Today’s reading, 2 Nephi 28, leads me to ask a few questions:   Is there any religious contention today?  (See verse 3.)   Are there theologians and ecclesiastical leaders and academics in religious studies out there who take a purely or largely intellectual approach to matters of religion, neglecting revelation and the Spirit?  (See verses 4, 15.)   Do even many religious leaders dismiss modern revelation and miracles?  (See verses 5-6, 29.)   Is our society more, and more... Read more

    For the Interpreter Foundation’s 156th scripture roundtable, Cassandra Hedelius, Craig Foster, Stephen Smoot, Martin Tanner, and Bruce Webster discussed Jacob 1-4, the passages from the Book of Mormon that form the basis of 2016 Gospel Doctrine lesson 12:   http://www.mormoninterpreter.com/scripture-roundtable-156-book-of-mormon-gospel-doctrine-lesson-12-seek-ye-for-the-kingdom-of-god/   Posted from Ka’anapali, Maui, Hawai‘i     Read more

    http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/church-growing-rapidly-africa   See also   “Ground Broken for First Central Africa Temple”   Posted from Kaanapali, Maui, Hawaii     Read more

    I delivered these remarks at the FairMormon conference that was held in August 2011:   http://www.fairmormon.org/perspectives/fair-conferences/2011-fair-conference/2011-mormonism-islam-and-the-question-of-other-religions   I like to imagine that perhaps one or two people out there might find them of at least some slight interest.   I apologize for the fact — I just noticed it — that my block quotations in the transcript aren’t marked off as such.  But, if readers pay attention, they’re not very difficult to recognize.   Posted from Kaanapali, Maui,... Read more

    Or, more precisely, of ice?   Here’s a strange item out of the University of Nebraska:   http://news.unl.edu/newsrooms/unltoday/article/scientists-reveal-new-ice-with-record-low-density/   And, by the way, Ameritas (in the article) is actually not a misspelling of Emeritus.   I’m looking at a whole lot of water right now.  But there’s absolutely no ice in sight.  Weird, huh?   Posted from Kaanapali, Maui, Hawaii     Read more

    Government is an institution which prevents injustice other than such as it commits itself. Ibn Khaldun (1332 [Tunis]-1406 [Cairo])   Posted from Kaanapali, Maui, Hawaii     Read more

    Stephen Smoot brings this interesting item to my notice, accompanied by this ironic comment:  “I’m confused, Dan. I have been assured by a whole bunch of Internet atheists, including atheist ex-Mormons, that scientists are walking embodiments of objectivity, honesty, and critical rationality. Only theists, and especially filthy ‘apologists,’ would do something like falsify data.”   https://www.newscientist.com/article/2077380-in-science-is-honesty-really-always-the-best-policy/   No mere scientist — indeed, no ordinary mortal — could possibly approach my staggering and incessant dishonesty, for example.  Still, on the... Read more

    Cassandra Hedelius, Stephen Smoot, and Daniel Peterson participated in the Interpreter Foundation’s 155th scripture roundtable.  It focuses on 2016 Gospel Doctrine lesson 11, which, in its turn, is built around 2 Nephi 31-33:   http://www.mormoninterpreter.com/scripture-roundtable-155-book-of-mormon-gospel-doctrine-lesson-11-press-forward-with-a-steadfastness-in-christ/   Posted from Kaanapali, Maui, Hawaii     Read more

    Cure yourself of the affliction of caring how you appear to others.  Concern yourself only with how you appear before God, concern yourself only with the idea that God may have of you. Miguel de Unamuno (d. 1936)   Posted from Kaanapali, Maui, Hawaii   Read more

    In the Interpreter Foundation’s 154th scripture roundtable, Martin Tanner and Bruce Webster discuss 2 Nephi 26-30, which corresponds to Lesson 10 in the 2016 Gospel Doctrine manual:   http://www.mormoninterpreter.com/scripture-roundtable-154-book-of-mormon-gospel-doctrine-lesson-10-he-inviteth-all-to-come-unto-him/   Posted from Kaanapali, Maui, Hawaii     Read more