Daniel C. Peterson's Blog, page 1175

The war continues, now against Christian colleges and the Boy Scouts

      David French has published a troubling article — it’s fully accessible to me, and I hope it will be to you, as well — about the besieged Boston-area Evangelical school, Gordon College:   https://live-redesign.nationalreview....   Gordon’s offense, which may prove lethal to it, is that its code for students and faculty frowns upon sexual [Read More...]

“The camera that changed the universe”

    David Wills kindly brought this utterly fascinating article (and its magnificent accompanying photographs) to my attention:   https://medium.com/starts-with-a-bang...   Read it or even simply skim it, marvel, and enjoy!    

Of Arab “Obsession” with Language, and Arabian Jews

    Jabra Ghneim has brought two interesting though quite different articles to my attention.  The first describes new research into the “intoxication” with language that Western scholars have often noted in classical Arabic culture — which, the Stanford professor behind the research says, reflects a linguistic sophistication that the medieval West lacked at the [Read More...]

“The Decline of Philosophy”

    Most of you probably wouldn’t care if you heard that philosophy was in decline.  But you might care, nonetheless, about some of the issues raised in this article: http://www.realclearreligion.org/arti...    

“Bible wars among scholarly tribes”

    The latest installment of the biweekly Hamblin/Peterson column in the Deseret News:   http://www.deseretnews.com/article/86...    

Why religious colleges should worry

    http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firs...    

Answering to reality

    “You can avoid reality, but you cannot avoid the consequences of avoiding reality.”  (Ayn Rand [1905-1982])      

Archbishop Chaput at BYU

    I had the opportunity, today, of attending a lecture at BYU by Archbishop Charles Joseph Chaput of Philadelphia.  (Given the fact that the new Philadelphia Temple is rapidly rising very near to the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul, Professor Mauro Properzi quipped in introducing him, the Archbishop will be able to enjoy his morning [Read More...]

Background information for understanding the current crisis in Yemen

    I’m not, and don’t pretend to be, an expert on the politics of Yemen.  But, for any who would like some background information on the Zaydi Shi‘ite movement out of which the Houthi insurgents emerge who have just taken control of that country — the Zaydis are quite distinct from the Ithna‘asharis who [Read More...]

New Testament 47

    Matthew 12:9-14 Mark 3:1-6 Luke 6:6-11   Today’s reading plainly belongs with yesterday’s.   Jesus is illustrating the proper attitude toward the Sabbath.   He doesn’t say that it’s okay to engage in trade on the Sabbath day, let alone to eat out in restaurants or attend movies.   But the rules for [Read More...]