I’ve just returned from meeting with several elders and sisters from the California San Diego Mission, as well as with their mission president and his wife and an Iraqi-born convert to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  This was an unexpected treat.  It was not on my schedule when I came down.   These missionaries have been called to serve in an Arabic-speaking program.  (One of them is a native speaker from Irbid, Jordan.  At least... Read more

    For posting this link, I’ll be criticized as an enemy of science who always tries to tear it down and to weaken public confidence in science and in scientists.  But that charge is no more true of me for posting the link to the article than it is true of the Ph.D. astrophysicist who wrote the article in the first place:   “Could All Our Scientific Knowledge Come Tumbling Down Like A House Of Cards?”   ***  ... Read more

    For your interest and consideration, I offer you three short articles written by members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that advocate positions rather unlike those that you typically hear in sacrament meeting or from the pulpit of the Conference Center:   “Drop in the Bucket: Changes to Temple Ordinances”   “Plea to President Nelson about Families”   “The Mormon Church still doesn’t accept same-sex couples – even if it no longer bars their children”... Read more

    Luke 12:22-32 Compare Matthew 6:25-34   A difficult standard.   It may be significant, though, that the roughly equivalent passage in the Book of Mormon, in 3 Nephi 13:25-34, is expressly directed not to the faithful at large, but specifically to the Nephite Twelve, who’ve been called into full-time service.  We might also apply it further to full-time missionaries.     Luke 12:33-34 Compare Matthew 6:19-21   The simple fact is that material possessions wear out and become... Read more

    The very first joint bi-weekly Deseret News column by Professor William Hamblin and Professor Daniel Peterson appeared back on 14 January 2012.   This is how it read:   When an adviser once warned him against conflict with the Catholic Church, Joseph Stalin contemptuously demanded “How many divisions does the pope have?”  It was a rhetorical question, and presumed the obvious: With no army at all, what threat could the pope pose to Soviet tyranny? Stalin’s presumption was wrong.... Read more

    A new article has appeared in Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship:   “The Record of My Father”   Abstract: In 1 Nephi 1:16–17, Nephi tells us he is abridging “the record of my father.” The specific words Nephi uses in his writings form several basic but important patterns and features used repeatedly by Nephi and also by other Book of Mormon writers. These patterns and features provide context that appears to indicate that Nephi’s abridgment of Lehi’s record is... Read more

    Scientists are still celebrating the black hole image that was released a few days ago, and pondering its significance:   “10 Deep Lessons From Our First Image Of A Black Hole’s Event Horizon”   “Meet one of the first scientists to see the historic black hole image: Making a portrait of a black hole led to sleepless nights and one big thrill”   “Black hole image validates imagining the unimaginable: Long dreamed of yet unseen, invisible stars intrigued... Read more

    Luke 12:11-12 Compare Matthew 10:19-20; Mark 13:11; Luke 21:14-15; John 14:26   Jesus teaches his disciples that they’re to rely upon the inspiration of the Holy Spirit when they speak.   This does not, however, mean that they shouldn’t be trying to learn and to understand in the interim.  Later, he would tell them that “the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring... Read more

    Just a couple of hours ago, my wife and I toured the Tabernacle exhibit that the Poway California Stake has put up.  I was very pleased.  And I was especially pleased to see that good numbers of visitors are turning out — including people who are obviously not Latter-day Saints.  Near us, for example, I saw a Jewish man wearing a yarmulke (or kippah), as well as a young Muslim mother with her children.   The tour starts... Read more

    The odds of finding flocks of sheep on the surface of Mars seem to be dropping to almost nil:   “Mars methane hunt comes up empty, flummoxing scientists: Trace Gas Orbiter spacecraft did not find the gas in red planet’s atmosphere during its first months of operation.”   Few if any tourists to Mars are likely to wake up confused, wondering whether they’re actually in New Zealand.   ***   Continuing in the same spirit of practical science, here’s... Read more