Daniel C. Peterson's Blog, page 11

An autobiographical fragment

  Newly posted on the comatose and never-changing website of the Interpreter Foundation: The Temple: Plates, Patterns, & Patriarchs: “Ancient Israelite Temple Ritual through the Telescope of Restoration Scripture,” written by David M. Calabro: Part of our book chapter reprint series, this article originally appeared in The Temple: Plates, Patterns, & Patriarchs, edited by Stephen D. […]

Irreducible consciousness?

  I’ve just finished reading the 2024 book Lucid Dying: The New Science Revolutionizing How We Understand Life and Death (New York: Grand Central Publishing, 2024), written by Sam Parnia, M.D., Ph.D.  I found it both enjoyable and fascinating.  I may even re-read it, and I heartily commend it to the notice of anybody who […]

Dallin H. Oaks, Joseph Smith, and the Right of Habeas Corpus

  Two or three weeks ago, reports circulated in the news media that the Trump administration was considering  suspension of the right of habeas corpus, at least for some.  See, for example, “Trump administration considers suspending habeas corpus” “Stephen Miller says Trump administration ‘looking at’ suspending habeas corpus” And this Wall Street Journal opinion piece […]

A Space Odyssey

  A few months ago, motivated by nothing in particular, I re-read T. E. Shaw’s translation of The Odyssey of Homer.  (For those who might be unaware, T. E. Shaw was a pseudonym for T. E. Lawrence, who is otherwise known as “Lawrence of Arabia” — a character who has fascinated me for much of […]

Historical ironies

  My wife and I were back in Nauvoo and Carthage, Illinois, a few weeks ago.  We were there for several days of work on the series of mini-documentaries that the Interpreter Foundation is producing under the title of Becoming Brigham.  Every time I visit the area, I find myself thinking about the remarkable way […]

On “the recalled experience of death”

  Very recently, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints issued three new sets of official resources to help Church members understand and answer their own questions and those of others on their respective topics.  These three are focused on: Church Financial Administration Temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Religion […]

Beware the chains of hell! And mark the dates!

  Two new articles have just appeared in Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship: The first of the two is “The Bands of Death, the Chains of Hell, and the Seed Motif,” written by Noel Hudson, Abstract: This article continues a discussion of the imagery, words, and phrases that make up a specific leitmotif, […]

Some Notes on Mesoamerica and the Book of Mormon

  Here are two further sets of notes from John W. Welch, ed., Reexploring the Book of Mormon: A Decade of New Research (Salt Lake City and Provo: Deseret Book, 1992): “Nephi’s Bows and Arrows,” by William J. Hamblin (41-44) “I, Nephi, did make out of wood a bow, and out of a straight stick, an arrow.”  […]

No Last Visit to London?

  We attended a matinee performance on Wednesday afternoon of the play Giant, which stars John Lithgow as the writer Roald Dahl.  Running at the Harold Pinter Theatre, Giant focuses on issues of anti-Semitism and on Dahl’s fierce criticism of Israeli military violence against civilians in Beirut, which actually did engulf him in criticism in […]

I married a theater major

  It was odd to wake up this morning and to recognize nobody at breakfast.  “Empty chairs and empty tables.”  Our group were already dispersed by about 7 AM, but my wife and I chose to sleep in.  However, we ourselves moved from the group hotel, which is located almost directly adjacent to the Gloucester […]