WiFi on the Nile cruise boats has always been frustratingly bad.  This time, it was altogether nonexistent.  Here, though, is something that I put together in Aswan on Monday, 7 November and then was unable to post.   I love the scenery around Aswan.  As we always do when we’re here with a group, we took our people on a small boat from where our cruise ship is docked to a small Nubian village several miles to the... Read more

    Several hours ago — I’m very busy in a very different time zone on the other side of the world, and I’m doing the best that I can — a new installment in the Interpreter Foundation’s series of short Witness-related “Insights” videos went up.  Please take a look.  They’re free.  And please share them.   Witnesses of the Book of Mormon — Insights Episode 29: Women Witnesses—Why and Why Not? There are a number of unofficial witnesses of the... Read more

      Preface:  Kufic Arabic script is a style of writing the Arabic language.  It originated very early — presumably in the city of Kufa, in Iraq — but it’s still sometimes used today.  It features the same Arabic letters that are commonly used elsewhere in other script styles but, in Kufic, they’re elongated and angular.  (See above.)  This makes Kufic script especially well-suited for, among other things, monumental architectural inscriptions in stone.   Now to an anecdote:  ... Read more

    Two new articles appeared just a few minutes ago in Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship.  They are:   “The Diachronic Usage of Exclamation Marks across the Major Book of Mormon Editions,” written by Scott L. Howell, Brooke Anderson, LaReina Hingson, Lanna McRae, Jesse Vincent, and Brandon Torruella Abstract: The usage of the exclamation mark has changed over time but continues to serve as an important textual interpretation aid. Punctuation itself has not been a permanent fixture in English, rather... Read more

    First, though, this was posted yesterday on the website of the Interpreter Foundation:   Conference Talks:  “Jacob’s Sermon (2 Nephi 6-10) and the Day of Atonement,” by William Hamblin This talk from 2012 is just a prelude to the 2022 Temple on Mount Zion Conference, coming this Friday and Saturday and featuring C. Wilfred Griggs, Margaret Barker, and many others. Go to https://tmz2022.interpreterfoundation.org for full information, including abstracts and a link to the live broadcast.     When I was... Read more

    Some time ago, I read John L. Esposito and Dalia Mogahed, Who Speaks for Islam? What a Billion Muslims Really Think (New York: Gallup Press, 2007).  I’m now organizing for my use in a writing project some of the passages that I marked during that reading, and I intend to share at least a portion of those here.   Very plainly, Muslims and Islam have a public relations problem.  That’s obvious.  And it’s obvious why, too.  There is simply no... Read more

    First, I want to remind you of the Interpreter Foundation conference that will take place this weekend.  Please see the graphic image above for information and for links at which you will be able to obtain further information.     We climbed up today from Jericho, which averages nearly 850 feet below sea level, through Bethlehem to Jerusalem, which averages about 2475 feet above the level of the sea.  Whenever I travel this road, in either direction, I... Read more

    I’ve just received the following program update from my friend Royal Skousen, so I share it with you here.  I now believe that — flight connections permitting! — I will be able to attend the conference in person myself, and I hope to see you there as well.  Please note that, thanks to the support of a generous donor, admission to the presentation is free:   Textual Criticism and the Book of Mormon Presentation by Royal Skousen Utah... Read more

    Yet another new video from the Interpreter Foundation has gone up online for you to watch and share:   Witnesses of the Book of Mormon — Insights Episode 28: Ancient Metal Plates? In Joseph Smith’s day, people claimed that his story of ancient metal plates was evidence against him—because no such thing existed. In modern times, with the discovery of many examples of ancient plates, critics now claim that, of course, Joseph knew about ancient records on metal. What... Read more

    Particularly in my early graduate school days, there were times when I thought that my having come from a completely non-academic family had worked against me.   I have friends and long-time colleagues, themselves with strong Ph.D.s from prestigious schools, who have fathers and grandfathers and multiple siblings with professional and academic doctorates — in at least a couple of cases, with more than one doctorate — and for them, I discovered, going into a doctoral program was... Read more