Daniel C. Peterson's Blog, page 1182

New Testament 18

    Matthew 3:13-17 Mark 1:9-11 Luke 3:21-22 John 1:29-34   Whole books can be, have been, and should be written about the baptism of Jesus, and about the proper concept of baptism itself.   I’m not going to write one here, but I’ll offer a couple of very brief observations:   I cannot imagine [Read More...]

Of madness and sanity

    A time is coming when men will go mad, and when they see someone who is not mad, they will attack him, saying, “You are mad; you are not like us.” —Attributed to St. Anthony of Egypt (AD 251-356)

A FARMS time capsule from 1999

    I discovered just tonight — I suppose that I must have known it would be there, but I’d never thought about it — that a BYU devotional address (about the work of the Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies or FARMS, and its Center for the Preservation of Ancient Religious Texts) that I [Read More...]

Inferring purpose from the universe, and God as the purposer

    “The best data we have (concerning the Big Bang) are exactly what I would have predicted, had I nothing to go on but the five books of Moses, the Psalms, the Bible as a whole.” “If there are a bunch of fruit trees, one can say that whoever created these fruit trees wanted [Read More...]

Objections regarding the “new direction” at the Maxwell Institute

    Bill Hamblin responds, more or less, to David Bokovoy’s response to me:   http://www.patheos.com/blogs/enigmati...    

“Why do they leave?”

    An extremely interesting blog entry from John Gee on the question of why youth in general (and Mormon youth in particular) reject faith and/or disaffiliate from their church, synagogue, or mosque:   http://fornspollfira.blogspot.com/201...   Those who seek to address such defections will be more effective if they accurately understand what’s causing them.  This [Read More...]

“Mormon Allies Promise LGBT Christians: You Can Sit With Me At Church”

      http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12...    I’m honestly not sure why this is supposed to be a news story, or anything dramatically novel.   I’ve never in my life seen anybody expelled from a church service.  I suppose it’s conceivable that it could happen, if somebody were being disruptive, but I’ve never encountered such a case. [Read More...]

“Science increasingly makes the case for God”

    An interesting little article appeared in the Wall Street Journal on Christmas day, entitled “Science increasingly makes the case for God.”   There was nothing in it that was new to me, as I’ve been reading on this topic for a number of years now.  But it’s a nice, clear statement, by an [Read More...]

New Testament 15

    Luke 3:10-14   It’s striking, to me, that when “the multitudes asked [John the Baptist], ‘What shall we do?’” he didn’t respond with “Just believe!” or some other variation of the “faith alone/grace alone” formula.   Instead, he suggested various practical actions that they could perform:   *  Share your possessions and your [Read More...]

“They are willing to die for what most Christians are barely willing to live for.”

    Mercifully, thus far, “It’s Been a Quieter Christmas in the [Middle] East . . . for Most” Christians than in other recent years, but, unfortunately, as the linked article observes, it hasn’t been quiet for all.   Here are some (to me) moving new photos from an Iraqi refugee camp filled with exiled Christians at [Read More...]