A few days ago, Frances Arnold (of the California Institute of Technology, or Caltech), Gregory Winter (of the University of Cambridge, in the United Kingdom), and George Smith (of the University of Missouri at Columbia) were announced as the winners of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for 2018.  For what it’s worth, Dr. Arnold is only the fifth woman to receive a Chemistry Nobel since the prize was established in 1901.   Here are a trio of pieces... Read more

    A few days ago, I posted an item in which Joseph Smith described retreating into a grove of trees to pray.  I commented that that account, from much later in his life, seemed to strengthen the plausiblity of the account of his First Vision, since it suggested that such withdrawals into the woods were a habitual practice of his.  Here are some additional notes that touch on that topic:   Further evidence that, whatever else was happening, Joseph... Read more

    I have not often been an enthusiastic fan of Susan Collins (R-ME).  But I am today:   “Kavanaugh fight: Susan Collins stands up to Democratic bullies and becomes a profile in courage”   If you have the time and the interest, listen to her speech on the floor of the Senate.  It is a model of reasoned discourse on a matter of deep public political concern.   ***   I also like this statement from Senator Marco Rubio... Read more

    Notes from a manuscript of mine:   Poetic form called climax (from the Greek word for “ladder”)[1]     And the first fruits of repentance is baptism; and baptism cometh by faith unto the fulfilling the commandments; and the fulfilling the commandments bringeth remission of sins; And the remission of sins bringeth meekness, and lowliness of heart; and because of meekness and lowliness of heart cometh the visitation of the Holy Ghost, which Comforter[2] filleth with hope and... Read more

    My wife and I had dinner earlier tonight, in The Garden Restaurant atop the Joseph Smith Memorial Building, overlooking the Salt Lake City Temple, with Russell McGregor and his wife, who are visiting from New Zealand.  It was a very pleasant evening, and I’m grateful to them for spending time with us.   ***   In response to something that I posted a day or two ago regarding Joseph Smith, a belligerent new individual appeared on my blog... Read more

    New this week in Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture (and, it should perhaps be noted, written by a non-relative of mine):   “To Be Learned Is Good, If One Stays on the Rails”   ***   Many people — presumably basing their expectations on April’s rather eventful conference, which was President Nelson’s first as leader of the Church — have been predicting big changes this go-around, as well.   Maybe.   But here’s a pre-conference announcement that will... Read more

    I’m a strong admirer of Senator Jeff Flake (R-AZ).  I’ve been proud of him for his criticisms of Donald Trump.  He is a principled, libertarian-leaning conservative and a courageous voice of political morality.  I regret that he’s leaving the Senate after this year.   I’m even fine with his recent successful call for a one-week FBI investigation of the charges against Judge Brett Kavanaugh.  The report of that investigation is now in, and it has evidently (and unsurprisingly)... Read more

    A number of years ago, I published a biography entitled Muhammad: Prophet of God.  It was essentially my section from David Noel Freedman and Michael J. McClymond, eds., The Rivers of Paradise: Moses, Buddha, Confucius, Jesus and Muhammad as Religious Founders, a hefty (and heftily-priced) volume that featured a foreword by the celebrated/controversial Swiss theologian Hans Küng.   It’s a simple narrative biography, on the whole, that doesn’t pretend to break significant new historical ground, but seeks to tell the... Read more

    From Richard Panek, The 4% Universe: Dark Matter, Dark Energy, and the Race to Discover the Rest of Reality (Boston and New York: Mariner Books Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2011):   When Plato challenged his students, in the fourth century B.C., to describe the motions of the celestial bodies through geometry, he didn’t expect the answers on paper to represent what was actually happening in the heavens.  That knowledge was unknowable because it was unattainable; you couldn’t go into... Read more

    I confess that I’m not quite accustomed yet to the new order of things, but my column for this week seems to have appeared in today’s print edition of the Deseret News and most definitely appeared today in LDS Living:   “Why a Worldwide Church Wasn’t Even Possible Until Now + the Miracle of General Conference”   Of course, if I’m confused, think about how completely lost the small cast of folks who’ve constantly posted negative comments about... Read more