Further notes, from a manuscript, on the ethical teaching of the Qur’an:   The sins that are likely to characterize the wealthy in a com­mercial society come in for particular attention. For instance, believers are told to give just weight and full measure in their mar­ket and trade exchanges.[1] The Qur’an shows special solicitude for the treatment of orphans. Its admonitions resemble the principle in the epistle of James, that “pure religion and undefiled before God and the... Read more

    Some additional quotations from Alister E. McGrath, Surprised by Meaning: Science, Faith, and How We Make Sense of Things (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2011).   From pages 4-5: The intellectual vitality of the natural sciences lies in their being able to say something without having to say everything.  Science simply cannot answer questions about the meaning of life and should not be expected — still less, forced — to do so.  To demand that science answer questions that... Read more

    I first read the Meditations of the Stoic Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius (AD 121-180) back when I was in high school.  I’ve had a deep fondness for him ever since, and (although he himself was a pagan and not particularly friendly toward the novel sect of the Christians) much of what he had to say seems appropriate, in my view, for reflection on the Sabbath:   Ἕωθεν προλέγειν ἑαυτῷ: συντεύξομαι περιέργῳ, ἀχαρίστῳ, ὑβριστῇ, δολερῷ, βασκάνῳ, ἀκοινωνήτῳ: πάντα ταῦτα... Read more

    The title page of the Book of Mormon concludes with a striking statement:   And now, if there are faults they are the mistakes of men; wherefore, condemn not the things of God, that ye may be found spotless at the judgment-seat of Christ.   In other words, the Book of Mormon never claims perfection or inerrancy for itself.   And yet a report from Wilford Woodruff about the Prophet Joseph Smith appears in the History of the Church... Read more

    There are those — some of them read my blog — who appear to argue that science is the only valid kind of knowledge, and that anything that isn’t scientific isn’t really knowledge.   I find such claims — if that’s indeed what they’re really saying — unspeakably weird.   I offer, below, a comment on the subject from the great German philosopher Hans-Georg Gadamer (1900-2002).  It’s perhaps just a bit difficult, but his point seems to me unassailably... Read more

    Another passage from my manuscript on Islam for Latter-day Saints:   Muslims should be just, but should soften that justice with kindness and with generosity to the needy and the dispossessed and, above all, to their kinfolk. The Qur’an commends such actions as The freeing of a slave, or giving food upon a day of hunger to an orphan near of kin or a needy man in misery.[1] Certainly, people should not commit adultery, nor murder, but should... Read more

    Thanks to the efforts of Elder Jeffrey M. Bradshaw, who is currently serving as a missionary with his wife in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Kinshasa Mission, the Interpreter Foundation is in a position to post some materials that, we believe and hope, will be of interest and of benefit to both teachers and class members in the Gospel Doctrine classes of the Church.  The first of these items has now appeared:   “Why Did Moses Seem to... Read more

    From John W. Welch, et al., eds.  Knowing Why: 137 Evidences That the Book of Mormon Is True (American Fork: Covenant Communications, 2017), 4-8.   Chapter 2, “Was the Book of Mormon Used as the First Church Administrative Handbook?” offers a brief but very instructive overview of points of practice and administration that are, today, virtually second nature to Latter-day Saints and very possibly so easily assumed that they’re taken for granted.  It’s an impressive list, ranging from insight... Read more

    Extracted from Alister E. McGrath, Surprised by Meaning: Science, Faith, and How We Make Sense of Things (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2011):   One of the most significant scientific discoveries of the last generation is that the universe was pregnant with the possibility of human existence right from its very start.  The laws of nature seem to be “fine-tuned” in order to make life possible.  As we noted in an earlier chapter, the early universe produced nearly... Read more

    Continuing with my manuscript on Islam for Mormons:   It is on the basis of his or her faith and good works, the Qur’an explains, that the fate of the individual soul is determined.[1] We are assured that life and death were created in order to test us: “We try you with evil and good for a testing, then unto Us you shall be returned.”[2] This test is fairly and carefully constructed, and every man and woman has... Read more