In the seventies, eighties, and nineties of the last century of the previous millennium — putting it that way, quite accurate though the formulation is, makes it seem even longer ago than it actually was! — the most pressing and urgent challenges to the claims of the Restoration seemed to me to be coming from aggressive Protestant anti-Mormonism.  Accordingly, especially in its first years, the FARMS Review, which I founded and edited until its 2012 demise, devoted considerable... Read more

    For another purpose, I spent a while this morning updating the list of main publications produced by the Middle Eastern Texts Initiative, or METI, which I conceived and founded, and which I led (under various official titles, including “director” and “editor-in-chief,” through various administrative restructurings) until 2013, when I was forced by the then-new regime at the Maxwell Institute to resign.   I thought that I might share it here in order to illustrate something of what was (and... Read more

    I taught the Gospel Doctrine lesson on Acts 1-5 in my ward today and, obviously, we briefly discussed Acts 1:1-3 during the class.  Here is a column on those verses that I published in the Deseret News on 2 May 2019:   We easily imagine that Christ’s ascension into heaven occurred shortly after his resurrection. The New Testament account, however, suggests otherwise. The intriguing first verses of the “Acts of the Apostles” read as follows: “The former treatise... Read more

    Doug Ealy kindly shared a poem by the great G. K. Chesterton (1874-1936) with me a few hours ago.  I enjoyed the poem so much — curiously, I can’t recall reading it before, although I’m an unabashed Chesterton fan — that I think I’ll share it with you.  It’s titled “The Aristocrat”:   The Devil is a gentleman, and asks you down to stay At his little place at What’sitsname (it isn’t far away). They say the sport... Read more

    Later this morning, I’ll be teaching a Gospel Doctrine lesson on Acts 1-5.  In that context, a column that I published in the Deseret News back on 17 November 2011 is directly relevant:   Virtually all historians, of all religious opinions, agree that Jesus was crucified. The New Testament says that he died just prior to Passover. One of his inner circle of 12 apostles betrayed him, nine fled at his arrest, and another — Peter — pretended... Read more

    From time to time, I read online that I’m a young-earth creationist.  This is helpful to me, because, had I been left to my own resources on that topic, I would have assumed that I’ve never been one.  I can’t recall a time when I thought that the Earth was only a few thousand years old or denied the existence of dinosaurs.  In fact, one of my childhood dreams was to become a paleontologist.  (Plainly, all of this... Read more

    I received a note the other day from my friend, former student, and former colleague Glen M. Cooper.  He had just returned from Istanbul, where he was invited as a senior scholar to present a paper and to participate otherwise at an important three-day international conference there dedicated to the memory of a very distinguished Turkish scholar who recently passed away.  Dr. Cooper was well received at the conference, as he deserved to be, and he was widely recognized,... Read more

    These beloved hymn lyrics, written by Eliza R. Snow (1804-1887), are very familiar to Latter-day Saints:   O my Father, thou that dwellest In the high and glorious place, When shall I regain thy presence And again behold thy face? In thy holy habitation, Did my spirit once reside? In my first primeval childhood Was I nurtured near thy side? For a wise and glorious purpose Thou hast placed me here on earth And withheld the recollection Of... Read more

    The protagonist of George Orwell’s great dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, Winston Smith, is an employee of the Ministry of Truth — which, along with the Ministry of Love (which includes the Thought Police and carries out torture and liquidations), the Ministry of Plenty (which directs the economy and doles out rations), and the Ministry of Peace (which oversees the armed forces and conducts their perpetual wars), is one of the four divisions of the government of Oceania under “the Party.”... Read more