A general conference of this Church is a remarkable occasion indeed – it is an institutional declaration that the heavens are open, that divine guidance is as real today as it was for the ancient house of Israel, that God our Heavenly Father loves us and speaks His will through a living prophet. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, “The Peaceable Things of the Kingdom,” General Conference (October 1996) Read more
1. Mixed news, perhaps, but cautiously optimistic: “For Iraqi Christians at home and abroad, the road to reconstruction is long” With regard to the article above, please keep in mind that the Iraqi Kurds are, themselves, overwhelmingly (Sunni) Muslim. I sometimes see discussions of Iraq’s “Sunnis, Shi‘ites, and Kurds” that seem to imagine that the Kurds are, perhaps, not Muslim. But Kurd is an ethnic descriptor, while Sunni and Shi‘ite are religious descriptors. The error would... Read more
Just another reminder that, at 7 PM on Wednesday, 12 April 2017, in the “Education in Zion” auditorium (B-192 JFSB on the BYU campus), Professor Royal Skousen will discuss the differences between the first and second editions of his multi-book Analysis of Textual Variants (ATV). He will also talk about the whole work itself — namely, what ATV means for the text of the Book of Mormon, how textual criticism of the Book of Mormon should be pursued, and how scholarly textual criticism... Read more
I’m pleased at the increasingly worldwide outreach of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as illustrated in this story (with a video): http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/primary-leader-visits-refugee-camps-uganda Moreover, as I learned over dinner on Thursday evening, Elder Larry Lawrence and his wife were in Jordan a couple of weeks ago with Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve, where, among other things, they visited a refugee camp full of people displaced by the Syrian civil war.... Read more
An appropriate article to contemplate today, written by one of the most valuable contributors to the Deseret News: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865676737/The-best-April-Fools-Day-pranks-in-history.html Read more
Another interesting item about The Expanse, and the role of Latter-day Saints in both the novels and the SyFy series built upon them: http://www.sltrib.com/lifestyle/faith/5036228-155/a-planet-of-their-own-mormons?fullpage=1 Incidentally, just a reminder: Today marks the beginning of the two-day annual General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. If you attend, be prepared for protesters, some of whom will be civil and some of whom, most likely, won’t be. And be prepared, even if you don’t attend, for online... Read more
A good three-minute video from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at Easter season: https://www.mormon.org/?cid=80012022 Read more
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865676865/Why-are-there-so-few-Muslim-terrorists.html Thus far, the reader comments — both of them — are unanimously negative. Rather insulting, in fact. That’s fine. This column, limited (as they always are) to a maximum of 739 words, doesn’t pretend to set forth the argument of Charles Kurzman’s book. It seeks, rather, simply to call attention to that book, which makes a really interesting and (I think) solid case. Read more
“Viewing the general conference sessions with our family is not sufficient to bring a love for the prophets. On one occasion some years before my call as a General Authority, I conducted a meeting presided over by one of the Apostles. After the meeting, I asked him about his stake conference talks. “Do you prepare something specific for each stake conference?” I asked. He replied that he generally did not, but relied upon the promptings received just prior to and during the conference. But then he added, “But my... Read more
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