In connection with today’s reading in Mosiah 29, I again toss humility aside and recommend my article of a number of years ago on “Authority in the Book of Mosiah”:   http://publications.maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/publications/review/18/1/S00009-5176a97bb7a9a9Peterson.pdf   More than a few critics of the Book of Mormon have laughed at what they regard as the obvious echoes of American republicanism and democracy in this chapter, but the situation isn’t nearly that simple.  My article demonstrates that, while Mosiah is concerned, yes, about ending “inequality,”... Read more

    Today is the eleventh anniversary of the passing of my mother.  Yesterday was her birthday.   As has become my annual tradition, I repost here the remarks that I delivered (very haltingly) at her funeral in 2005:   My very earliest memories of my mother, I believe, are of traveling with her to serve others.  She worked from early in the morning until she could work no longer, late at night, to serve not only her family but other... Read more

    Ha ha!  My title is, more or less, a joke.  (And, anyway, it should, strictly speaking, read “polygyny.”)   But it grabbed your attention, right?   Whatever.  Here’s the article that inspired my post:   http://national.deseretnews.com/article/18623/women-are-more-religious-than-men-except-if-theyre.html   I could also have come up with an inflammatory title about how it demonstrates why men are ordained to the priesthood and women aren’t.  But I didn’t.  Self-restraint is my middle name.     Read more

    From time to time, I read claims that Islam and Muslims have contributed absolutely nothing to world civilization beyond terror and oppression.  Sometimes — to my considerable astonishment — such assertions are sent to me directly.   A week or so ago, one poster online explained that the golden or classical age of the Arabs (which extended, arguably, from around 800 AD until the Mongol conquest of Baghdad in 1258 AD, and which was overwhelmingly propelled by Muslim thinkers, scientists,... Read more

    We can easily take it for granted, but it truly is astounding:   http://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2016/04/08/what-is-the-most-astounding-fact-about-the-universe/#7f8fa61f144b     Read more

    I’m pleased to see the progress that this choir seems to be making, and I’m very pleased that the official Church is helping out:   http://www.sltrib.com/home/3752725-155/mostly-black-mormon-choir-lengthens-its     Read more

    That deep emotional conviction of the presence of a superior reasoning power, which is revealed in the incomprehensible universe, forms my idea of God. Albert Einstein     Read more

    And again, I say unto you, I remember my servant Oliver Granger; behold, verily I say unto him that his name shall be had in sacred remembrance from generation to generation, forever and ever, saith the Lord. Therefore, let him contend earnestly for the redemption of the First Presidency of my Church, saith the Lord; and when he falls he shall rise again, for his sacrifice shall be more sacred unto me than his increase, saith the Lord. Therefore,... Read more

    Today’s reading, Mosiah 28, mentions in passing the launch of the great mission to the Lamanites undertaken by the sons of King Mosiah.   It will provide some of the greatest and most inspiring stories in the Book of Mormon.   It will also — by moving the king’s sons beyond the borders of the kingdom — oblige Mosiah to consider the question of the royal succession, and, ultimately, to reconsider the continuation of the Nephite monarchy itself.   I’m... Read more

    It would be interesting to see what Latter-day Saint thinkers might come up with on this general theme:   http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/are-we-living-in-a-computer-simulation/   Anybody out there want to give it a whirl?     Read more