Daniel C. Peterson's Blog, page 1074

“Sun accused of stealing planetary objects from another star”

    Are we revolving around a thief?   http://www.scientificamerican.com/art...   It often happens in politics.  Why not in astronomy?    

New Testament 248

    John 9:1-41 Compare Matthew 13:13-15; Mark 4:12; 8:17-18; Luke 8:10   This is a wonderful passage, and Latter-day Saints are well within their rights in regarding the first few verses as pointing to an assumption of human pre-existence.   Another quick observation:  Some object to Joseph Smith’s use of a “seer stone.”  It’s [Read More...]

“Vin Scully to return to Dodgers broadcast booth for record 67th year”

    He’s simply amazing, and I can’t recall a time when I didn’t know his voice:   http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2015/08...   During the sad and difficult years after my father’s stroke left him unexpectedly blind, Dad found at least some comfort in faithfully listening to broadcasts of Dodger games.   When I came down to California [Read More...]

New Testament 247

    John 8:48-59   It’s difficult not to see a reference to Exodus 3:14 in the otherwise curious present tense “I am” (ἐγώ εἰμί ) of John 8:58.   And understanding that Christ’s Jewish audience understood it that way — and recognized in it an audacious theological claim — certainly helps to explain their [Read More...]

Lucky Blue, Mormon model (hugely popular in China)

    Although I don’t fault others for their decisions, I personally opted not to go into male modeling.  It’s simply impossible to do everything — time is limited — and, besides, being surrounded by screaming and swooning teenage girls grows tiresome after a few hours.   Still, it’s interesting to see how my life [Read More...]

The moral obligation to have children — an essay so controversial it couldn’t be published

    Some opinions are simply too upsetting, too shocking, to be published in a respectable journal:   http://gawker.com/heres-the-philosoph...    

It’s Monday!

    And there are four obvious problems:   1)  It’s not Friday.   2)  Tomorrow won’t be Friday.   3)  The day after tomorrow won’t be Friday.   4)  The day after the day after tomorrow won’t be Friday.    

“China arrests Christians who opposed removals of crosses”

    Christianity is booming in China.  (See here for one take on the subject.)  In fact, the current spread of the faith among the Chinese may rank among the most remarkable episodes of evangelism in all of Christian history.   But it’s not happening without resistance.   Here’s a recent account:   http://www.mormoninterpreter.com/chri...   Posted [Read More...]

“Ahead of Pope Francis’s Philly Visit, Media Go After Archbishop Chaput”

      I briefly met Philadelphia’s Roman Catholic archbishop, Charles Chaput, when he visited Brigham Young University back in January 2015.  I had been aware of him for several years already, because he has a reputation for theological and social conservatism, and has been quite vocal about his views.   Here’s the relevant blog [Read More...]

“Psychedelic Swirls Show Algae Bloom from Space”

    Earth can be very beautiful sometimes.  As here:   http://www.livescience.com/52006-psyc...   Posted from Frankfurt-am-Main, Germany