![\"Christ](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2015\/03\/320px-Spas_vsederzhitel_sinay.jpg\")
<\/a>Here\u2019s my latest column for Meridian Magazine<\/em>. \u00a0I used it to report on a book that I recently read and that I really liked. \u00a0Perhaps somebody out there will enjoy the column, or profit from it, or at least find it uproariously funny: \u00a0\u201cDid Jesus Really Claim to Be Divine?\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n Newly posted on the never-changing and pretty-much-moribund website of the Interpreter Foundation: \u00a0Joseph Smith and Our Preparation for the Lord\u2019s Final Judgment: Essays by George L. Mitton: <\/em>\u201cJoseph Smith and the Magical Contest,\u201d<\/a> written by George L. Mitton<\/a>:<\/p>\n Abstract:<\/strong> Ancient prophets have had contests with those claiming established authority and ability to do miraculous things, such as Moses with the magicians at the court of pharaoh. The prophets won the contests because of their calling and the power of the priesthood that they held. Scholars have called this a \u201cmagical contest.\u201d It might also be considered a \u201critual contest\u201d because ritual is involved. This essay identifies common elements in such contests to show that Joseph Smith had essentially the same kind of contest, such as his encounter with folk magic and its ritual at the time of his youth, and the ritual of Freemasonry when he established the Latter-day Saint temple rites.<\/p>\n Part of our book chapter reprint series, this article originally appeared in Joseph Smith and Our Preparation for the Lord\u2019s Final Judgment: Essays by George L. Mitton<\/em>. For more information, go to https:\/\/interpreterfoundation.org\/books\/joseph-smith-and-our-preparation-for-the-lords-final-judgment\/<\/a>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Note: \u00a0This article is posted as part of the Interpreter Foundation\u2019s book chapter reprint series, not as an article in Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship<\/em>. \u00a0Journal articles appear on Fridays. \u00a0Reprint articles appear on Thursdays. \u00a0At least one reader of this blog has found the distinction between the two very confusing and upsetting. \u00a0Don\u2019t be that guy.<\/p>\n I\u2019m afraid that I\u2019m going to continue reminding you for the rest of the month of February that the dramatic film Witnesses<\/em> is available for free streaming until March. \u00a0And that its docudrama sequel, Undaunted: Witnesses of the Book of Mormon<\/em>, is freely available for the foreseeable future. \u00a0Both can be accessed via The Witnesses Initiative<\/a>. \u00a0Please do enjoy these films. \u00a0And, if you do, please share them with others, or at least bring them to the attention of others that you think might enjoy them or benefit from them.<\/p>\n Why am I being so pestiferous about this offer and these films? \u00a0Why am I being so wearisome? \u00a0Because we made them to be seen. \u00a0We devoted uncounted hours over several years (during the COVID pandemic, no less, which posed multiple unforeseen challenges) to producing them, and we believe that they convey a vitally important message.<\/p>\n Yesterday, we approached Maui from the south, over Maalaea Bay. Twice, though, we had to abort the landing just as we were about to touch down at the airport in Kahului. \u00a0The problem was sudden gusts of wind near ground level. \u00a0Each time, we suddenly surged forward and upward and out over Kahului Bay and the ocean to the north, then circled about and came in again. \u00a0I\u2019ve never had that happen before. \u00a0Not here or anywhere else. \u00a0The pilot assured us that we had plenty of fuel, and I wondered whether we might eventually be obliged to divert to Honolulu or to one of the other islands. \u00a0But we landed successfully on the third try. \u00a0In the meantime, we enjoyed wonderful low-altitude views of the saddle-like plain between massive Haleakala on the east and the west volcano, Mauna Kahalawai, on the opposite side, and I even spotted some whales out in Maalaea Bay. \u00a0It could have been worse!<\/p>\n The traffic near Lahaina, though, couldn\u2019t<\/em> really have been worse. \u00a0I\u2019ve never seen it so bad. \u00a0Well, live and learn. \u00a0We were trying to drive during Maui\u2019s \u201crush hour\u201d; we won\u2019t make that<\/em> mistake again.<\/p>\n This item, drawn from the Christopher Hitchens Memorial \u201cHow Religion Poisons Everything\u201d File<\/em>\u2122, is very specific to Latter-day Saints, illustrating the profound harm visited upon them by their faith\u2019s depriving them of alcoholic beverages: \u00a0\u201cReport Details Causal Link Between Alcohol Consumption and Cancer\u201d<\/a>: \u201cWhy Even \u2018Moderate\u2019 Drinking Is Harming Your Health \u2014 Interview With Dr. Brooke Scheller\u201d<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n I\u2019m grateful to Dr. Lynn Johnson for bringing this Hitchens File<\/em> document to my notice. \u00a0(Frankly, the Hitchens File<\/em> is so capacious that no single meaningless and causally determined humanoid biochemical unit can process its contents in their entirety.)<\/p>\n Posted from K\u0101\u02bbanapali, Maui, Hawai\u02bbi<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u00a0 Here\u2019s my latest column for Meridian Magazine. \u00a0I used it to report on a book that I recently read and that I really liked. \u00a0Perhaps somebody out there will enjoy the column, or profit from it, or at least find it uproariously funny: \u00a0\u201cDid Jesus Really Claim to Be Divine?\u201d Newly posted on the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":18510,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[4021,4967,2601,1369,2905,788],"class_list":["post-109175","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-deity","tag-divinity","tag-god","tag-jesus","tag-latter-day-saint","tag-mormon"],"yoast_head":"\n<\/a>\n
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