A new column of mine went up this morning in Meridian Magazine: “He Was “All He Professed to Be”: How Brigham Young Remembered Joseph” In 1854, to mark the tenth anniversary of the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith, a portion of the annual April general conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was adjourned until 27 June. That fact, in and of itself, should be enough to indicate the great respect that the Church’s leaders... Read more
In the western tradition of historiography or historical writing, there has often been a tendency to focus on outsize individuals, to write history effectively as biography — and not merely in such obvious cases as Plutarch’s famous Parallel Lives of the noble Greeks and Romans and his “lives” of twelve Roman emperors and his Life of Alexander, or Suetonius’s The Twelve Caesars, or Eusebius’s cloyingly hagiographic Vita Constantini. Historians still commonly speak of “the Augustan Age,” and “Elizabethan England,”... Read more
Since the first geological and then archaeological expeditions entered the region known as “Six Grandfathers” (in the original Lakota, Tȟuŋkášila Šákpe) in early March of 4742 CE, heated debates have raged about the three “macrocephalic” rock formations on the mountain’s southeastern face. And not merely among academics. In fact, controversy surrounds every aspect of the discovery, including the number of head-like stone features. The most commonly-held position is that there are three, but some claim to see a partial... Read more
Now here’s something to think about, taken from the Jerusalem Post: “Expert claims NASA may have accidentally discovered, killed life on Mars in the 1970s: Astrobiology professor suggests 1970’s NASA mission might have detected and unintentionally extinguished life on Mars.” It seems very likely that my adopted home state of Utah will be chosen to host the 2034 Winter Olympics. The announcement will come, by coincidence, on 24 July 2024, which is Pioneer Day. It will, I’m confident launch... Read more
New on the website of the Interpreter Foundation: Pre-print of “Jacob’s Temple Journey to Haran and Back,” The Temple: Plates, Patterns, & Patriarchs, written by Jeffrey M. Bradshaw and Matthew L. Bowen NOTE: This is a pre-print of a chapter that will appear in The Temple: Plates, Patterns, & Patriarchs, Proceedings of the Seventh Interpreter Foundation Matthew B. Brown Memorial Conference. As such, we have not made it available for downloading or printing. Please refrain from bypassing these restrictions. More... Read more
A thoroughly vicious and rage-fueled new article has appeared in Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship: “Who Holds the Keys?” written by Daniel C. Peterson Abstract: While, for understandable reasons, Protestant Christendom tends to downplay the question, the more ancient Christian churches have historically placed considerable weight on what is often termed “apostolic succession.” The Catholic church, for instance, strongly affirms the “primacy of Peter” and the status of the Bishop of Rome, the Pope, as... Read more
This will seem to some to be a political post and, thus, a violation of my contention that I no longer publish my political opinions. But it’s not. Please note that I endorse no presidential candidate here, and that I take no stance whatever on the question of whether Mr. Donald J. Trump is a threat to the Constitution of the United States and to our democratic republic or whether, instead, he is God’s personally-anointed choice to lead America... Read more
At least some of you will be familiar with the name of Sebastian Junger (born January 17, 1962), who is an American journalist, author, and filmmaker. (The documentary film Restrepo, based on his writing, received the Grand Jury Prize for best documentary at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival.) He reported from the war in Afghanistan for roughly a decade and has written for various “highbrow” magazines. He has also written several books, the most famous of which is almost certainly The... Read more
These new items just went up on the never-changing website of the Interpreter Foundation: Hugh Nibley Observed: “Family Reminisces at the Funeral of Hugh W. Nibley”: Zina Nibley Petersen, Rebecca Nibley, Alex Nibley, Michael Draper Nibley, Thomas Hugh Nibley, Christina Nibley Mincek, and Paul Sloan Nibley” Part of our book chapter reprint series, this article originally appeared in Hugh Nibley Observed, edited by Jeffrey M. Bradshaw, Shirley S. Ricks, and Stephen T. Whitlock. For more information, go to https://interpreterfoundation.org/books/hugh-nibley-observed/.... Read more
Royal Skousen came to our house this morning for a pleasant visit and some business. Please be aware of the following and, if you’ll be in the area at the appropriate time, please mark the date and come! Royal describes this as his “swan song.” The Interpreter Foundation and BYU Studies Invite You to a Celebration The Completion of the Book of Mormon Critical Text Project 1988-2024 Saturday, August 10, 2024 1:00 – 3:00 p.m. with two presentations open... Read more
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