Here’s a really interesting presentation by Matt Roper and Paul Fields — just slightly under 32 minutes in length — that I commend to your attention.  It deals on the basis of statistical analysis with the question of the authorship, or the multiple authorship, of the Book of Mormon:   “Abinadi to Zenos: 28 Speakers in the Book of Mormon”   ***   Also, for your listening pleasure — perhaps for when you’re on the walker, strolling around... Read more

      I’m making some notes for myself regarding a number of issues.  I make no pretence to originality here; I cite my sources below.  (In this case, they’re simply readily accessible internet materials, including, yes, Wikipedia.)  My goal is just to get myself more precisely oriented, and I thought that maybe some others out there might be interested, too:     About 542 or 541 million years ago, at the start of the Palaeozoic Era (which includes the... Read more

    I think that this discussion needs some further work:   There are other things that have yet to occur with regard to Pal­estine or Israel. The ancient King David evidently lost his exaltation as a result of transgression, so his blessings and role are to be given to another. “The Priesthood that he received,” said the Prophet Joseph Smith, “and the throne and kingdom of David is to be taken from him., and given to another by the... Read more

    For many years from the time I was a child, I drove pretty frequently through Las Vegas.  I do it comparatively rarely these days.  But it’s fun and instructive when I do.  Lately, I’ve been paying attention to the billboards along I-15 as one approaches the city from the north..   On the basis of my study of those billboards, I conclude that the economy of Las Vegas must be principally based upon injury and accident lawyers, with... Read more

    From The Book:   But the return of the Jews to Palestine is an astonishing thing, something that manifestly cannot be disconnected from the events that will ultimately occur in that area. Indeed, we need only think for a moment about the sheer improbability of the whole thing to begin to see its miraculous character. What other nation has ever come back into existence as a sovereign state more than two thou­sand years after its disappearance? The empire... Read more

    Sometimes, I’m just in the mood for a little Hugh Nibley:   A temple, good or bad, is a scale-model of the universe. [I believe] the first mention of the word templum is by Varro, for whom it designates a building specially designed for interpreting signs in the heavens—a sort of observatory where one gets one’s bearings on the universe. “What Is a Temple?” Collected Works of Hugh Nibley 4:357-58   We recognize what is lovely because we have seen it somewhere... Read more

    Pursuing the topic further . . .   Does this mean that the remarkable return of hundreds of thousands of Jews from around the world to Palestine is not, in the fullest sense, the promised gathering? I think it does. Does it mean that it has nothing to do with the gathering? No, I think a positive answer to that question is inconceivable. And the scriptures do not commit us to it. Rather, they clearly teach that unbelieving—that... Read more

    Elder Dale G. Renlund of the Council of the Twelve and his wife, Sister Ruth L. Renlund, offered a very helpful parable at a 12 June 2018 broadcast for seminary and institute instructors.  I commend it to your attention:   “Help Doubting Students Choose to “Be Believing,” Elder Renlund Tells Seminary and Institute Teachers”   Have you noticed, by the way, how often Sister Wendy Watson Nelson has been speaking along with her husband, President Russell M. Nelson?  And... Read more

    From time to time, I’ve voiced my profound concern about the toxic character of much public discourse today, about the rampant incivility, particularly where religion and politics are concerned.  It’s seems that it’s not enough to disagree.  Those with whom we disagree must apparently be demonized.  They’re not just wrong, they’re evil.  Depraved.  They don’t merely see things differently, they’re lying.  And they should be shown no quarter, no respect, no civility or common courtesy.   I’m a... Read more

    A bit more about our departed colleague Stephen Robinson:   From BYU Studies:  “Remembering Stephen E. Robinson”   From a former student of his:  “In memoriam: Stephen E. Robinson, 1947-2018”   Here are the two pieces that he published with FARMS:   “Nephi’s ‘Great and Abominable Church'”   This first one is, in my judgment, a very important contribution.   Review of Dan Vogel, ed., The Word of God: Essays on Mormon Scripture. Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1990.... Read more