Tad Walch, of the Deseret News, has written a number of thoughtful and interesting articles on Latter-day Saint subjects, and this piece is certainly among them: “Pope Francis meets with President Nelson in the Vatican” If you haven’t already read it, I encourage you to do so, even if you think that you already know all you need to know about the meeting of the Prophet and the Pontiff in Rome the other day. It offers... Read more
Matthew 9:14-17 Mark 2:18-22 Luke 5:33-39 John 3:29-30 Two brief points to make in connection with these passages: 1. Jesus obliquely warns his disciples here that he won’t always be with them. 2. He’s indicating the need in his day for a restoration rather than a mere reformation. The same held true in the early nineteenth century, as well. Matthew 9:18-26 Mark 5:21-43 Luke 8:40-56 These accounts are interesting, among other reasons,... Read more
Mesoamerica continues to yield up significant new finds: “1,000-Year-Old Pristine Mayan Artifacts Found in Sealed ‘Jaguar God’ Cave: The cave was first discovered by local farmers in 1966, but was walled off until last year for unknown reasons.” And it’s possible that Mars will surrender a few secrets, as well: “Is there life on Mars? Let’s assess the evidence: Since the nineteenth century, people have been obsessed with finding life on the Red Planet, but is there... Read more
Jim Toronto, a friend and colleague at Brigham Young University, called me just a few minutes ago, responding to an email that I had sent him. He is an Arabist and Islamicist, and a former president, from 2015 to 2017, of the Central Eurasian Mission, based in Istanbul and covering Turkey, Central Asia and Azerbaijan. But I should have guessed, since he’s also a former president, from 2007 through 2010, of the Italy Catania Mission and the co-author of Mormons in the... Read more
Two friends and I wanted to visit the bazaar in Tehran while we were there. (He is a historian of Islamic philosophy; she was — unfortunately, she died some years ago, far too young — an anthropologist with a focus on the Middle East. At the time, they were on research leave in Pakistan from their American university.) Bazaars — like the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul and Khan al-Khalili in Cairo — are culturally fascinating places. But, although... Read more
I realize that the overwhelming majority of my readers (there are perhaps as many as four of you out there) aren’t German speakers. But some are. So, for the record (because it will probably have no other use) and for the possible interest of one or two — posting this costs me nothing, after all — I share the text of remarks that I recorded for presentation at an “Education Day,” oriented to young Latter-day Saints, that was... Read more
“Prophet Meets Pope Francis at the Vatican” I’m delighted at this. Despite its notorious current woes, I’m a great admirer of the Catholic Church in many ways and especially of some of its leaders. Pope St. John Paul II, whom I once had the opportunity of seeing at fairly close range when I was invited to attend a meeting with him in Rome’s Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, is a particular hero of mine. ... Read more
Matthew 9:1-8 Mark 2:1-12 Luke 5:17-26 Compare John 5:1-9 The logic here is fairly straightforward: Jesus tells the paralytic that his sins are forgiven him. At this, the “scribes” accuse him of blasphemy for arrogating to himself what they correctly believe to be a uniquely divine prerogative (Mark 2:7; Luke 5:21). Jesus responds by saying “‘Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, “Your sins are forgiven,” or to say, “Rise, talk up your... Read more
Possibly the first serious poem that I ever really liked, that ever actually moved me and had me reading it again and again — maybe (I can’t quite recall) as a freshman in high school — was the “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard,” by Thomas Gray (1716-1771). It’s remarkably quotable, but what I really like about it is its affection, even reverence, for “the short and simple annals of the poor,” and its sense of the deep,... Read more
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New Testament Notes 96-99
Matthew 9:27-34; Matthew 12:22-24; Matthew 20:29-34 Mark 3:22; Mark 10:46-52 Luke 11:14-15; Luke 18:35-43 Compare John 7:20; 8:48, 52; 10:20 I have a certain respect for those who attempt to explain otherwise inexplicable miracles by invoking demons. Sometimes, frankly, that’s the best that you have. Sometimes, naturalistic explanations just can’t do the job. There’s a certain strain of anti-Mormonism — most famously exemplified, I suppose, by the notorious charlatan and mountebank Ed Decker, but also featuring... Read more