I would like to commend two recent blog entries by the redoubtable Jeff Lindsay to your attention. It seems particularly fitting to do so as we’re about to enter a new year for the “Come, Follow Me” curriculum of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a curriculum that will be focused on the Book of Mormon: “Nephi’s Three-day Journey into the Wilderness: The Natural vs. the Naturalistic Reading” “The Glue of Forgiveness and the Anti-Nephi-Lehies (the People... Read more
My day yesterday (Friday) was completely booked, from morning until late at night, and I posted nothing. Which means that I failed to note that a new article appeared yesterday in Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship. And it was just a bit unusual: For the first time in the history of the Interpreter Foundation, I think, someone other than, well, me wrote an introduction for a volume of Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and... Read more
I can’t say that I’m even slightly surprised by these findings, which are reported by the impressive Stephen Cranney. I’ve always tended to regard the self-description “I’m spiritual, but not religious” as rather vacuous. But it’s good — albeit, yes, admittedly quite sad — to see them backed by apparently solid data: “Less church, less prayer: Data challenges ‘spiritual but not religious’ mantra: The available data show that people who step away from formalized religion are also more likely to... Read more
Even at Christmas, the Interpreter Foundation continues to produce. Here, for example, is a sextet of very recent new items: “Conference Talks: Recovering the Language of Purity after the First Revolt“ The fourth “Temple on Mount Zion” Conference was held on Saturday, 10 November 2018 in the Tanner Building at Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah. The presentations were filmed, and both video and audio recordings of each presentation are available. The videos are currently available both at and on... Read more
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
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