{"id":108112,"date":"2024-12-02T15:45:27","date_gmt":"2024-12-02T22:45:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?p=108112"},"modified":"2024-12-02T17:01:28","modified_gmt":"2024-12-03T00:01:28","slug":"visually-stunning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2024\/12\/visually-stunning.html","title":{"rendered":"Visually Stunning"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"I<\/a>
Thanks to advanced modern technology and the support of a generous donor, the Interpreter Radio Show is now beamed directly to audiences on the moon \u2014 seen in the distance in this photograph from one of Interpreter\u2019s communications campuses \u2014 where residents dress like Quakers and live to be a thousand years old. \u00a0(Wikimedia Commons public domain image)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Newly posted on the website of the Interpreter Foundation: \u00a0Interpreter Radio Show \u2014 November 24, 2024, including The Book of Mormon in Context for Moroni 10<\/a><\/p>\n

During the 24 November 2024 episode of the Interpreter Radio Show, Steve Densley and Scripture Central\u2019s John Thompson hosted special guests Brant Gardner and Jeff Lindsay for a discussion of the recent book review articles that they published in Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship<\/em>\u00a0\u2014 \u201cTrust Us, We\u2019re Lawyers: Lucas and Neville on the Translation of the Book of Mormon\u201d<\/a> and \u201cThrough a Glass Darkly: Restoring Translation to the Restoration?\u201d<\/a> \u2014 as well as of\u00a0Come, Follow Me<\/em> Book of Mormon lesson 51.<\/p>\n

Their conversation was recorded and archived and it has now been made available for your enjoyment and delight, which will be considerably enhanced by the fact that commercial breaks have been edited out of the recording.<\/p>\n

The Interpreter Radio Show can be heard every week of the year \u2014 every single week! \u2014 on Sunday evenings from 7 to 9 PM (MDT), on K-TALK, AM 1640. \u00a0Or else you can listen live on the Internet at ktalkmedia.com<\/a>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Austria,<\/a>
\u201cSt. Thomas Church on a winter morning\u201d (Wikimedia Commons public domain image)
More than any other kind of landscape on earth, Alpine scenery such as this strikes me as a foretaste of heaven. And I love its music.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Every year since I launched this blog, I\u2019ve called attention to some of my favorite Christmas music. \u00a0Here\u2019s a piece that\u2019s at the top of my list:<\/p>\n

I remember very clearly when and where the marvelous carol \u201cEs ist ein Ros entsprungen\u201d (often called in English \u201cLo, How a Rose E\u2019er Blooming\u201d)<\/span>, which was given its classical form by the German composer Michael Praetorius in 1609 but which originated sometime before that, first hit me. \u00a0(I suppose that it\u2019s possible that I had heard the carol before, but, if I had, it hadn\u2019t registered. \u00a0Not even slightly.)\u00a0 I was attending a Latter-day Saint sacrament meeting in Interlaken, Switzerland, shortly before Christmas 1973. \u00a0Almost exactly fifty-one years ago. \u00a0Curiously, I don\u2019t recall who sang the song. \u00a0It may have been a branch or district choir.<\/p>\n

I was enraptured. \u00a0Transported. \u00a0I had seldom, if ever, heard anything so beautiful in my entire life. \u00a0And \u201cEs ist ein Ros entsprungen\u201d<\/span> still<\/em> affects me that way. \u00a0The German lyrics vary slightly from one printing to another, but I offer here a representative version of the text:<\/p>\n

Es ist ein Ros entsprungen,<\/span>
\naus einer Wurzel zart,
\nwie uns die Alten sungen,
\nvon Jesse kam die Art.
\nUnd hat ein Bl\u00fcmlein bracht
\nmitten im kalten Winter,
\nwohl zu der halben Nacht.<\/p>\n

Das R\u00f6slein, das ich meine,
\ndavon Isaias sagt,
\nhat uns gebracht alleine
\nMarie, die reine Magd.
\nAus Gottes ew\u2019gem Rat
\nhat sie ein Kind geboren
\nwohl zu der halben Nacht.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n

Das Bl\u00fcmelein, so kleine,
\ndas duftet uns so s\u00fc\u00df,
\nmit seinem hellen Scheine
\nvertreibt\u2019s die Finsternis.
\nWahr Mensch und wahrer Gott<\/span>
\nhilft uns aus allem Leide,
\nrettet von S\u00fcnd und Tod.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And here is a literal and quite unpoetic translation (partially my own) of the lyrics above:<\/p>\n

A rose has sprung up,
\nfrom a tender root,
\nAs the ancients\u00a0sang to us.
\nIts line\u00a0came from Jesse
\nAnd it has brought forth a\u00a0small flower<\/span>
\nIn the middle of the cold winter,
\nIn\u00a0the middle of\u00a0the night.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The little rose that I mean,
\nOf which Isaiah told,
\nMary alone, the pure maid,
\nHas brought to us.
\nBy\u00a0God\u2019s eternal counsel
\nShe has borne a child
\nIn\u00a0the middle of\u00a0the night.<\/p>\n

The tiny\u00a0flower, so small,
\nThat smells so sweet to us,
\nWith its bright gleam
\nDispels\u00a0the darkness
\n\u2013True man and true God\u2013
\nHelps us from all suffering,
\nSaves us from sin and death.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I\u2019ve always loved the German lyrics. \u00a0The English words just don\u2019t move me as much \u2014 and not merely in the literal and unpoetic version supplied above. \u00a0But the music is gorgeous in any language. \u00a0Here\u2019s one rendition of the song that I\u2019ve enjoyed: \u00a0\u201cEs ist ein Ros Entsprungen\u201d<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

\"I'll<\/a>
Our vintage 2024 second car is beginning to look a little bit dusty and so, rather than take it to the car wash, my wife and I have been looking at a replacement from the same line of budget British imports. (The same company makes engines for jet aircraft.) \u00a0Unfortunately, though, the asking price might oblige us to dip into our personal reserves of gold bullion, urban real estate, farmland, and crypto-currency. So I probably need to increase my fee for apologetics. But there\u2019s little time, and our need is fairly pressing. \u00a0(Wikimedia Commons public domain image)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

An important note: \u00a0I intend to post a Facebook fundraiser for the Interpreter Foundation tonight, with the idea that it go active tomorrow (Giving Tuesday). \u00a0These Facebook fundraisers are no longer quite the wonderful deal that they used to be, but I think that many people find them convenient and, anyhow, they\u2019re kinda fun. \u00a0So I\u2019m going to do it yet again this year. \u00a0The optimal ways to give to Interpreter are outlined on the Foundation\u2019s own website, at, appropriately enough, \u201cDonating to the Interpreter Foundation.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Intact<\/a>
If you\u2019re looking for a single image that will effectively convey the uniquely toxic impact inflicted upon society by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints<\/a>, this one may well be it. Plainly, Utard \u2014 where vast mindless herds of Morgbots or Mor(m)ons roam almost unimpeded \u2014 is a kind of hellscape for women and children and other living things.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The graphic shown directly above should have clued you in already that it\u2019s time now for the Christopher Hitchens Memorial \u201cHow Religion Poisons Everything\u201d File<\/em>\u2122. \u00a0Here are a few additional items to accompany it:<\/p>\n