I’m grateful to Cody Quirk for bringing both of these articles to my attention:   “Ancient DNA reveals fate of the mysterious Canaanites”   “Living Descendants of Biblical Canaanites Identified via DNA”   It’s taken me a while to get to these links, and I regret that:   When this story first appeared, some hailed it as casting doubt upon the historical accuracy of the Bible.  (The original title of the first story read something like “Ancient DNA... Read more

    Interpreter‘s article for the week is likely to go up a bit late today, owing to . . .  well, to some real-life matters that need attending to by the person who puts our articles up, who has just moved across the continent.   So, in the meantime, I’ll provide links to some things that I’ve found interesting:   ***   “One of the ‘Sistas in Zion’ tweets her thoughts on people who leave the LDS faith”   I myself have... Read more

    For a time, Dr. Glen Cooper, a former student of mine, was a colleague in both the Middle Eastern Texts Initiative and, thereupon, the Department of History at Brigham Young University.   I was delighted to see this profile of him in BYU’s alumni magazine:   Islamic Renaissance Man Dr. Cooper’s field is a very important one, as scholarly disciplines go.  It’s important both intrinsically and, given the lack of awareness among a sizable proportion of Americans regarding Muslim contributions... Read more

    “Guyra will field a side in Sunday’s NERU minor semi-final”   Not, perhaps, the outcome that some would hope for.  But I have mixed feelings on situations like this, and I honor either choice.     Read more

    “Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence.  Talent will not: nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent.  Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb.  Education will not: the world is full of educated derelicts.  Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.” Calvin Coolidge (1872-1933)     Read more

    Gearing up for a very big chiasmus-related event in mid-August:   https://knowhy.bookofmormoncentral.org/content/how-did-biblical-and-ancient-near-eastern-authors-use-chiasmus     Read more

    Perhaps, for starters, we ought to nail down what the term AI or artificial intelligence even means.   “Zuckerberg and Musk are both wrong about AI”   That seems fairly obvious, doesn’t it?  But major thinkers on the topic — or, at least, vocal opinion-holders on it — routinely don’t.     Read more

    A short but interesting little article from the always-interesting Muslim writer Reza Aslan:   Reza Aslan Argues: There Is No Divide Between Islam and American Culture     Read more

    If you’re in the area and you haven’t signed up for a tour, you may still have a shot at it:   http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/provo-mtc-open-house-2017     Read more

    You might enjoy watching the first video on this site, which has English subtitles:   http://ldschurchtemples.org/rome/video/     Read more