I’ve noticed several very strange things about the unfolding of this phase of the Dehlin Affair.  First, no one I’ve seen has actually criticized the substantive content of Greg Smith’s articles.  No one that I have heard of has claimed that Greg got it wrong.  The only claim is that he is incomplete.   Second, some of those who criticize Smith’s article do so with a litany of ad hominem insults.  Greg (and even more so, his editors) are bad people who have done a... Read more

For those of you who are interested in such things, see: http://www.mormoninterpreter.com/gregory-l-smiths-review-of-mormon-stories/ Read more

General Information http://rsc.byu.edu/symposia/churchhistory   Program http://religion.byu.edu/event/2013-byu-church-history-symposium Read more

Bob Smith brought it to my attention that there is a recent thesis on “Joseph Smith, Mormonism and Enochic Traditions” by Salvatore Cirillo from Durham University.  It is available online here: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/236/1/Thesis_Final_1_PDF.pdf I haven’t had a chance to read it yet, but it seems to critique Nibley and argue for JS authorship of the Book of Moses. Update: I’ve read part and browsed a great deal.  It is basically a critique of Nibley based on Quinn and Forsberg (without engaging their... Read more

The “Enoch and the Temple” conference was held this week, once in Logan, and again at BYU in Provo.  Here is a brief notice of the details. http://www.patheos.com/blogs/danpeterson/2013/02/todays-conference-on-enoch-and-the-temple.html The talks were filmed, and will eventually be posted on the Academy of Temple Studies web page.  I’ll post links when they are available. I was a panelist at the BYU session and responded to the the papers.  Here are my comments on the papers. Nickelsburg response Bradshaw response Larsen response   Read more

John Gee provides insights into Elder Maxwell’s views on scholarship. http://fornspollfira.blogspot.com/2013/02/maxwell-on-ancient-scholarship.html Read more

By Bryce Haymond http://www.mormoninterpreter.com/oliver-cowdery-daguerreotype-restored-in-full-color/ Very nicely done. Read more

One of the scholarly scandals whirling about the Dead Sea Scrolls. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/17/nyregion/online-battle-over-ancient-scrolls-spawns-real-world-consequences.html Some anti-Mormons and apostates should perhaps note that anonymous identity theft, online stalking, online harassment, and slander are, in fact, crimes. Read more

Amazing videos of the meteor that struck Russia today. http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=152_1360906606 It is worth noting that ancient peoples too saw meteors falling, and sometimes recovered the remains and placed them in temples to venerate them as stones from heaven.  The Black Stone at the Muslim Kaaba in Mecca is one such example.  They were sometimes called Baetylos by the Greeks, a term derived from Semitic “Bet-El/Beth-El” meaning “house of God.”  (cf. the Bethel stone Jacob slept on in Gen. 28:11-19). The... Read more

Kristian Heal, a director at the reorganized Maxwell Institute, made the following comments recently: I have often spoken about the BYUing of FARMS/NAMIRS. I see the move away from commercial apologetics as part of that process. We take our name seriously. I work at an Institute for Religious Scholarship. If the University wanted an Institute of Apologetics or an endowed chair in apologetics it would have one. Just to put all my card on the table, I think it was... Read more