![\"Satellite](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2015\/07\/800px-Istmo_de_Corinto_ESC_large_ISS011_ISS011-E-13188.jpg\")
<\/a>The very straight line visible across the Isthmus is the \u0394\u03b9\u03ce\u03c1\u03c5\u03b3\u03b1 \u03c4\u03b7\u03c2 \u039a\u03bf\u03c1\u03af\u03bd\u03b8\u03bf\u03c5 or Corinth Canal, proposed in antiquity but not finally constructed until the late nineteenth century.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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An interview that I recently did with Hank Smith and John Bytheway on 1 Corinthians 14-16 has begun to go up, in two parts, on their \u201cFollow Him\u201d podcast, under the title \u201cGod is Not the Author of Confusion, but of Peace\u201d:<\/p>\n
1 Corinthians 14-16 Part 1 \u2022 Dr. Daniel C. Peterson \u2022 Sept 4 \u2013 Sept 10<\/a><\/p>\n I\u2019m not sure that the second part has actually been posted yet. \u00a0Happily, whether or not to listen to either of the two parts (or to watch either of them) is a free and voluntary decision.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n For some reason, I received an ad in the mail yesterday from an outfit calling itself \u201cMy Patriot Supply\u201d<\/a> (\u201cTrusted Self-Reliance\u201d). \u00a0It\u2019s an emergency food-storage company based in Sandpoint, Idaho. \u00a0(It may have a Latter-day Saint connection, or it may not; there\u2019s certainly no shortage of survivalist or pepper types in northern Idaho. \u00a0But what really caught my attention was the chance to win a personal armored tank, valued at $440,000. \u00a0I mean, come on. \u00a0Who wouldn\u2019t want a personal \u201cstreet-legal survival tank\u201d? \u00a0Scroll on down, and you\u2019ll find it. \u00a0I may sign up. \u00a0\u201cBulletproof. \u00a0EMP and Explosives Protection. \u00a0Smoke Screen and Pepper Spray. + Much More!\u201d \u00a0Maybe then<\/em> I\u2019ll finally get some respect from my neighbors!<\/p>\n But I probably shouldn\u2019t have told you about it. \u00a0The fewer people who sign up for the raffle, the better chance that I\u2019ll have of winning my personal tank. \u00a0So please forget about it. \u00a0Waving hand mystically in front of your face: \u00a0\u201cThis is not the tank you\u2019re looking for.\u201d \u00a0If I win, I promise that I\u2019ll let you come and watch as I maraud around my ward and stake.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Over the past couple of days, I\u2019ve noticed a recrudescence of a claim that part of Joseph Smith\u2019s story of the golden plates is flatly and demonstrably false. \u00a0Here\u2019s how the argument goes:<\/p>\n Later estimates of the weight of the gold plates of the Book of Mormon (by those who had briefly held them, such as the official witness Martin Harris and the unofficial witness William Smith) put that weight at somewhere in the range of forty to sixty pounds.\u00a0 Some critics, accordingly, have contended that Joseph Smith could not have carried them for any significant distance, let alone run with them through the woods.\u00a0 The plates \u2014 if they actually existed and weighed as much as the witnesses say they did \u2014 were simply too heavy.\u00a0 Thus, these critics argue, at least that portion of his story must be fraudulent.<\/p>\n With that argument in mind, I call your attention to a scene from the opening moments of the Interpreter Foundation\u2019s Witnesses<\/em> film project that depicts\u00a0Joseph Smith, played by\u00a0Paul Wuthrich<\/a>, being chased by money diggers while he\u2019s carrying the plates.<\/p>\n I was not present on the outdoor \u201cset\u201d for that day\u2019s filming, but here\u2019s some background on the scene that is directly relevant to the critics\u2019 argument.\u00a0 It\u2019s based on communication with Russell Richins and James G. Jordan, who were, respectively, the producer and associate producer of Witnesses<\/em>:<\/p>\n Knowing that filming the scene of Joseph running with the plates would require several hours, Paul Wuthrich was presented with the option of going with something lighter as a prop. He opted to use the two prop sets of plates that metallurgist Dave Baird had created, based on Baird\u2019s careful research.\u00a0 Somewhat amusingly, one set came to be called the \u201cnon-hero set.\u201d\u00a0 They weighed somewhere between thirty (30) and thirty-five (35) pounds.\u00a0 We\u2019re more certain of the weight of the other set \u2014 unsurprisingly labeled the \u201chero set\u201d \u2014 because Russell Richins weighed them himself.\u00a0 They came in at forty-five (45) pounds.\u00a0 In other words, well within the range of weights attested to by witnesses for the historical plates themselves.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n During the relevant filming day, the two sets were switched out at various times.\u00a0 Sometimes the secondary or \u201cnon-hero\u201d prop was used, and sometimes the \u201chero set.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cAt all times,\u201d comments Witnesses<\/em> producer Russell Richins,<\/p>\n when you see Paul Wuthrich running or using the plates in the scenes, he is using one of these two sets. Bottom line, Paul was in very similar circumstances that Joseph Smith faced except for this one exception \u2013 \u2013 Paul Wuthrich did it over and over and over again throughout the day. \u00a0Yes, he was exhausted, but he did it. \u00a0A whole crew witnessed it.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n Those who have not been involved with filming of this sort would, I think, be astonished at how many takes and re-takes need to be done for even relatively simple indoor scenes.<\/p>\n Paul Wuthrich ran down the hill repeatedly, carrying the plates, jumping over rocks and logs, trying to avoid low branches. \u00a0He did it many times, for different takes, so that filming could be done from a variety of angles.\u00a0 He had to run down the hill with the plates, then climb up the hill once more with the plates, then run down the hill, then climb up the hill again. \u00a0And he couldn\u2019t shift arms when the cameras were running; for the sake of continuity \u2014 something that Joseph wasn\u2019t worried about \u2014 he was obliged to carry the plates with the same arm each time he was being filmed.<\/p>\n A fit young man who works out at the gym, he commented later that, initially, the filming team sprayed him with water to make him look as if he was actually perspiring. \u00a0They soon realized, though, that there was no need to spray him. \u00a0He really was<\/em> sweating.<\/p>\n I like Russell Richins\u2019s summary statement:<\/p>\n Whether they want to accept it or not, people are going to have to face the fact that Joseph Smith, used to day labor and a very fit individual known for his strength, was fighting for his and the plates\u2019 safety, perhaps even his life. \u00a0Additionally, this claim would have been quite achievable for many young men of his time.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n And we\u2019re not even invoking supernatural or divine aid. \u00a0So, in Witnesses<\/em>, you have filmed proof that the claim that Joseph Smith could not have run with the plates is false. \u00a0(Happy to have helped!)<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n This article, which appeared in the New York Times<\/em>, is something of a mixed bag as far as the Church is concerned. \u00a0But I think that some of you will find it of interest: \u00a0\u201cAn Unexpected Hotbed of Y.A. Authors: Utah: A tight-knit community of young-adult writers who belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints<\/a> has yielded smashes like \u201cTwilight.\u201d But religious doctrine can clash with creative freedoms.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Finally, I return to the inexhaustible Christopher Hitchens Memorial \u201cHow Religion Poisons Everything\u201d File<\/em>\u2122 for some gratifyingly horrific specimens guaranteed to fuel your sense of perpetual outrage against theism and theists:<\/p>\n \u201cLatter-day Saint Volunteers Aid in Florida Hurricane Cleanup\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cLatter-day Saint volunteers lend a hand after Hurricane Idalia: Hurricane Idalia has caused more than $12 billion in damages\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cLatter-day Saint Volunteers Help With Hurricane Idalia Relief in Florida: Church sets up several command centers to respond to local needs\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cA 3-year college degree? BYU-Pathway Worldwide wins approval to launch revolution in higher education:\u00a0Beginning in April 2024, BYU-Idaho and Ensign College will offer seven online degrees through BYU-Pathway Worldwide. The degrees require 90 credit hours instead of 120.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cGo Forth to Serve: BYU Engineers Design Low-Cost Prosthetics for Ecuador\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cWater Conservation, Recycling Among Church\u2019s Sustainability Endeavors:\u00a0Being a good steward and caretaker of the earth is closely tied to caring for those in need\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n \u201c\u2018Now We Just Open the Tap\u2019 \u2014 Bolivian Community Finally Gets Water Through Church\u2019s Help:\u00a0A tiny community in Bolivia now has a water source through the help of the Church, Water for People and one determined man\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cMaui shelters list: Maui High School, War Memorial among sites housing people threatened by fires\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cA look at what\u2019s changed \u2014 and what hasn\u2019t \u2014 as Deseret Industries turns 85: Now with 46 stores in eight states, the mission of Deseret Industries remains to help people\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>
This is Berlin at the end of the Second World War. \u00a0I\u2019ll be more careful with my own neighborhood should I win the private tank. \u00a0I promise.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/a>
(Still photograph from the set of the Interpreter Foundation\u2019s \u201cWitnesses\u201d film project, courtesy of James Jordan)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n
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(Wikimedia Commons public domain image)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/a>