Today’s the Day. Tonight’s the Night.

October 7, 2024 By Dan Peterson

Seventeen new temples! That’s more temples announced in one General Conference than existed in the entire Church when I was a teenager. The remarkable explosion of temple-building that commenced under President Gordon B. Hinckley continues at an even more rapid pace under President Russell M. Nelson. Plainly, the effort is intended to make temples more accessible to Latter-day Saints in all areas of the world and, thus, to make temple worship more central to the lives of the Saints.... Read more

Volcanism and the Book of Mormon

October 6, 2024 By Dan Peterson

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I want to give another reminder of the “sneak peek” early showings of Six Days in August that will be available on Monday night along Utah’s Wasatch Front. (It won’t be my last reminder. Sorry.) These screenings will occur in nine Cinemark theaters: Salt Lake City, Ogden, Orem, Provo, American Fork, Draper, Farmington, Sandy/Midvale, and West Jordan: Six Days in August – Early Access And here’s another reminder that the 2021 Interpreter Foundation dramatic film, Witnesses, is currently available... Read more

The next few days are vitally important

October 5, 2024 By Dan Peterson

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A few days ago, Mark Goodman (the writer and director of Six Days in August) and I recorded a roughly twenty-minute interview with Martin Tanner up at KSL NewsRadio in Salt Lake City. Our interview will air tomorrow (Sunday) on his regular KSL program, Religion Today. But it’s already available in podcast form: “Six Days in August” Yes, I’m going to remind you right now that the 2021 Interpreter Foundation theatrical movie Witnesses is available for your viewing, right... Read more

“The Pathophysiology of the Death of Jesus the Christ”

October 4, 2024 By Dan Peterson

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Although I’m not identified as its author, I wrote this article that has now appeared on the KSL.com website: “‘Six Days in August’ movie about Brigham Young will inspire and captivate audience.” (I did not write the headline.) And — surprise! — a new article has just appeared in Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship: “The Pathophysiology of the Death of Jesus the Christ,” written by C. Thomas Black: Abstract: Centuries-long speculation continues regarding the circumstances... Read more

Flawed reporting about the new temple proposed for Las Vegas

October 3, 2024 By Dan Peterson

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You’ll simply need to deal with it: I’m intending to remind you every day until they’ve actually taken place of the “sneak peek” early screenings of Six Days in August that will occur this coming Monday evening in Cinemark theaters located in Salt Lake City, American Fork, Draper, Farmington, Midvale/Sandy, Ogden, Orem, Provo, and West Jordan: “Six Days in August – Early Access” I’ll also remind you of the limited-time opportunity that the Interpreter Foundation and the makers of... Read more

The Marks of a “Cult”

October 2, 2024 By Dan Peterson

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For a very limited time — up until 10 October 2024 — its creators are offering you the opportunity to view the 2021 Interpreter film Witnesses at no cost. If you go to the official website of Six Days in August and wait for just a few seconds, a button will appear that will enable you to learn how to avail yourself of this limited opening. Enjoy! With Mark Goodman, the writer and director of Six Days in August,... Read more

Victims of the Mormons

October 1, 2024 By Dan Peterson

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I really enjoyed this article by my friend Robert Starling, who is a multi-decade veteran of the film and television industry and who co-founded the organization called Associated Latter-day Media Artists, or ALMA: “The (Lord’s Media) Empire Strikes Back – with the light saber of truth.” If, like me, you’re interested in the image of Latter-day Saints in the media and/or you’re hoping that we will continue to develop our own artistic, literary, musical, and cinematic expressions, I think... Read more

Shameless

September 30, 2024 By Dan Peterson

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I’ve already offered summaries of most of the presentations at Saturday’s Interpreter Foundation conference here and here. I’ll finish with such summarizing in this post. The fourth speaker during the afternoon portion of the conference was Professor Stephen D. Ricks, a longtime friend and both a former department colleague of mine and a former missionary companion in German-speaking Switzerland, who is also the principal organizer of the Temple on Mount Zion conferences. He addressed the topic of “Premortal Existence... Read more

Temples, Ancient and Modern

September 29, 2024 By Dan Peterson

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Yesterday, I provided a few notes on the two morning sessions of the Seventh Interpreter Matthew B. Brown Memorial Conference, Temple on Mount Zion 2024, which focused on the theme “Seership, Craftsmanship, and Fellowship.” Today, I’ll continue with that effort. (We’ll see how far I get.) Those who returned sufficiently early from lunch were treated to a showing of Willy and Lilly Binene and the Saints of Luputa, an episode in the Interpreter Foundation’s Africa-focused Not by Bread Alone... Read more

From the morning sessions of today’s superb conference

September 28, 2024 By Dan Peterson

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Today, I attended the Seventh Interpreter Matthew B. Brown Memorial Conference. The overall theme of these conferences, as befits Matt Brown’s interests, is “The Temple on Mount Zion.” The theme of this particular 2024 iteration of the conference was “Seership, Craftsmanship, and Fellowship.” The conference was not live-streamed, but it was recorded, and I presume that the conference videos will eventually be made public. In the end, too, the proceedings of the conference, perhaps including (in at least some... Read more