Today, in my Islamic philosophy class, we’re going to begin the discussion of the last text that we’re reading for the course, which is Majid Khadduri’s The Islamic Law of Nations: Shaybani’s Siyar (2002).  It’s a bit of a departure from philosophy as such, but, given the interests of the students in this particular small class, I thought it worth a look.   Abu ‘Abd Allah Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan b. Farqad al-Shaybānī (محمد بن الحسن الشيباني‎), who lived in Iraq between... Read more

    Mark 6:30-31 Luke 9:10 Compare 14:12-13   I like the comment in Mark, when Jesus tells the returning apostles to get a bit of rest:  “For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat.”   Today’s members of the Twelve, from what I’ve observed of their schedules, would recognize so hectic a life.   And they never get to retire.   Some critics like to imagine the Twelve wallowing in status, comfort, and... Read more

    I was pleased to receive in my campus mailbox today a copy, hot from the press, of Islam: A First Encounter, by my longtime friend and now retired colleague at Brigham Young University, Kent Jackson.  It’s a beautifully illustrated book, only 112 pages long but in fairly large paperback format, designed for use by students at BYU’s Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies.   I was privileged to read two or three of its chapters prior to publication,... Read more

    I’ve reading Susan Easton Black and Larry C. Porter, Martin Harris: Uncompromising Witness of the Book of Mormon (Provo: BYU Studies, 2018).   In March 1829, Lucy Harris having filed a legal complaint against Joseph Smith, a judicial hearing was held in Lyons, New York, and sworn witnesses for the prosecution were called.  Lucy Mack Smith provides an account of the proceedings.  Here’s a passage from her summary, dealing with a box and the claim that it contained ancient metal... Read more

    I’ve been reading in Peter Kreeft,ed.,  The Shadow-Lands of C. S. Lewis: The Man Behind the Movie (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1994).  The book contains a selection of writings from the great English academic and apologist, drawn from his many published works.   Here’s a passage that struck me deeply, because I know exactly what Lewis is talking about, having experienced precisely the same powerful intuition many times when viewing certain landscapes and looking at the night sky:... Read more

    Seven years ago, I received the shocking and utterly unexpected news that my brother, Kenneth Dee Walters — strictly speaking, my half-brother — my only sibling, to whom I was very close, had died.   I was devastated.  I still think of him, and miss him, every day.  Literally every day.   I’ve made it my practice, on this blog, to post something about him (typically my hastily composed and inadequate remarks at his funeral in South Pasadena, California)... Read more

    Mark 6:6-13 Luke 9:1-6 Compare Matthew 9:35; 10:1, 7-11, 14   This is a fundamental scripture for Latter-day Saints, and represents, really, the beginning of the Christian Church in the Old World.   Still today, the apostleship is fundamental to the organization and authority of the Church.  Not merely in the historical sense common to Christian churches generally, but as a living reality.   The number twelve is probably connected with the twelve tribes of Israel, just as... Read more

    You can now listen to or download the 10 March 2019 broadcast of the weekly Interpreter Radio Show.  The hosts for this episode were Terry Hutchinson, John Gee, and Kevin Christensen.  They covered “Come Follow Me” Lesson 13 as well as discussing various biblical translations:   https://interpreterfoundation.org/interpreter-radio-show-march-10-2019/   The 10 March 2019 show will also be included in our podcast feed:  (https://interpreterfoundation.org/feeds/podcast).   ***   If you would like to listen to just the Interpreter Radio (audio) Roundtable for Come,... Read more

    Whereas, in English, we end our prayers with the Hebrew-derived word Amen, Latter-day Saint prayers in Arabic end in the obviously related word Amin (pronounced ah-MEEN) — or, to spell it in the ugly but fairly accurate transliteration system that I’ll be employing in this blog entry, aamiin.   Perhaps some will be interested to learn a bit about the range of meanings, in Arabic, for the root ’mn, which underlies that word amin.   There are two... Read more