{"id":97890,"date":"2022-12-13T17:17:54","date_gmt":"2022-12-14T00:17:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?p=97890"},"modified":"2022-12-13T17:42:56","modified_gmt":"2022-12-14T00:42:56","slug":"more-protective-than-any-pill-than-any-therapy-than-any-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2022\/12\/more-protective-than-any-pill-than-any-therapy-than-any-program.html","title":{"rendered":"“More protective than any pill, than any therapy, than any program.”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u00a0<\/p>\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 (during any season of the year) strikes me as a virtually perfect foretaste of heaven. Moreover, and as I wrote here on Sunday (see \u201cThis single truth\u201d<\/a>),\u00a0 although I know better than most that the original Christmas in Bethlehem didn\u2019t look much like Austria, this is what I think of when I sing or hear German-language carols.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

But, first, here are three items that went up today on the website of the Interpreter Foundation:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Nibley Lectures:\u00a0 Time Vindicates the Prophets<\/em>\u00a0\u2014 Prophets and Reformers<\/a><\/p>\n

Between 7 March 1954 and 17 October 1954, Hugh Nibley delivered a series of thirty weekly lectures on KSL Radio that were also published as pamphlets. The series, which was called \u201cTime Vindicates the Prophets,\u201d was given in answer to those who were challenging the right of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints<\/a> to call themselves Christians.<\/p>\n

This lecture talks about Hebrews 6:4, 6. It suggests that it is possible for men to be gifted with everything only to later lose everything; then, it is not possible for them to regain those blessings by their own works.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Audio Roundtable: Come, Follow Me<\/em> Old Testament Lesson 52 \u201cWe Have Waited for Him, and He Will Save Us\u201d<\/em>: Christmas<\/a><\/p>\n

The Interpreter Radio Roundtable for Come, Follow Me<\/em>\u00a0Old Testament Lesson 52,\u00a0\u201cWe Have Waited for Him, and He Will Save Us,\u201d<\/em> which is slated for Christmas day, featured Terry Hutchinson, John Gee, and Kevin Christensen.\u00a0 The roundtable was extracted from the two-hour 13 November 2022 broadcast of the Interpreter Radio Show.\u00a0 The complete show, liberated from commercial and other distractions and made available to anybody and everybody at absolutely no charge, may be heard at https:\/\/interpreterfoundation.org\/interpreter-radio-show-November-13-2022\/<\/a>. The Interpreter Radio Show can be heard on Sunday evenings from 7 to 9 PM (MDT), on K-TALK, AM 1640, or you can listen live on the Internet at ktalkmedia.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Come, Follow Me<\/em> \u2014 Old Testament Study and Teaching Helps: Lesson 52, December 19\u201325: Christmas \u2014\u00a0\u201cWe Have Waited for Him, and He Will Save Us\u201d<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Once again, Jonn Claybaugh generously provides a concise note to support teachers and students of the Church\u2019s \u201cCome, Follow Me\u201d curriculum.\u00a0 This one is focused directly upon Christmas.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Interlaken<\/a>
A view of Interlaken, Switzerland, on a winter\u2019s night (Wikimedia CC public domain image).\u00a0 I spent Christmas 1973 here, mostly in the lower righthand corner of this photograph.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe \u2018Witnesses of Christmas \u2013 Symbols of Christ\u2019 concert can now be watched:\u00a0The concert was filmed in the Charles Dickens Museum, in London, and in the Roman Theatre of M\u00e9rida, Spain\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

This hour-long program is an official presentation of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, based in Europe.\u00a0 I hope that you\u2019ll enjoy it.<\/p>\n

Do y0u like music on the organ?\u00a0 I love it.\u00a0 And perhaps you\u2019ll enjoy this, from the heart of the Church:\u00a0 \u201cPiping Up\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

And this program, recorded last year, begins to be broadcast this evening and will be shown several times between now and the actual Christmas holiday:\u00a0 \u201cChristmas with The Tabernacle Choir<\/i> TV Special features Megan Hilty and Neal McDonough\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Summer<\/a>
A view of Innertkirchen on a summer day, with the Aare River on the left. My strongest memory of it, though, is on a winter night near Christmas 1973, with a perfectly clear, star-studded sky above and fresh snow all around. It was perfectly still.
(Wikimedia Commons public domain image)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

A bit of social science out of Belgium some time back:\u00a0 http:\/\/www.theblaze.com\/news\/2017\/07\/03\/religious-people-are-more-tolerant-open-minded-than-atheists-new-study-reveals\/<\/a>\u00a0 If you\u2019re interested in pursuing this topic further (as I am), the original study is available online here:\u00a0\u00a0\u201cAre atheists undogmatic?\u201d<\/a>\u00a0 Fortunately for me, I still have access to a university library and its resources.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Wengen<\/a>
A Wikimedia Commons public domain photograph of Wengen, in the Berner Oberland
Although I grew up in southern California and have spent considerable time over the years in Israel or Palestine (to say nothing of Egypt), my \u201cChristmas sensibility\u201d is curiously Alpine. We\u2019ll soon, I hope, be having our traditional seasonal meals of Raclette and of Bratwurst, of Wienerschnitzel and Sp\u00e4tzle, of Rotkohl, and Kartoffelsalat, and, of course, of K\u00e4sefondue.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Finally, the Christopher Hitchens Memorial \u201cHow Religion Poisons Everything\u201d File<\/em>\u00a9 was created to chronicle at least a small portion of the horrors to which decent people are routinely subjected by theism and theists.\u00a0 Here is just one example of those abominable horrors:<\/p>\n

\u201cFinding the light:\u00a0The science behind spirituality as an antidepressant\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s incontrovertible that a teenager with a strong spiritual core has an 80 percent decreased risk of addiction. \u2026\u00a0 So for a teen without a strong spiritual core, an 80 percent increased risk. . . .\u00a0 We find young people are two-thirds less likely to become depressed, 82 percent less likely to take their life when they have a strong spirituality that is shared.\u00a0 We know that a strong relational spiritual life that is shared is more protective than any pill, than any therapy, than any program.\u201d<\/p>\n

And here\u2019s another:\u00a0 \u201cWhy bringing faith home beats just going to church:\u00a0\u201cA Not-So-Good-Faith-Estimate\u201d from Wheatley Institute finds attending services combined with religious practices at home bring robust benefits\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThe report says that studies that examine religion\u2019s impact often underestimate the full benefits of faith and how it\u2019s practice. . . .\u00a0 The report acknowledges that attendance at religious services provides benefits. But those who also have faith-centered practices at home, like reading scriptures or family prayer, find life more meaningful and have both better relationships and better mental health. Religion offers them more. . . .\u00a0The report, based on an analysis of data from 16,000 people in 11 countries, suggests that using regular religious service attendance as the only metric for religious practice underestimates the benefits of religion by about 25% on average \u2014 and by up to 50% depending on the outcome being examined.\u00a0 The benefits of faith practices and attendance together are more robust and varied.\u201d<\/p>\n

Plainly, theism imposes enormous costs upon its victims \u2014 and not only on direct casualties but, presumably, among those who might be considered collateral damage.<\/p>\n

And this article was found in the immediate vicinity<\/em> of the Hitchens File<\/em>\u00a9:\u00a0 \u201cNot everything is lost:\u00a0The powerful, societal force of charitable giving,\u201d<\/a> by Sharon Eubank<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 But, first, here are three items that went up today on the website of the Interpreter Foundation: \u00a0 Nibley Lectures:\u00a0 Time Vindicates the Prophets\u00a0\u2014 Prophets and Reformers Between 7 March 1954 and 17 October 1954, Hugh Nibley delivered a series of thirty weekly lectures on KSL Radio that were also published as pamphlets. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2517,1809,909,2412,6102,19412,2905,1812,1815,7113,10027,788,55,1667,3856,10634,1637,1917,32703,32706,743,12913],"class_list":["post-97890","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-christmas","tag-church-of-jesus-christ-of-latter-day-saints","tag-faith","tag-health","tag-hugh-nibley","tag-hugh-w-nibley","tag-latter-day-saint","tag-latter-day-saints","tag-lds","tag-lds-church","tag-mental","tag-mormon","tag-mormonism","tag-mormons","tag-nibley","tag-physical","tag-prophet","tag-prophets","tag-reformer","tag-reformers","tag-religion","tag-spiritual"],"yoast_head":"\n"More protective than any pill, than any therapy, than any program."<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"    But, first, here are three items that went up 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