“Answering New Atheism and Seeking a Sure Knowledge of God”

Last updated on: November 28, 2019 at 7:17 pm By Dan Peterson

I would like to call your attention to a few things from the Interpreter Foundation Science & Mormonism Series 1: Cosmos, Earth, and Man: Answering New Atheism and Seeking a Sure Knowledge of God Part of our book chapter reprint series, this article by Amy L. Williams originally appeared in Science & Mormonism Series 1: Cosmos, Earth, and Man (2016). Abstract: This article describes and counters the arguments of the “New Atheism,” a loose movement that some have characterized as espousing... Read more

George Washington, and “Gratitude for the Dirt Beneath Our Feet”

Last updated on: November 28, 2019 at 7:19 pm By Dan Peterson

Two weeks ago, I published an article in the Deseret News with the approaching Thanksgiving holiday in mind. It was the first part of a two-column ensemble: “The miracle of Earth’s atmosphere design and the air we breathe: As the Thanksgiving holiday draws near, there is much for us to be thankful for — including the very air that we breathe” And today, on Thanksgiving Day itself, I complete the pair: “Gratitude for the dirt beneath... Read more

Confusing scientism with science?

Last updated on: November 27, 2019 at 9:21 pm By Dan Peterson

I continue here with another passage that I’ve extracted, for my notes, from Ian Hutchinson, who is a professor of Nuclear Science and Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) with a primary interest in plasma physics. It occurs in his book Monopolizing Knowledge: A Scientist Refutes Religion-Denying, Reason-Destroying Scientism [Belmont, MA: Fias Publishing, 2011]). First, though, a bit of background: Most scientists — there surely aren’t too many exceptions, if there are any at all — haven’t taken kindly... Read more

Lincoln’s Original Thanksgiving Proclamation

Last updated on: November 27, 2019 at 6:44 pm By Dan Peterson

This is the proclamation that set the precedent for America’s now-longstanding tradition of a national day of Thanksgiving: Washington, D.C. October 3, 1863 By the President of the United States of America. A Proclamation. The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been... Read more

“The Lost 116 Pages: Reconstructing the Book of Mormon’s Missing Stories”

Last updated on: November 27, 2019 at 5:05 pm By Dan Peterson

I would like to call your attention to a remarkable new book, which is now available on Kindle and which will shortly appear in hard copy: Don Bradley, The Lost 116 Pages: Reconstructing the Book of Mormon’s Missing Stories Here’s the book description that appears on the publisher’s website: On a summer day in 1828, Book of Mormon scribe and witness Martin Harris was emptying drawers, upending furniture, and ripping apart mattresses as he desperately... Read more

Some expressions of scientific humility

Last updated on: November 27, 2019 at 11:57 pm By Dan Peterson

Here are some brief quotations from Chris Impey, University Distinguished Professor and Deputy Head of the Department of Astronomy at the University of Arizona: “The two main ingredients of our universe, dark matter and dark energy, are still enigmatic . . . ” (x) (In this context, see my 2015 Deseret News column “Materialism isn’t what it used to be.”) “. . . cosmologists who reconstruct cosmic history from slender shards of evidence, some of whom... Read more

My encounter with Iran’s foreign minister

Last updated on: November 27, 2019 at 11:58 pm By Dan Peterson

The last thing that we did before heading to John Wayne Airport this afternoon was to take in a session at the Newport Beach California Temple. It was especially nice because we ran into long-time friends there. One, who was there early for his service as an ordinance worker, was actually in the session with us and sat next to me. I’ve known him since I was a teenager; he was, if I’m not mistaken, my priests quorum... Read more

From nearly a decade ago

Last updated on: November 27, 2019 at 11:59 pm By Dan Peterson

This was my Thanksgiving Day column in the Deseret News for 2010: Most modern Americans are so far removed from farming—we get our milk from cartons, our meat neatly packaged at the grocery store, our grains in cereal boxes, our cranberries in cans—that we easily forget the agricultural roots of Thanksgiving Day. But Thanksgiving is a harvest festival, and similar celebrations of bounteous crops (always an uncertainty) have occurred for millennia in such places as Korea, India,... Read more

Angelic choirs and Palestinian shepherds

Last updated on: November 28, 2019 at 7:43 pm By Dan Peterson

On Sunday, after attending sacrament meeting at the Newport Hills Ward, my wife and I and our friends drove to the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum in Yorba Linda, where we participated in a sing-along program of Handel’s Messiah. Every time I hear the oratorio, and perhaps most of all when I try to sing it or to sing along with it, I’m stunned once again by its genius. On composing the great “Hallelujah Chorus” from... Read more

“There does seem to be something special about science”

Last updated on: November 28, 2019 at 7:45 pm By Dan Peterson

I share a passage from Ian Hutchinson, Monopolizing Knowledge: A Scientist Refutes Religion-Denying, Reason-Destroying Scientism (Belmont, MA: Fias Publishing, 2011). Dr. Hutchinson is a professor of Nuclear Science and Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), with a primary interest in plasma physics: There does seem to be something special about science, which enables it to arrive at knowledge that is uniquely persuasive and reliable. That is of course a reason for the high prestige of science in our culture.... Read more