Every year since I launched this blog, I have called attention to some of my favorite Christmas music. I did it a little bit this year, too, though not to the extent that I’ve previously done and not nearly so systematically. I realize, obviously, that we’re past Christmas now. But it suddenly dawned on me that I had failed to mention one of my very favorite pieces of Christmas music — probably the one that impelled me to start... Read more
Christmas is winding down. In certain areas of the globe, indeed, the Christmas holiday is already receding into the past — and a time that is often associated with resolutions for the future is rapidly approaching. Many of you, no doubt, follow the same brilliant labor-saving technique that I do: I simply dust the previous year’s list of unfulfilled resolutions off and then recycle them yet again. For those, however, who may perhaps aspire to a bit more, I... Read more
At the request of the Deseret News, I published the brief message that follows back on 16 December 2010, under the title of “Christmas in the Holy Land — somber, yet triumphant.” I wish that I could report that conditions in the Holy Land today, thirteen years later, were better. Obviously, though, I cannot. (See “Christmas celebrations canceled in Bethlehem as war rages in Gaza.”) But the message and the meaning of Christmas are as badly needed now as... Read more
Today is the 218th anniversary of the birth of the Prophet Joseph Smith, in Sharon, Vermont. Perhaps, had he not been born so close to the super-holiday of Christmas, his birthday would have been widely commemorated among contemporary Latter-day Saints in the manner of, say, Pioneer Day. I rather doubt it, but perhaps. As it is, in the manner of a celestial object that’s positioned adjacent to the sun in the daytime sky, any thoughts of Joseph’s birth... Read more
I published the following Christmas-themed article in Meridian Magazine last night: “Mary’s Unique Role in Our Salvation” I hope that some of you will find it acceptable. In this connection, you might enjoy BYU’s female a cappella ensemble, Noteworthy, singing “Mary, Did You Know?” along with guest artist Peter Hollens. I surely did. And please take a quick look at this, too: “Pres. Holland posts tender tribute to mothers: ‘Your sacrifice is not unnoticed’.” The Interpreter Foundation’s 2023 Christmas... Read more
New on the website of the Interpreter Foundation: “The Temple: Ancient and Restored: How John’s Gospel Portrays Jesus as the Way of the Temple” was written by John S. Thompson Part of our book chapter reprint series, this article originally appeared in The Temple: Ancient and Restored, Proceedings of the Second Interpreter Matthew B. Brown Memorial Conference “The Temple on Mount Zion,” 25 October 2014 (2016) edited by Stephen D. Ricks and Donald W. Parry. For more information, go... Read more
Still feeling under the weather and unambitious and, more importantly, thinking that there might be some interest in these, I share a couple of columns that I first published during Christmas seasons the better part of a decade ago. Here’s the first of them: The Book of Mormon is something worth noting at Christmas time: It’s a second witness for Jesus Christ. It begins, on its title page, by declaring that it comes forth “to the convincing of the... Read more
I published the column below in the Deseret News on 9 December 2010. I’m sharing it today partly because I’m sick and, for that reason, I have roughly the energy, at the moment, of an unusually lethargic clam. Despite its age, though, I don’t think that the article is, as yet, completely obsolete. And I hope that perhaps you might find something enjoyable or helpful in it for the season: I often wonder which of the two holidays,... Read more
I published this article in Salt Lake City’s Deseret News back on 19 December 2019: “What is the appeal of Christmas beyond Christian believers?” It was supposed to have been co-written with my dear friend William J. Hamblin. But, to my deep and continuing sorrow, he had suddenly passed away the previous week, on 10 December 2019: Landing this month at the international airport in Cairo, Egypt — busy gateway to a city and a nation that are roughly... Read more
Tomorrow night (Monday night), I will be giving the tenth in a final series of eleven “Learn Our Religion” lectures up in West Jordan, Utah. Reservations are required, I believe — by no later than 4 PM on the day of the lecture — and there is a charge for attendance. The title that has been announced for my remarks is “Mormons, Muslims, Muhammad and More . . . ” Lecture Pricing Pricing for Lectures: To secure... Read more
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