Daniel C. Peterson's Blog, page 111

Real Data on Actual Muslim Attitudes (1)

    Some time ago, I read John L. Esposito and Dalia Mogahed, Who Speaks for Islam? What a Billion Muslims Really Think (New York: Gallup Press, 2007).  I’m now organizing for my use in a writing project some of the passages that I marked during that reading, and I intend to share at least a portion […]

“Light and not darkness”

    First, I want to remind you of the Interpreter Foundation conference that will take place this weekend.  Please see the graphic image above for information and for links at which you will be able to obtain further information.     We climbed up today from Jericho, which averages nearly 850 feet below sea […]

“Textual Criticism and the Book of Mormon”

    I’ve just received the following program update from my friend Royal Skousen, so I share it with you here.  I now believe that — flight connections permitting! — I will be able to attend the conference in person myself, and I hope to see you there as well.  Please note that, thanks to […]

Notes from deep into the earth

    Yet another new video from the Interpreter Foundation has gone up online for you to watch and share:   Witnesses of the Book of Mormon — Insights Episode 28: Ancient Metal Plates? In Joseph Smith’s day, people claimed that his story of ancient metal plates was evidence against him—because no such thing existed. In […]

Eluding the Temptation to Academic Snobbery

    Particularly in my early graduate school days, there were times when I thought that my having come from a completely non-academic family had worked against me.   I have friends and long-time colleagues, themselves with strong Ph.D.s from prestigious schools, who have fathers and grandfathers and multiple siblings with professional and academic doctorates […]

Is the Interpreter Foundation on its last legs?

    The Interpreter Foundation continues to sputter along, barely alive, desperate and full of venom.  Or, anyhow, so say some of its critics.  Here are the items that have appeared on its website during the past three days or so:   A new article has appeared in Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Faith and […]

Shalom from Tel Aviv

    Well, we finally made it to Tel Aviv.  About thirty hours late.  We had time to put our luggage in our room, grab a quick bite to eat for dinner, and hold an orientation meeting with our group.  Ten of them have arrived without their luggage; I hope that that problem can be […]

Mark your calendars for Saturday, 12 November 2022

    I received a note late last night from Royal Skousen.  I excerpt part of it below:   I will be presenting on the current status of the [Book of Mormon] critical text project at UVU [Utah Valley University] on November 12, 2022, a Saturday, from 7 to 9 p.m. The entire campus is […]

Dishonesty (or incompetence) on public display

    Gotcha!  I’ll bet that, judging by the title, you expected this to be another of my autobiographical entries!   Some time ago, an anti-Islamic Facebook image or meme was sent to me.  One of many.  It includes twelve quotations from the Qur’an — or, anyway, twelve quotations that are purportedly from the Qur’an […]

“Dawkins in Denial”

    We flew this evening from Fort Lauderdale to Atlanta, and from Atlanta to Richmond, Virginia.  It’s a matter of some satisfaction to me that there is now a temple in each of these cities — long dedicated and operating in Atlanta and Fort Lauderdale and, in Richmond, very near to completion and dedication. […]