Peering twelve billion years into the past:   http://www.space.com/31597-universe-first-stars-gas-cloud-evidence.html   Even I wasn’t around then.   This is really quite interesting.  It took the universe quite a while to become ready for the appearance of life.  Among other things, the stars had to create the heavy elements first.  The European Southern Observatory may have located a place where that occurred and traces of the process still remain.     Read more

    The sad, slow decline of the Church of England continues:   http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/12095251/Church-of-England-attendance-plunges-to-record-low.html     Read more

    John Gee presented this paper to the first-ever annual FAIR (now FairMormon) conference, back in 1999:   http://www.fairmormon.org/perspectives/fair-conferences/1999-fair-conference/1999-the-corruption-of-scripture-in-the-second-century     Read more

    I’m more pleased than I can say about this effort, which (even better!) comes out of BYU-Idaho:   http://lds.net/blog/life/latter-day-saints/true-muslim-stories/?utm_source=lds.net+users&utm_campaign=7c90b4f041-Newsletter_Jan_14_2016&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_608611419d-7c90b4f041-86348953   (As I was writing this up, I received a note from Rodney Ross alerting me to it.  Thanks to all those who bring interesting items to my attention.)     Read more

    Sustainable, local, small-scale agriculture (e.g., in urban gardens) is a big fashionable deal in restaurants and organic markets and conversations in certain places (e.g., in the Pacific Northwest, certain coastal areas of California, and so forth).   But is it feasible as a way of feeding large numbers of people?   No.   http://www.washington.edu/news/2016/01/13/fewer-than-1-in-25-seattleites-can-really-eat-locally/     Read more

    Today’s installment of my weekly Deseret News column:   http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865645401/Meet-three-of-the-Eight-Witnesses.html     Read more

    Some of you — especially you Cougar fans — might enjoy this latest instance of the now-venerable tradition of adding fake English subtitles to a scene from the (superb) 2004 German film about the last days of Hitler, Der Untergang (“Downfall”):   http://www.cougarboard.com/board/message.html?id=15286910   Here’s an item that will provide some background for those who live in bunkers:   “U of U’s Coach K explains why he canceled BYU, Utah rivalry game”     Read more

    We had the privilege of attending a very good funeral today — yes, a funeral can be “good,” in a way — for our dear friend Robert Cundick.   A grandson read the family-written obituary, which I commend to anybody who might be interested:   http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/deseretnews/obituary.aspx?n=robert-milton-cundick&pid=177213384&fhid=23305   The music, as you might have expected, was wonderful:  The prelude and postlude were played by Richard Elliott (including an organ version of “He is the Root and the Offspring of David,”... Read more

    Two important principles of scriptural interpretation are clearly stated or implied in today’s reading, 1 Nephi 19:   1.   As plainly shown in 1 Nephi 19:6, Nephi claims no infallibility for himself and no inerrancy for his writing.  Nor does the Book of Mormon claim inerrancy for itself.  Indeed, quite the contrary:  “And now,” says the revealed ancient “Title Page” to the Book of Mormon, “if there are faults they are the mistakes of men; wherefore, condemn not... Read more

    Proof is only applicable to very rarefied areas of philosophy and mathematics. . . .  For the most part we are driven to acting on good evidence, without the luxury of proof.  There is good evidence of the link between cause and effect.  There is good evidence that the sun will rise tomorrow.  There is good reason to believe my mother loves me and is not just fattening me up for the moment when she will pop arsenic... Read more