I recently came across this summary of four elements of the fine-tuning argument.  It occurs in the printed text of Alister McGrath’s 2009 Gifford Lectures, delivered at the University of Aberdeen, in Scotland:   1. 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 on the chemical properties of carbon, that life could not have come into being... Read more

    It being Friday, Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture has posted yet another new article:   “On Doctrine and Covenants Language and the 1833 Plot of Zion”   ***   And, speaking of that 1833 plan for the city of Zion, here’s an interesting article from Forbes:   “A Brief Introduction to Mormon Urbanism”   There are a couple of odd year-date errors in it, one of them likely owing to a mere typo and the other a... Read more

    This is a really appalling story:   “Scandal Erupts over the Promotion of ‘Bourgeois’ Behavior”   If it’s no longer possible to advocate civility, childrearing within a faithful marriage, and a work ethic without being accused of racism, our culture may actually be past saving.   ***   And this is horrifying, as well:   “Linguistic McCarthyism”   It puts me in mind of the mind-numbingly silly controversy of a few years back surrounding the word niggardly:   “Controversies... Read more

    My regular Thursday Deseret News column for the week has appeared:   “‘Why Science Does Not Disprove God'”   If you don’t mind relentlessly volcanic anger, lies, and non-stop ad hominem attacks, you might find it of interest.   ***   Here’s a roughly fourteen-minute video that some of you — and particularly those of you possessed of a younger sensibility — might enjoy and find helpful:   “Do Mormons Believe in Multiple Gods? | 3 Mormons”   It... Read more

    One of the charges that has been leveled at the Book of Mormon for generations is that, with Nephi’s building of a temple in the New World, the story contradicts ancient Jewish insistence that a temple can only be built in Jerusalem.   The incomparable Jeff Lindsay offers a perspective on that claim in this very brief discussion:   “Ancient Temples, Shrines, and Altars Outside of Jerusalem”   ***   In an interview regarding some of his recent... Read more

    The question of abiogenesis, the emergence of life from non-life, continues to be a major challenge for scientists and, in a different sense, for secular naturalists.   When I was a kid, we were still talking about the classic 1952 Miller-Urey experiments — conducted by the chemists Stanley Miller and Harold Urey at the University of Chicago and then by Miller at the University of California at San Diego — which famously demonstrated that amino acids could form... Read more

    Jeff Lindsay makes an important point here, one with which (for reasons that will rapidly become obvious) I completely agree:   “The Human Cost of Drawing People Away from Faith”   ***   Meanwhile, David French asks an increasingly urgent question:   “Can a Progressive’s ‘Inclusive Values’ Include Christianity?”   ***   I like this passage from a lecture given in New York City by the great British New Testament scholar (and former Anglican bishop) N. T. Wright:   “Humans... Read more

    The stories and pictures coming out of Texas are horrific.  Appalling.   But we can help.   I’ve seen claims, from a few implacable critics of the Church, that, as usual, the “Mor(m)ons” are concerned about their silly temple but, otherwise, are leaving the work of helping the victims of Hurricane Harvey to other churches and organizations, and even to mosques.   We do nothing.   Some critics are absolutely rejoicing in the damage to the temple.  ... Read more

      Several people have called my attention to this intriguing item:   “Lost Language Discovered at Egyptian Monastery”   Unfortunately, it’s been many years since I last visited St. Catherine’s Monastery.  I never thought that would happen, but life goes in directions that we don’t anticipate.  It’s an absolutely fascinating place.   In its glory days, the Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies (FARMS), the precursor to the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship (and to... Read more