Daniel C. Peterson's Blog, page 1207

Another revolutionary insight

    It occurred to me today, over brunch at The Beachcomber, directly on the sand at Crystal Cove, why there’s a perfectly good explanation for the fact that even large surveys have failed to detect vampires:  The questions are poorly designed.   For example, if you ask whether anybody out there has been harmed [Read More...]

Why the Egyptians built the pyramids

    A revolutionary new explanation for the pyramids of Egypt has just occurred to me:   I suspect that the pyramids were originally painted black.  The ancient Egyptians hoped to lower the temperatures in the Nile Valley by constructing giant heat-absorbers, with maximum surface area.   Clever, once you understand it.   Unfortunately, given [Read More...]

Einstein on “fanatical atheists”

    “The fanatical atheists are like slaves who are still feeling the weight of their chains which they have thrown off after hard struggle.  They are creatures who — in their grudge against traditional religion as the ‘opium of the masses’ — cannot hear the music of the spheres.” Albert Einstein   Posted from [Read More...]

The need for special divine revelation

    “Human salvation demands the divine disclosure of truths surpassing reason.”  (St.Thomas Aquinas)   Posted from Newport Beach, California    

John Paul II on science and religion

      Karol Wojtyla (aka John Paul II) held doctorates in both philosophy and theology, and was an exceptional thinker.   Posted from Newport Beach, California    

Mosiah 1

    I’ve spent too much time on this blog and on Facebook today, and some interactions — with purported brothers and sisters in the Gospel — have been remarkably unpleasant.   So I’ll be brief right now with regard to today’s reading, Mosiah 1.  I just don’t have the stomach for more.   The [Read More...]

“What A Billion Muslims Really Think”

    Many people in the West quite confidently discuss Muslim attitudes on the basis of no real acquaintance with either the Islamic world or actual Muslims.   So I’m going to recommend a book:   Several years ago, the Gallup organization undertook an enormous, multi-country survey of the Islamic world, the largest ever done.  The results [Read More...]

“Tyndale Versus More in the Book of Mormon”

      Amid all the noisy controversy devoted to a misguided article by a bishop attacking Harry Reid’s faith, The Interpreter Foundation continues moving quietly forward.   For the 119th consecutive week, Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture has published a new article.  (Sometimes, it has published two on the same Friday.)   This [Read More...]

One last comment

    But my comment, this time, is about the California bishop who published that unfortunate column about Harry Reid:   I think his column was a very bad idea, and I disapprove of it.     That said, I won’t jump on the bandwagon of those calling for his release and wanting to roast [Read More...]

A final word on the Harry Reid matter, I hope

    I’ve said what I intended to say about the Harry Reid controversy, and I hope to say no more.   I have other things to do with my day.   But I’m now under attack — it was entirely predictable, I suppose — from right-wingers who, in most cases, probably weren’t even born yet [Read More...]