Daniel C. Peterson's Blog, page 1145

“Are the first stars in the universe invisible?”

      A fascinating excursion into the earliest history of the Universe.  And a hint of a major discovery just around the bend:   https://medium.com/starts-with-a-bang...   Posted from Langley, British Columbia    

“When the Left is Losing Its ‘Sexual Diversity Studies’ Students, Perhaps It’s Getting Too Shrill”

    Perpetual indignation and rage does eventually grow tiresome — for normal people, at least.   http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/...   There may, thus, be some faint reason for hope.  Maybe the West isn’t doomed?    

New Testament 110

    Matthew 11:28-30   Three of the most pleasant and reassuring verses in the gospels.   Perhaps something of the nature of the “learning” that Jesus wants us to receive from him (“learn from me”) can be discerned in the fact that the Greek imperative verb “learn!” used here (mathete/μάθετε) derives from the same [Read More...]

“Slouching toward Mecca”

    A review of a new novel — a pessimistic account of decadence and decline, and of its possible result — by one of France’s foremost writers:   http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archi...   In 1918 and in 1922, Oswald Spengler published his once very famous two-volume work Der Untergang des Abendlandes (“The Decline of the West”).  It [Read More...]

New Testament 109

    Matthew 11:25-27 Luke 10:21-22 Compare John 3:35; 7:29; 10:14-15; 13:3; 17:2, 25   I understand that orthodox Nicene Trinitarians can read these verses without seeing a contradiction of their notion of a Triune God.  But, seriously, it seems to me that the Latter-day Saint understanding of the Father and the Son as two [Read More...]

Sir Francis Bacon on education

    One of my favorite quotations about education, from Sir Francis Bacon:   “Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man.”   Understand that, by conference, he means “serious conversation” or “deliberation in council.”    

Perhaps the two creepiest political ads I’ve ever seen

    I really can’t decide which of these two ads is the most bizarre:   This one is horrible.   But isn’t this one worse still?   What out-of-touch weirdo imagined that normal people would find such things attractive?  What loon didn’t immediately see that most voters would see them as repulsive?   That said, I’m perfect happy [Read More...]

“How to become gluten intolerant”

    The inimitable Dr. Gregory L. Smith, of Alberta, Canada, brought this important video to my attention:   http://theawesomer.com/how-to-become-...   (Note: It might . . . umm, help, at just a couple of brief points, to have had practical medical or nursing experience.)   And here, on a more serious note, is an item [Read More...]

“Mormons free to back gay marriage on social media, LDS apostle reiterates”

    I don’t imagine that the Brethren are altogether pleased when members of the Church contradict and oppose (quite rarely occurring) official Church positions on public policy — I’m surely not — but they’ve been very clear that such political disagreements aren’t cause for excommunication or Church discipline.  Thus, Elder Christofferson is simply reiterating what [Read More...]

“Nearly 70% of Evangelicals do not view religion and science as being in conflict”

    It’s often claimed that conservative Protestants are hostile to science, but a recent sociological study seems to demonstrate that claim to be false:   http://news.rice.edu/2015/03/13/nearl...   On the other hand, conservative Protestants also seem to be relatively uninterested in current science.   Interesting results, worthy of thought.   How would the Latter-day Saints [Read More...]