In this reading, 2 Nephi 24 (= Isaiah 14), Isaiah prophesies the eventual fall of the Babylonian Empire.   Israel, Isaiah says, will be returned to its homeland, and they will take captive those who had held them captive.   This is the chapter that contains the famous reference to the fall of Lucifer from heaven.  But we make the chapter much more difficult and obscure than it needs to be if we choose to interpret verses 12-14 as referring, in... Read more

    Thanks to Chrystine Heward Reynolds for bringing these absolutely wonderful — and stunningly impressive — sixteen minutes to my attention:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YB-j_pvidq4   When The Donald and Bolshie Bernie and Clinton Inc. begin to bring me down, it’s nice to remember that there are whole worlds out there beyond politics.   And may they ever remain so.   But this particular case also reminds me that far too many human lives and far too many remarkable talents have been,... Read more

    Ron Barney delivered this presentation at the August 2009 FAIR conference.  The topic is one of those most frequently raised by disaffected members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints:   http://www.fairmormon.org/perspectives/fair-conferences/2009-fair-conference/2009-the-reliability-of-mormon-history-produced-by-the-lds-church     Read more

    Thanks to Jeff Chadwick for bringing this item to my notice:   http://www.timesofisrael.com/rivlin-welcomes-israels-new-sharia-judges-in-jerusalem-ceremony/   It’s interesting from several angles.  I’ll mention two:   *  Many in the United States are worried, or claim to be worried, about the possible imposition of shari‘a upon non-Muslims in America.  In striking contrast, Israel, which has a proportionally  much larger Muslim population than the United States and which experiences considerable friction with Muslim communities both foreign and domestic, doesn’t seem to be... Read more

    Just a couple of days before he speaks to Interpreter’s science and religion conference:   https://cpms.byu.edu/calendar/?event=30823     Read more

    Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity is almost exactly a century old.  And now comes important observational support for one of its last and oddest predictions:   http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/12/science/ligo-gravitational-waves-black-holes-einstein.html?_r=1   This is really, really big news, as science news goes.     Read more

    “Christianity preaches the infinite worth of that which is seemingly worthless and the infinite worthlessness of that which is seemingly so valued.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer     Read more

    An upcoming conference that some out there might find of interest:   http://www.uvu.edu/religiousstudies/boundaries/     Read more

    My high school physics and chemistry are soooooooo out of date:   https://www.sciencenews.org/article/physicists-find-signs-four-neutron-nucleus   Thanks to David Wills, in Australia, for calling this to my notice.     Read more

    For those who may still not grasp the depth of the evil represented by ISIS, here’s a new glimpse:   http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/isis-execution-video-shows-british-four-year-old-isa-dare-blowing-up-car-with-prisoners-inside-a6866626.html   For an eyewitness account of what life is like in ISIS’s capital of Raqqa, Syria, see here.     Read more