Daniel C. Peterson's Blog, page 1067

“Did Jupiter form from pebbles?”

    We’re learning more about the formation of our solar system:   http://www.realclearscience.com/journ...   Interesting stuff.   I can’t help but think of the statement in Doctrine and Covenants 64:33 that “out of small things proceedeth that which is great.”    

What about Kim Davis, that Kentucky county clerk?

    Kim Davis is, you may recall, an Evangelical government official for Rowan County, Kentucky, who’s sitting in jail right now for her refusal to grant same-sex marriage licenses.   There’s been a deafening public outcry — I believe somebody may once have asked, anyway — demanding to hear what I think about this [Read More...]

“The Mormon Option”

    Do strongly-held religious beliefs necessarily narrow minds, encourage intolerance, restrict human contacts, and rule out diversity?   An interesting article suggesting that the answer might well be No:   http://www.realclearreligion.org/arti...    

“At a Berlin church, Muslim refugees converting in droves”

    One doesn’t expect a lot of tales about explosive Christian growth out of Berlin these days, nor, really, out of Germany as a whole.  But this is interesting:   http://bigstory.ap.org/article/0550c1...      

Just a reminder

    My wife and I had dinner tonight at the India Palace in downtown Provo with our good friends Royal and Sirkku Skousen.  He’s in fine form for his remarks tomorrow night, and I’m looking forward to them.   Public welcome!  (But try not to be late.  There’s no telling how many people will [Read More...]

From one of Mormonism’s most distinctive and original voices

    “Being self-taught is no disgrace; but being self-certified is another matter.”  (Hugh W. Nibley)    

New Testament 260

    John 11:45-53 Compare Matthew 26:1-5; Mark 14:1-2; 11:18; Luke 22:1-2; 19:47-48   1.   It’s the raising of Lazarus, in the verses immediate preceding this passage (see here) that seems to solidify the decision of the Jewish leaders to seek Jesus’ life.  That miracle was simply too big, too obvious, too attractive, for [Read More...]

A powerful, powerful video

    Please watch it to the end:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBQ-I...   Thanks to Doug Ealy for sharing it with me.    

Why you should take geology

    I strongly endorse this article and all of the reasons given by the author:   http://www.slate.com/articles/life/cl...   I myself never took geology, but I wish I had.  And, now, whenever I visit Hawaii or Yellowstone or wherever, I commonly buy (and use) a simple book on the local geological features and their history. [Read More...]

A note on that remarkable last play in Saturday’s BYU-Nebraska game

    In case you haven’t heard about the game, see this:   http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootb...   But here’s something that I got a kick out of.  It’s a tweet that Tanner Mangum sent out at 10:59 AM on 5 July 2013 — somewhat more than two years ago, before he left for his mission in Chile: [Read More...]