Another attempt to help us imagine the sheer unimaginably astounding size of the cosmos, from Chris Impey, University Distinguished Professor and Deputy Head of the Department of Astronomy at the University of Arizona, in his book How It Began: A Time-Traveler’s Guide to the Universe (New York and London: W. W. Norton and Company, 2012), 98:   We live in a city of light.  To grasp the vastness, we need a scale model.  We can get there in two steps.  In the first step,... Read more

    Some further notes from John W . Welch, et al., eds., Knowing Why: 137 Evidences That the Book of Mormon Is True (American Fork: Covenant Communications, 2017), 35-40:   The essay “Did Pre-Christian Prophets Know about Christ?” (35-36) addresses something that is often derided as an anachronism in the Book of Mormon:  Did the pre-Christian Jaredite and Nephite prophets simply know too much about Christ?  Is their foreknowledge plausible?  If so, why didn’t the ancient Hebrew prophets of the Old Testament know so... Read more

  Every once in a while, I feel moved to post this item, which I first wrote many years ago.  I feel impressed to do so yet again.   Other books and materials could easily be added to this list, addressing these and scores of other specific topics, but these will do for starters:   I’m sometimes contacted by people who’re experiencing doubts about the claims of Mormonism or whose spouse or father or daughter has lost faith.  I always... Read more

    From my manuscript on Islam for Mormons:   The sixth of the five pillars of Islam never quite made it into the authoritative lists, although there were a number of prestigious thinkers who argued that it ought to be included. The word jihad is often translated as “holy war,” but its meaning is really broader than this.[1] Its primary definition is “battle,” “struggle,” or “striv­ing.” Muhammad is said to have taught that “holy war,” of a literal, military... Read more

    Lawrence Krauss is a physicist at Arizona State University — and a very vocal atheist who believes that the universe came out of “nothing” (or, at least, could have done so) without the aid of a divine creator (e.g., in his A Universe from Nothing: Why There Is Something Rather Than Nothing [2012]).   Amir Aczel (1950-2015) was an Israeli-born American mathematician and historian of mathematics — author of, among numerous other books, Fermat’s Last Theorem: Unlocking the Secret... Read more

    Some material from Chris Impey, University Distinguished Professor and Deputy Head of the Department of Astronomy at the University of Arizona, taken from his book How It Began: A Time-Traveler’s Guide to the Universe (New York and London: W. W. Norton and Company, 2012):   Imagine atoms in the universe scattered like playing cards.  Instead of the normal suits and numbers, these cards are labeled as elements of the periodic table.  The dominant elements are hydrogen and helium; everything else is amazingly... Read more

    I was on an airplane this morning, flying from Phoenix to Salt Lake City, when the new First Presidency — Russell M. Nelson, Dallin H. Oaks, and Henry B. Eyring — was announced.   Many were surprised and not a few disappointed that Elder Dieter Uchtdorf is not a member of this new presidency.  I myself was mildly surprised and slightly disappointed.  As many other Church members do, I like him very, very much.   But I’ve seen... Read more

    Some notes on the hajj, the annual Muslim pilgrimage that is among the “Five Pillars of Islam,” from my manuscript on basic Islamic doctrine and history for Latter-day Saints:   It is incumbent upon every Muslim who can afford to do so to make the pilgrimage to “the Ancient House” (the Ka’ba) at Mecca at least once in his or her life.[1]Those who cannot afford to do so or are otherwise unable are exempt from the requirement. Make... Read more

    A quotation from Surprised by Meaning: Science, Faith, and How We Make Sense of Things (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2011), by the Oxford theologian Alister McGrath, who holds three Oxford doctorates — in divinity, intellectual history, and molecular biophysics:   Examples of the astrophysical “fine-tuning” of fundamental cosmological constants include the following:  If the strong coupling constant were slightly smaller, hydrogen would be the only element in the universe.  Since the evolution of life as we know it is fundamentally dependent... Read more

    A few additional notes from Lawrence E. Tooley, I Saw Heaven: A Remarkable Visit to the Spirit World (Springville, UT: Cedar Fort, 2006):   I felt whole, and complete, and more fully alive than at any time I can ever remember.  (58)   “I’ve never felt like this before.  I feel as if all my senses have increased a hundred fold.”  (60)   I could see a brilliant golden white light, almost like the sun.  When I looked at it, I expected... Read more