I published this article in the Deseret News back when I was much younger, on 12 March 2015:   The impressive Roman Catholic Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth was dedicated in 1969 and is among the most beautiful churches in the Holy Land. It stands on the site of an earlier Crusader-era sanctuary that had been built near the beginning of the 12th century and was destroyed roughly 150 years later. And that church, in turn, had... Read more

    We’re a few days into the holy Islamic month of Ramadan, and many of the people around me here — including our Palestinian Arab guide and driver, as well as the waiters and others who provide our water and other drinks for warm days and who serve our breakfasts, lunches, and dinners — are fasting from sunrise until sundown every day of the month.  It makes life as tourists here just a bit awkward, at least from my... Read more

    There’s been some remarkable recent news concerning the planet Saturn’s very large moon, Titus:   “Surprise 4,000-mile ‘ice corridor’ found on Saturn’s moon Titan: Planetary scientists used a new analysis tool to spot a band of water ice stretching almost halfway around the circumference of the chilly world.”   “Welcome To Titan, Saturn’s ‘Deranged’ Earth-Like Moon Beginning To Show Signs Of Life: ‘Every time we make discoveries on Titan, it becomes more and more mysterious.'”   “Saturn’s moon Titan... Read more

    Matthew 21:20-22 Mark 11:20-26 Compare Matthew 6:14-15; 17:20; 21:19; Luke 17:6; John 14:13-14; 15:7; 16:23   The Savior’s curse on the fig tree, which I mentioned here very briefly a short while ago, is fulfilled in these passages, and the disciples are astonished at his power.  (Of course, he’d raised a dead man only a few days before, so they shouldn’t really have been so surprised.)   I like a comment that Brant Gardner made about this passage several years... Read more

    Was there ever life on Mars?  Have scientists uncovered evidence of it?   “Claimed Signs of Life in a Martian Meteorite: Like other previous claims, this one may not hold up.”   On the other hand, how did complicated biology arise on our planet?   “Did Volcanic Eruptions During a Snowball Earth Trigger the Rise of Complex Life?”   And, while we’re at it, here’s something on “life” from quite a different perspective:   “Get Rid of Your Lawn: It’s... Read more

    On the morning of Sunday, 24 October 1841, Elder Orson Hyde of the Council of the Twelve crossed the Wadi Kidron to the east of the city of Jerusalem and climbed at least some distance up the Mount of Olives.  There, he offered a prayer that included the following passages   O Thou! who art from everlasting to everlasting, eternally and unchangeably the same, even the God who rules in the heavens above, and controls the destinies of... Read more

    For its dramatic setting and its architecture, this has long been among my very favorite temples:   “Oakland California Temple Opens Doors to the Public After Renovation: This house of the Lord was first dedicated in 1964 by Church President David O. McKay”   And here’s a welcome piece about another temple for Utah:   “Saratoga Springs Utah Temple Plans Provided: Location is identified as plans are filed with city”   (I may eventually be able to see the temple... Read more

    Luke 19:41-44   When you visit the area of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, which is utterly free of traces of the famous Temple of Herod, and when you see the massive stones crashed around the southwestern corner of the Temple platform, you realize something of the effort that the Romans made to ensure (though they didn’t know that they were fulfilling prophecy) that no stone of the Temple itself would be left atop another.     Matthew... Read more

    Bill Hamblin and I published this article in Salt Lake City’s Deseret News on 30 April 2015:   “After this there was a feast of the Jews,” reports John 5:1, “and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.” That notion of “going up” to Jerusalem is much more interesting than it might at first appear. Indeed, it’s a very rich idea, and an ancient one. Of course, it’s partly a matter of literal, physical climbing. The city of Jerusalem rests at... Read more

    The 28 April 2019 broadcast of the Interpreter Radio Show is now available online. In it, Martin Tanner and Matthew Bowen discuss Islamic extremism — I wish that I had been available to participate in that conversation! — and engage in a Come, Follow Me roundtable for lesson 19:   https://interpreterfoundation.org/interpreter-radio-show-april-28-2019/   Extracted from that radio broadcast is a stand-alone roundtable to accompany the Gospel Doctrine curriculum.  Martin Tanner and Matthew Bowen discuss Matthew 19-20, Mark 10, and Luke 18:  ... Read more