On emptying Gaza out

Last updated on: January 26, 2025 at 5:10 pm By Dan Peterson

The Hebrew “Northern Kingdom” — often called Israel or, after its eventual capital, Samaria — was formed in the tenth century before Christ when the ten northern tribes rebelled against the political entity headquartered in Jerusalem, which thereupon came to be called the “Southern Kingdom,” or the Kingdom of Judah. But, after a three-year siege of Samaria, the Northern Kingdom was conquered by the Neo-Assyrian Empire in 722 BC. The Assyrian kings Shalmaneser V, Sargon II, and Sennacherib deported... Read more

A Life Lived in Crescendo

Last updated on: January 25, 2025 at 11:52 pm By Dan Peterson

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Following our participation in an endowment session at the Provo City Center Temple this past Thursday, my friend and former missionary companion and former BYU department colleague, Stephen D. Ricks, shared with me a passage (verse 94) from the apocryphal Acts of John that is suggestive of an ancient Christian prayer circle. It occurs to me that some readers here might find it interesting: Now before he was taken by the lawless Jews, who also were governed by (had... Read more

“Upon Thy Belly Shalt Thou Go”

Last updated on: January 24, 2025 at 5:14 pm By Dan Peterson

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Two new articles went up today on the website of the Interpreter Foundation. The first of these was ““Upon Thy Belly Shalt Thou Go”: The Garden of Eden Serpent Symbology Based on the Concept of Seraphim,” written by Noel Hudson: Abstract: The concept of the serpentine seraphim from biblical iconography is discussed in the context of biblical serpent symbology. The association of the seraphim with Ancient Near Eastern kings, deities, and temples is noted. The concept of the seraphim... Read more

As political a blog entry as you’ll see here

Last updated on: January 26, 2025 at 12:03 am By Dan Peterson

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For the past several years, I’ve refrained from posting entries here on political issues. I’ve done so because, although I’ve had a deep interest in politics since I was about ten years old, I found that my publicly expressing my political views created adverse consequences for the Interpreter Foundation. And, given my role with the Foundation, and my commitment to its flourishing, I’ve felt it my obligation to rein in expressions of my personal politics. Still, those who have... Read more

Free Viewing of Witnesses Films

Last updated on: January 23, 2025 at 8:54 am By Dan Peterson

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This announcement came out this evening from the Interpreter Foundation: Just in time for your Come, Follow Me discussion of the witnesses to the Book of Mormon! Undaunted: Witnesses of the Book of Mormon can now be viewed for free here: https://witnessesfilm.com/ Witnesses will go up for free from 2 Feb 2025 through 1 March 2025. Just like the Three Witnesses, the Eight Witnesses, and the many other witnesses since, we invite you to be a witness of The... Read more

“What were the Kinderhook Plates?”

Last updated on: January 21, 2025 at 1:19 pm By Dan Peterson

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Perhaps I just forgot to mention it. (I recall that I once forgot something, but now I can’t remember what it was.) Or perhaps I wanted to wait to announce it until the first full day of America’s Golden Age had arrived. Which it now has. Today! In either case, this article of mine — focused on the significant (and quite unexpected) Nephite element in the Restoration — appeared yesterday in Meridian Magazine: “Exploring the Ancient Origins of Sacrament... Read more

Did Solomon Spalding write the original Book of Mormon?

Last updated on: January 20, 2025 at 12:48 pm By Dan Peterson

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An important part of the Interpreter Foundation’s effort to support the early portion of this year’s Come, Follow Me curriculum is our calling renewed attention to the short-video features that we created in connection with the Witnesses film project. Here is today’s offering: Episode 9: Is the Spaulding Argument Valid? Witnesses of the Book of Mormon—Insights: Through the years, much has been made of the argument that a man by the name of Solomon Spaulding (or Spalding) wrote a... Read more

“Undaunted” is now available for streaming at no charge!

Last updated on: January 19, 2025 at 5:28 pm By Dan Peterson

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I’m very pleased to announce here that the Interpreter Foundation has chosen to make its 2022 docudrama, Undaunted: Witnesses of the Book of Mormon, available online at no charge. Undaunted was created to accompany the Foundation’s 2021 dramatic theatrical film, Witnesses. We hope that you will take advantage of this offering and that you will call it to the attention of others who may also be interested. Please help us to spread the word. We want it to be... Read more

Songs of the Heart

Last updated on: January 18, 2025 at 10:46 pm By Dan Peterson

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One of the great things about my father-in-law’s funeral on Friday was the gathering of the clan, not only from Utah but from both coasts, that it occasioned. Some were unable to attend, but it was good to have so many together. (A personal joy was seeing two little granddaughters meet for the very first time and instantly begin to play together as if they had known each other all of their short lives.) I expect that our mortal... Read more

Until we meet again

Last updated on: January 17, 2025 at 11:48 pm By Dan Peterson

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A new article appeared earlier today in Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship: “Small Hinges, Great Doorways: How Some Descendants of an Enslaved Youth Unexpectedly Became Prominent Utah Citizens,” written by Jeffrey M. Bradshaw Abstract: A vivid illustration of how “the doorways of history turn on small hinges” is found in the Howell family tradition about Wilford Woodruff’s short stay at the home of slaveholders in the South, where it appears he may have taught a... Read more

In Jude, what are believers told to build themselves up in?