Daniel C. Peterson's Blog, page 1002

A note regarding churches in Muslim Egypt

    Many stories out of the Middle East are discouraging, depressing, and painful.   Some, though, are inspiring.  Here’s one that I posted quite a while ago.  It seems important to bring it up again, since I’ve recently encountered (easily refuted) claims that Christian churches aren’t permitted in Muslim countries.  It refers to an [Read More...]

New Testament 319

    John 14:27-31   Apart from noting that Jesus’ declaration that “the Father is greater than I” has substantial theological significance (indicating, for instance, an important distinction between Father and Son), I really can’t see, once again, how I can improve very easily on the text itself, which I offer here — for the [Read More...]

“Little Drummer Boy”

    For the fifth day of the Christmas social campaign “A Savior is Born,” Alex Boyé performs “Little Drummer Boy” differently than you might have heard it before.  Please listen to it to the end:   https://www.mormon.org/christmas/alex...    

Islamist bullying

    Craig Matteson calls to my notice an example of what I take to be Islamists attempting, in a very rude, aggressive, and uncivil way, to shut down a speech to which they object at Goldsmiths College of the University of London:   http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2015/...   It’s appalling and entirely inappropriate.  The disruptive audience members should [Read More...]

“First worldwide survey of religion and science: No, not all scientists are atheists”

    Some facts that many people know to be true . . . well, they aren’t:   http://phys.org/news/2015-12-worldwid...   Thanks to Stephen Smoot for alerting me to this article.    

“Little known tale of generous Turkish aid to the Irish during the Great Hunger”

    The “Irish Potato Famine,” “Great Hunger,” or “Great Famine” killed a million Irish and drove a million others out of the country between 1845 and 1852, reducing Ireland’s population between 20% and 25%.   Imagine, to put it into perspective, a famine or disease that, over a period of just seven or eight years, [Read More...]

When you can’t afford an expensive Nativity set

    I expect that this will probably offend a few people out there.  If so, I’m sorry.  I’ve had Spanish-speaking friends literally all of my life, I have a Cuban daughter-in-law, and I like Hispanic cultures and cuisines very, very much.  No offense was intended.  (There.  I hope I’ve minimized the virtually inevitable cries [Read More...]

New Testament 318

    John 14:15-26   1.   “If you love me, you will obey my commandments. . . .   The person who has my commandments and obeys them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and will reveal myself to [Read More...]

Music of Christmas 4

    When John Menzies Macfarlane, a Scottish convert to Mormonism, needed a special song for Christmas 1869 for the choir that he conducted in St. George, Utah, he wrote one.  (St. George had only been founded in 1861, and it was still a very small and rough little settlement struggling to survive in an [Read More...]

“Ave Maria”

    Today’s installment in the “social” part of the “A Savior is Born” campaign:   https://www.mormon.org/christmas/lexi...   Watch it to the end, if you watch it at all.  A translation of the Latin text is provided for Schubert’s beautiful “Ave Maria,” and so forth.