Brigham Young, Karl Marx, and Friedrich Engels

Last updated on: February 25, 2026 at 3:42 pm By Dan Peterson

The second part of our discussion with Matt Grow, the Managing Director of the Church History Department in Salt Lake City, is now up: “Why Brigham Young, An Introduction,” Part Two. All of the five currently-available episodes (along with some other supporting materials) are accessible at becomingbrigham.com. I wanted to add a comment to something that he said in this second part of our discussion: He mentioned Brigham Young’s encounter with the social and economic conditions of the middle... Read more

“This is your daughter, Virginia.”

Last updated on: February 23, 2026 at 9:16 pm By Dan Peterson

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The fifth installment of the Interpreter Foundation’s ongoing series of mini-documentaries is now up for viewing, and (of course) it’s available at no charge: Becoming Brigham, Episode 5—”Why Brigham Young?” Part Two. Today’s video features Matt Grow, who is the managing director of the Church History Department in Salt Lake City. All of the episodes of Becoming Brigham — including this new one, Episode 5 — are available for viewing at becomingbrigham.com. We hope that you’ll subscribe, so that... Read more

Some things for the Sabbath

Last updated on: February 22, 2026 at 5:25 pm By Dan Peterson

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Have you marked your calendar for this upcoming Interpreter Foundation conference? We would love to see you there: “For a Wise Purpose in Him” Perspectives on the Small Plates of Nephi (1 Nephi – Words of Mormon) A Conference on the Small Plates of Nephi in the Book of Mormon May 29-30, 2026 Sponsored by The Interpreter Foundation In the interest of deepening Latter-day Saint understanding and appreciation of the text, context, and doctrine of 1 Nephi through Words... Read more

Good Weekend Reading, followed by a Film Festival

Last updated on: February 21, 2026 at 4:10 pm By Dan Peterson

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Another new item has just gone up on the essentially comatose website of the Interpreter Foundation: Conversations with Interpreter: Episode 4: “Sons and Fathers: Abraham’s Family and the Two Altars of the Temple,” with John S. Thompson: In this episode of Conversations with Interpreter, Thora and Avram speak with John Thompson about his paper from the 2025 Abraham and His Family Conference held at BYU in May 2025. Thompson, an Egyptologist who is a retired teacher for Seminaries and... Read more

“Who Wrote Alma 29?”

Last updated on: February 20, 2026 at 4:33 pm By Dan Peterson

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A new article has just gone up, yet again, on the website of the moribund Interpreter Foundation: C. Robb Smith, “Alma or Mormon? The Voice of Alma 29,” Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 68 (2026) : 53-118: Abstract: For more than a century, Alma 29 has been read as a direct quotation from the prophet Alma. Yet, unlike every other extended quotation in Mormon’s record, this passage lacks attribution, framing, or transition. This anomaly has... Read more

A couple of brief constitutional meditations

Last updated on: February 19, 2026 at 6:26 pm By Dan Peterson

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Have you visited becomingbrigham.com yet? Four episodes of our new series of mini-documentaries have already gone up online; a fifth will drop on Monday. Don’t fall too far behind. I saw recently that the highly respected Latter-day Saint historian and recent editor of BYU Studies Steven C. Harper has announced his intention to devote some time over the next while to comment upon the Constitution of the United States. He reasons that, since Latter-day Saints believe the Constitution to be... Read more

Ramadan Kareem!

Last updated on: February 18, 2026 at 10:34 pm By Dan Peterson

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First of all, I want to wish a Ramadan Kareem to any Muslim readers that I might have. The holy month of Ramadan — a period of fasting, scripture-reading, and reflection — began last evening (Tuesday evening) and will continue through 19 March. It also happens, this year, that the forty-day period of Lent (also a time for reflection and of at least some abstinence) commences today and continues until 2 April, so that Lent and Ramadan roughly coincide.... Read more

In case you happen to be in Belgium this coming Friday

Last updated on: February 17, 2026 at 7:38 pm By Dan Peterson

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The fourth installment of our Becoming Brigham series is now up, and you can watch it (and its three predecessors) at becomingbrigham.com. And did you, by any chance, catch the interview that I did two or three weeks ago with Nathan Lenaghen, of BYU-Idaho Radio? Here it is: “New documentary series focuses on Brigham Young” And if, by chance, you missed the Becoming Brigham fireside that we held in south Orem on 31 January — and just in case... Read more

“God is An Englishman”

Last updated on: February 16, 2026 at 6:42 pm By Dan Peterson

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I’ve seen some astonishing misrepresentations of the devotional address that President Dallin H. Oaks delivered at Brigham Young University on 10 February 2026, almost a week ago. It was his first public address since assuming the presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — and it addressed an audience well beyond BYU’s campus — and so, not surprisingly, it’s drawn fire from Church critics. (Moreover, President Oaks has always been something of a bête noire for... Read more

A bit more on Elder Gilbert as an “enforcer”

Last updated on: February 15, 2026 at 4:36 pm By Dan Peterson

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The three portions of Becoming Brigham that are available as of today can all be viewed at becomingbrigham.com. I encourage you to go there and, if you haven’t already done so, to subscribe to the series — for which, of course, there is no charge. Tomorrow’s installment of Becoming Brigham — Episode 4 — features Matt Grow, the Managing Director of the Church History Department of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City. (To... Read more

Who said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God"?