“A Case for the Book of Mormon”

March 1, 2019 By Dan Peterson

It’s Friday, so there’s a new article in Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship: “Campbellites and Mormonites: Competing Restoration Movements” Abstract: In October 1830, Oliver Cowdery, Peter Whitmer Jr., Parley P. Pratt, and Ziba Peterson were the first missionaries sent to travel through the western states to the Indian territory at the far reaches of the United States. Pratt, a former resident of northeastern Ohio, suggested they stop in the Kirtland, Ohio, area and visit his preacher... Read more

A note on the self-limited nature of science

February 28, 2019 By Dan Peterson

It should be fairly obvious from my blog that I’m interested in science. In fact, my earliest aspiration was to be an astronomer. Really. And I mean really early. When I was five — and for some time thereafter. Moreover, had my poor eyesight not blunted my enjoyment of the night sky, I might really have followed through on that aspiration. However, while I find science fascinating, I’m considerably less enamored of the absurd ideology known as scientism.... Read more

New Testament Notes 70-72

February 28, 2019 By Dan Peterson

Matthew 7:7-11 Compare Luke 11:9-13; John 16:24; 14:13-14; 15:7 I note, but otherwise pass over in silence, what I see as the relevance of Matthew 7:7-8 to the temple. For fuller discussions of this topic, see John Welch’s Illuminating the Sermon at the Temple and the Sermon on the Mount: An Approach to 3 Nephi 11-18 and Matthew 5-7, from the good old days at FARMS, and, aimed at a non-LDS scholarly audience, his The Sermon on... Read more

Just in case you haven’t bought them yet

February 28, 2019 By Dan Peterson

The hardcover is now available for purchasing from Amazon.com and AmazonSmile, for $24.95. A review by Julie J. Nichols for the Association for Mormon Letters can be read at this link. Temple on Mount Zion Series 1 Editors: Matthew B. Brown, Jeffrey M. Bradshaw, Stephen D. Ricks, John S. Thompson Proceedings of the Expound Symposium, 14 May 2011 Table of Contents: Introduction (Editors) Symbols and Patterns Cube, Gate, and Measuring Tools: A Biblical Pattern (Matthew B. Brown) Noah’s Deluge as Temple Liturgy (L. Michael... Read more

“The universe looks suspiciously like a fix”

February 28, 2019 By Dan Peterson

A potpourri of science-related items that caught my attention today: “3 explanations for ‘Oumuamua that aren’t alien spaceships: Possibilities for the interstellar object include a fluffy fractal and a comet skeleton” “Hayabusa2 just tried to collect asteroid dust for the first time: The Japanese spacecraft will eventually return to Earth, hopefully hauling a sample of Ryugu” “Top 10 science anniversaries to celebrate in 2019: This year’s noteworthy nostalgia includes births, deaths, expeditions and tabulations” ... Read more

Were the Nephites racists?

February 28, 2019 By Dan Peterson

Were the Nephites racist? Yes, by today’s standards they probably often were. (Few pre-modern peoples weren’t racists by today’s standards, and rather egregiously so.) I have at least two particular reasons for reposting the two items below. Both of those reasons are connected with an item from Stephen Smoot, to which I referred yesterday. (See “Top 20 Evils You’re Responsible For By Believing the Book of Mormon.”) *** This column appeared in the Deseret News... Read more

New Testament Notes 68-69

February 27, 2019 By Dan Peterson

Matthew 7:1-5 Compare Mark 4:24-25; Luke 6:37-42; John 7:53-8:11 The principles expressed in these passages must be significant and central to the teachings of Christ, because they’re included in all four of the canonical gospels. And they’re echoed in many other locations throughout Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. And yet . . . And yet . . . The command not to judge seems so unrealistic and impracticable! We have to judge. Is this... Read more

Thinking about neutrinos

February 27, 2019 By Dan Peterson

This is an exceptionally busy week for me, and I have another (very lengthy) book that I need to have finished by Sunday evening. But I’ve begun, in stolen moments, to read a page or two in Jeff Wynn and Louise Wynn, Everyone is a Believer: The Growing Convergence of Science and Religion (2019). Here’s a summary of an interesting tale that they tell on page two: In the 1930s, the physicists Wolfgang Pauli and Enrico Fermi... Read more

“Top 20 Evils You’re Responsible For By Believing the Book of Mormon”

February 27, 2019 By Dan Peterson

It’s time that you folks out there who accept the authentic antiquity of the Book of Mormon frankly acknowledge your wickedness. This may be strong medicine, but, someday, you’ll thank Steve Smoot for his brutal honesty: “Top 20 Evils You’re Responsible For By Believing the Book of Mormon” I have to admit that I was surprised to see the photo of me that accompanied Br’er Smoot’s article: I make it a firm rule never to reveal... Read more

Scholars and General Authorities

February 26, 2019 By Dan Peterson

On Saturday night, we went out with friends for dinner and to see the film Fighting with My Family, produced by (and including) Dwayne Johnson. It’s not exactly the world that I live in, but I actually enjoyed the movie quite a bit. We had dinner at Zao’s, in Orem — a place that I’ve grown to like very much. Last night, Monday night, we met with a larger group of friends for dinner and then, afterwards,... Read more