Daniel C. Peterson's Blog, page 1033

The Church releases two new official essays on women’s issues

    You may, perhaps, have missed the announcement of this pair of important new documents:   “Joseph Smith’s Teachings about Priesthood, Temple, and Women”   “Mother in Heaven”   Posted from San Francisco, California    

St. Teresa’s double standard

    “Be gentle to all and stern with yourself.”  (St. Teresa of Avila)   Posted from San Francisco, California  

“Was Joseph Smith Smarter than the Average Fourth Year Hebrew Student?”

    This week’s new article from Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture:   http://www.mormoninterpreter.com/was-...   Posted from San Francisco, California    

“A follow-up note on the necessity of the gold plates”

    Some investigators ask about this matter, and some critics raise the issue as an avenue of attack:   http://www.plonialmonimormon.com/2015...    

“Skin texture glow distinguishes Mormons from others”

    I posted an item about this curious study several months ago, as I recall.  But Charles Steinman reminds me of it, and probably quite a number of you haven’t seen it:   http://universe.byu.edu/2015/04/28/sk...   Famously, an Israeli official once asked an interesting question during the period of the construction of BYU’s Jerusalem Center for [Read More...]

“Benghazi Committee Bombshell: Clinton Knew ‘Attack Had Nothing to Do with the Film’”

    This is actually pretty important:   http://www.nationalreview.com/article...   It was all about spin, it seems.  The presidential election of 2012 was drawing near, and the Obama administration badly wanted to continue its pretense that the fight against al-Qa‘ida had been won:  “‘Usama b. Ladin is dead, and General Motors is alive.”   Keep honesty [Read More...]

New Testament 275

    Matthew 21:20-22 Mark 11:20-26 Compare Matthew 6:14-15; 17:20; 21:19; Luke 17:6; John 14:13-14; 15:7; 16:23   The Savior’s curse on the fig tree, which I mentioned here very briefly a couple of days ago, is fulfilled in these passages, and the disciples are astonished at his power.  (Of course, he’d raised a dead [Read More...]

“Epidemiology Makes Astrology Look Respectable”

    Science is a great enterprise.  It’s also a thoroughly human one:   https://reason.com/blog/2015/10/20/ep...    

Spinning Elder Oaks

    It would be really nice if, when it comes to Mormonism, the media would simply tell the story, and do it in a balanced way.   http://www.getreligion.org/getreligio...    

Simplifying and becoming

    “Jesus, help me to simplify my life by learning what you want me to be — and becoming that person.” St. Thérèse of Lisieux (1873-1897)