Daniel C. Peterson's Blog, page 1018

Freedom of Thought in the Church

    I love this quotation from President Hugh B. Brown, who was first counselor in the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for my early formative years and for whom I had (and have) great admiration:   “I admire men and women who have developed the questioning spirit, who [Read More...]

“Faith, Reason, and the Critical Study of Mormon Apologetics”

    A panel discussion was convened on this topic at Utah Valley University on Friday afternoon.  I wasn’t a participant and, as it turned out, I was unable to attend.   However, texts have now been posted for the various presentations:   http://ldsmag.com/faith-reason-and-th...   And here’s a summary of the discussion as seen by [Read More...]

New Testament 310

    Matthew 26:21-25 Mark 14:18-21 John 13:21-30 Compare Luke 22:21-23   Two quick observations:   1.   Each of the eleven apostles who were innocent in this matter worried that he might be the one who would betray Jesus.  This is commendable.  On this occasion, at least, none of them seems to have imagined himself [Read More...]

“Striking Anomaly Found in Great Pyramid”

    This is odd, and intriguing:   http://news.discovery.com/history/anc...    

“On supposed tips for LDS graduate students”

    A little item by John Gee (who earned an M.A. in Near Eastern studies from the University of California at Berkeley after completing undergraduate studies at Brigham Young University, and then proceeded to receive his Ph.D. in Egyptology from Yale University), in which he responds to a little item by an anonymous internet [Read More...]

New Testament 309

    John 13:1-20 Compare Matthew 10:24, 40; 23:6-12; Mark 10:41-45; 12:39; Luke 6:40; 10:16; 12:37; 22:3, 24-28   One of the official titles of the Pope — it goes all the way back to Pope St. Gregory I (r. AD 590-604) — is servus servorum Dei (“servant of the servants of God”).   I’m [Read More...]

“The Keystone of Our Religion”

    In the Interpreter Foundation’s 145th scripture roundtable, Jeff Bradshaw, Cassandra Hedelius, Dan Peterson, and Stephen Smoot turn their attention to the Book of Mormon, to the first lesson for the 2016 Gospel Doctrine curriculum:   http://www.mormoninterpreter.com/scri...    

A statement that Elder Neal A. Maxwell really liked

    Elder Neal A. Maxwell was quite fond of this statement from the heroically honest eighteenth-century British clergyman William Law — quoting it, among other times, in his very first speech as a General Authority — and I am, too.  If I were ever to choose a personal motto, as an ideal toward which to strive, [Read More...]

“‘Mirror Universes’ Might Look and Behave Like Ours, Study Finds”

    Anti-matter protons seem to behave the same way regular protons do:   http://www.livescience.com/52720-anti...   The universe is rather interesting.    

“He will dwell with them, and they shall be his people”

    In Interpreter Foundation scripture roundtable 144, Jeff Bradshaw, Shon Hopkin, Martin Tanner, and Bruce Webster focus on Revelation 5-6, 19-22 — which is to say, on 2015 Gospel Doctrine lesson 46:   http://www.mormoninterpreter.com/scri...