Daniel C. Peterson's Blog, page 1133

Inside the new Payson Utah Temple

    For those of you who won’t have a chance to attend the pre-dedication open house of the new Payson Utah Temple, here’s a really nice video presentation that will take you through important parts of the building:   http://www.ldschurchtemples.com/payso...   I’ll be candid:  I find the exterior of the new temple somewhat busy [Read More...]

John A. Widtsoe Symposium and Chair at the University of Southern California

    I first heard of plans for a John A. Widtsoe Chair at USC a month or two ago:   http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article...   It’s quite exciting news.   Elder Widtsoe deserves more recognition than I think he has received from Latter-day Saints over the past couple of decades.   Posted from Tiberias, Israel    

“The man who may one-up Darwin”

    Here’s a curious item, brought to my attention by Robyn Ausseresses Amis:   http://www.ozy.com/rising-stars-and-p...   Posted from Tiberias, Israel    

A very brief conversation with an Israeli couple regarding Barack Obama

    The other night, at the commencement of the Jewish sabbath, my wife and I shared the “Shabbat elevator” here in our hotel with an Israeli couple.   The “Shabbat elevator” is set to stop at every floor, so that the riders don’t need to push any buttons.  Thus, since our room is on [Read More...]

More evidence of the Fall

    We spent much of yesterday upon in the very northern reaches of modern and historical Israel, near the ancient cultic site of Dan.  (Israel was described as stretching from Dan in the north to Beersheva in the south, or, when it was merely the northern kingdom, from Dan to Bethel.  Jeroboam put calf-idols [Read More...]

“Celebrating the 100th anniversary of Mormon Family Home Evening: An Episcopal Priest’s Perspective”

    “O wad some Pow’r the giftie gie us,” wrote Robert Burns, “to see oursels as ithers see us!”   Well, here’s an interesting outsider’s view:   http://www.huffingtonpost.com/daniell...   Posted from Tiberias, Israel    

The Church’s new Central Eurasian Mission

    This is — for someone coming from my peculiar background, anyway — really exciting news:   http://www.deseretnews.com/article/86...   Thanks to Jared August for bringing it to my notice.   Posted from Tiberias, Israel  

A surprising discovery beneath Teotihuacán

    There is still so very, very much that we don’t know about pre-Columbian Mesoamerica — including the very name of the people who inhabited the great city of Teotihuacán:   http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/0...   Posted from Tiberias, Israel    

“Cultural conservatives have barely begun to fight”

    I’ve thought highly of David (and Nancy) French for several years now, and I like his defiant spirit in this article:   http://www.nationalreview.com/article...   Religious and cultural conservatives can and must make common cause.   Posted from Tiberias, Israel    

Robert George’s commencement remarks at BYU

    Obviously, I wasn’t there.   I regret that.   But, thanks to Nathaniel Hancock, I’ve now read the speech that Princeton’s heroic and invaluable Robert George delivered during BYU’s very recent commencement exercises:   http://mirrorofjustice.blogs.com/mirr...   I’m glad that he said what he said, and that he said it at BYU at this [Read More...]