You’ll enjoy these, I think:   http://etherscave.blogspot.com/2016/01/some-earlier-posts-on-1-nephi.html     Read more

    Today’s reading, 2 Nephi 16 (= Isaiah 6), recounts the prophetic call of Isaiah.   His awestruck, even terrified, reaction to his vision is noteworthy.  He fears that he’s going to die, but, having undergone a supernatural purification, he survives.   However, what’s really remarkable about the chapter is the simple but plain fact that Isaiah saw God.   People who insist on denying that God has a form or can be seen are free, of course, to attempt to dance around... Read more

    “[Mormonism’s] invisibility, and the mystery which was attached to it, made this organization doubly terrible.  It appeared to be omniscient and omnipotent, and yet was neither seen nor heard.  The man who held out against the Church vanished away, and none knew whither he had gone or what had befallen him.  His wife and his children awaited him at home, but no father ever returned to tell them how he had fared at the hands of the secret... Read more

    I was saddened just minutes ago, while driving home from a lecture in West Jordan, Utah, to learn of the passing of my former dean (in BYU’s College of Humanities), Randy Jones.  Unless I’m mistaken, it was only a few weeks ago that I last spoke with him, and the news comes as a bit of a shock.  He had talked to me several times about wanting to come with me to Turkey someday.  Unfortunately, it never happened.  ... Read more

    The invaluable Ralph Hancock offers perspective on a superb contemporary novelist:   http://www.libertylawsite.org/2016/01/28/marilynne-robinson-and-the-mystery-of-progressive-democracy/     Read more

    The film writer for Christianity Today really likes a movie being shown at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.  The movie doesn’t sound very funny:   http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2016/january-web-only/dispatch-from-sundance-agnus-dei.html?utm_source=connection-html&utm_medium=Newsletter&utm_term=1281995&utm_content=414102328&utm_campaign=2013     Read more

    I’m absolutely delighted to have spoken with friends who have been on-the-ground participants in these efforts by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to help our brothers and sisters in Africa.  This infographic helps to get the overall picture, at least as it stood at the end of 2010.     Read more

    For years, many have claimed that hard neuroscientific data has proven that humans don’t actually have free will.   Now, though, that supposed proof doesn’t look even remotely so secure:   http://nymag.com/scienceofus/2016/02/a-neuroscience-finding-on-free-will.html   This is really important.     Read more

    In August 2005, John Clark, Wade Ardern, and Matt Roper presented the following interesting material to the annual FAIR (now FairMormon) conference:   http://www.fairmormon.org/perspectives/fair-conferences/2005-fair-conference/2005-debating-the-foundations-of-mormonism-the-book-of-mormon-and-archaeology     Read more

    Just in case anybody out there has even a flicker of interest:   I’ll be speaking tonight in West Jordan, Utah, on the topic of “Who’s Who and What’s What in the Middle East.”  I plan to present a basic introduction to the various groups and factions (e.g., Iranian, Arab, Turk, Sunni, Shi‘i, ISIS, al-Qa‘ida, the Kurds, Hamas, Hezbollah, the Muslim Brotherhood, the Wahhabi movement) that are always in the news.  They’re not always clearly explained in media accounts,... Read more