon spelling standard for... Read more

From the Skousen presentation (1)

Last updated on: January 15, 2020 at 11:13 pm By Dan Peterson

These notes, prepared by Royal Skousen for publication elsewhere, summarize several of the highpoints of the excellent presentation that he delivered in the Hinckley Center at BYU this evening: Learn More About Parts 5 and 6 of Volume 3 of the Critical Text Project of the Book of Mormon About these new publications: The King James Quotations in the Book of Mormon (KJQ), 2019 Royal Skousen, with the collaboration of Stanford Carmack In this part 5 of volume... Read more

Tonight is the Night

Last updated on: January 15, 2020 at 11:14 pm By Dan Peterson

If you’re within a reasonable distance, you might want to attend this no-admission-charge event on the Provo campus of Brigham Young University (for which I’m slated to be the moderator): The History of the Text of the Book of Mormon A Presentation on Parts 5 and 6 of Volume 3 of the Critical Text Project of the Book of Mormon by Royal Skousen with an Introduction by Stanford Carmack Part 5 The King James Quotations in the Book... Read more

On Perfection

Last updated on: January 15, 2020 at 11:17 pm By Dan Peterson

I published this column in the Deseret News back in 2012: Beginning with my mission to Switzerland, I’ve sometimes encountered a response to Latter-day Saint claims of additional scripture that asks, rhetorically, “We’re unable to live up to what we already have in the Bible, so what good would it do us to have more?” But this seems a pretty flimsy reason for dismissing the possibility, at least, of further revelation. After all, most of us haven’t yet... Read more

“1917”

Last updated on: January 15, 2020 at 11:15 pm By Dan Peterson

Therefore, renounce war and proclaim peace, and seek diligently to turn the hearts of the children to their fathers, and the hearts of the fathers to the children; And again, the hearts of the Jews unto the prophets, and the prophets unto the Jews; lest I come and smite the whole earth with a curse, and all flesh be consumed before me. (Doctrine and Covenants 98:16-17) We went to see 1917 tonight. I’m not sure that... Read more