Daniel C. Peterson's Blog, page 1044

“From Baptist Preacher to Mormon Teacher”

    Kevin Taylor kindly brought this to my attention, and I thought that some of you might find it of interest:   http://www.amazon.com/Baptist-Preache...    

“Did Jesus Exist? A Debate”

    The invaluable Robert Boylan calls attention to a really interesting debate:   http://scripturalmormonism.blogspot.i...   I’ve briefly addressed this question of the existence of Jesus in at least three Deseret News columns (here, here, and here).  I readily admit that I regard the claim that Jesus never lived at all as eccentric and as [Read More...]

“Emilie du Châtelet: The Woman Science Forgot”

    You may well be familiar with her, but I wasn’t:   https://cosmosmagazine.com/mathematic...   I can easily imagine a Hollywood movie made about her, someday.  After all, her story contains two of the features that Hollywood values most, sex and female beauty, and it readily lends itself to the film industry’s overwhelming ideological agenda.   [Read More...]

Good times and good people

    One of the many enjoyable benefits of academic conferences is spending time with old friends.  Sometimes, even when they’re at your own institution, you just don’t see them much.   Yesterday, during a break in the 2015 meetings of the Society for Mormon Philosophy and Theology, I had lunch with Ralph Hancock and [Read More...]

“U.S. Official: ‘Psychological Blow’ in ISIS Killing of Iranian General in Syria”

    Iran’s intervention in the Syrian civil war is beginning to cost significant Iranian casualties:   http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/09/politic...   And Russia, too, may soon begin to pay a toll.   It’s difficult to know exactly for whom we should be rooting in the new Russo-Iranian- and ISIS-dominated Levant and Mesopotamia.    

John Taylor, on Joseph Smith

    “I was acquainted with Joseph Smith for years,” remarked John Taylor, the English Methodist convert who was seriously wounded in Carthage Jail when Joseph was assassinated and who ultimately became the third president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I have traveled with him; I have been with him in [Read More...]

“Mormonism among the World Religions”

    Some of you may be aware that the 2015 Parliament of the World’s Religions will be held in Salt Lake City next week, at the Salt Palace Convention Center.   I was a quite active participant in the Parliament when it was held in Melbourne in 2009.  This go-around, my public participation will [Read More...]

Of cleverness and kindness

    “When I was young, I admired clever people.  Now that I am old, I admire kind people.” Abraham Joshua Heschel    

Gérald Caussé named fifteenth Presiding Bishop of the Church

    http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article...   Another predictably bland Utah guy, he was born in Bordeaux, France — which is, apparently, not too far from Paris, Idaho.  (I’m an American, so my geographical knowledge is a bit shaky.)    

“The Return of Rhetorical Analysis to Bible Studies”

    Last week, Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture published two articles.   This week, only one article has appeared:   http://www.mormoninterpreter.com/the-...   This dramatic 50% decrease in the number of articles produced — in the course of just a week! — is mistakable evidence, I think, that, after a run of 168 consecutive [Read More...]