“I suddenly became aware of hovering over the foot of the operating table”

Last updated on: September 23, 2018 at 6:50 pm By Dan Peterson

Here are three accounts taken from Pim van Lommel, Consciousness Beyond Life: The Science of the Near-Death Experience (New York: HarperCollins, 2010). The first comes from a patient who had a near-death experience (NDE) that included an out-of-body component. The NDE was caused by complications during a surgical procedure. Please don’t be offended by the slightly rough language: No, I’d never heard of near-death experiences, and I’d never had any interest in paranormal phenomena or anything of that... Read more

“A Valuable LDS Resource for Learning from the Apocrypha,” etc.

Last updated on: September 23, 2018 at 6:49 pm By Dan Peterson

From some of my unpublished notes — Lucy Mack Smith on the ancient breastplate that was recovered in conjunction with the plates from which the Book of Mormon was eventually translated: It was wrapped in a thin muslin handkerchief, so thin that I could see the glistening metal, and ascertain its proportions without any difficulty. It was concave on one side and convex on the other, and extended from the neck downwards, as far as the centre... Read more

A note on Latter-day Saints and alcohol

Last updated on: September 23, 2018 at 6:47 pm By Dan Peterson

Several people on the paternal side — the non-Latter-day Saint side — of my extended family had fairly serious problems with alcohol throughout their lives. In one or two cases, unfortunately, their problems impacted others beside themselves. There is evidence that heredity can incline a person to chronic alcohol abuse. So, not knowing whether I myself might have been born with a genetic proclivity in that direction, I’ve always been quietly grateful that, when the time came... Read more

“Si Dios quiere”

Last updated on: September 23, 2018 at 6:45 pm By Dan Peterson

During a meeting some years ago, one of the then-counselors in our stake presidency recalled his service, decades back, as a missionary in Bolivia. Among the phrases that he commonly heard there was Si Dios quiere (“If God wills”). He confessed that the phrase sometimes irritated him. “Will you promise to give up smoking?” a missionary would ask someone he was teaching. “Si Dios quiere!” the Bolivian would respond. All too often, it seemed a polite way of... Read more

“People go unnoticed even though they can hear and see everything”

Last updated on: September 23, 2018 at 6:44 pm By Dan Peterson

Incredibly, here are a few more notes from Pim van Lommel, Consciousness Beyond Life: The Science of the Near-Death Experience (New York: HarperCollins, 2010). During an out-of-body experience people have verifiable perceptions from a position outside and above their lifeless body. Patients feel as if they have taken off their body like an old coat, and they are astounded that despite discarding it they have retained their identity, with the faculty of sight, with emotions, and with an extremely... Read more

“Scholars Find Evidence That Book of Mormon Phrases Mocked by Critics Have a Surprising and Fascinating History”

Last updated on: September 23, 2018 at 6:43 pm By Dan Peterson

My article for the Deseret News has gone online at LDS Living. I think that it also appeared in the print edition of the Deseret News, but I don’t know that for sure. Anyway, here it is in its online incarnation: “Scholars Find Evidence That Book of Mormon Phrases Mocked by Critics Have a Surprising and Fascinating History” Please note, incidentally, that the Royal Skousen/Stan Carmack event will take place on Tuesday night, not on Wednesday... Read more

“Gingrich is wrong; Palestinians are not ‘invented'”

Last updated on: September 19, 2018 at 11:27 pm By Dan Peterson

This special column for the Deseret News was published on 13 December 2011, and the comment to which I took exception back then is long and justly forgotten. Still, it’s conceivable that some will find the historical information in this little essay interesting and/or helpful. So I share it here: Newt Gingrich presents himself as a thoughtful statesman distinguished from his rivals by his deep historical learning. “Remember, there was no Palestine as a state,” Gingrich told... Read more

“Consciousness when a person has been pronounced brain-dead”

Last updated on: September 19, 2018 at 10:29 pm By Dan Peterson

You would certainly be forgiven if you assumed from the title of this blog entry that it’s a defense of my being sentient even despite the claims of certain detractors of mine. Surprisingly, though, it’s not. It’s about something related, but quite distinct. I know that it really irritates a small group of my worst critics, but irritating them isn’t actually the reason that I continue to post notes and excerpts from Pim van Lommel, Consciousness Beyond Life: The... Read more

“There has been in fact a restoration of the gospel.”

Last updated on: September 19, 2018 at 10:31 pm By Dan Peterson

Prophecy and history predict and record a great and universal apostasy which was to be followed by a restoration as predicted by John in Revelation. The fact of the great apostasy is attested by both sacred and secular writ, and history bears witness that it became universal. We proclaim this fact of history not as an attack on any church. We do not assume any position of “holier than thou” or “wiser than thou,” but we announce this... Read more

“We’re gonna give you a fair trial, followed by a first class hanging.” (“Silverado” [1985])

Last updated on: September 19, 2018 at 10:33 pm By Dan Peterson

The very prominent libertarian legal scholar Richard Epstein, contemplating the current Kavanaugh/Ford ugliness, asks “What sane judge would like to be the next Supreme Court nominee?” Perhaps a person’s willingness to accept nomination to the Supreme Court of the United States should, in and of itself, be deemed sufficient evidence of poor judgment to deny confirmation? *** Incidentally, I’ve heard that there’s a letter out there in which someone who declines to be questioned... Read more