Daniel C. Peterson's Blog, page 1219

2 Nephi 17

    Today’s reading — 2 Nephi 17 (= Isaiah 7) — contains, in verse 14, one of the most famous of all messianic prophecies:   Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and shall bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.   It’s already quoted as applying to Jesus of Nazareth in Matthew 1:23, and it’s actually [Read More...]

A helpful resource for online LDS

    For those of you out there who — perhaps in response to appeals from Elders M. Russell Ballard and David A. Bednar and others — would like to join in the effort of sharing the Gospel online via Facebook, blogging, or even just emails to members of your families, here’s handy and easy-to-use [Read More...]

“Thousands ‘will most likely be massacred’ if Kobani falls to jihadists, UN warns”

    http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/1...   And it’s said that ISIS has been attempting to seize and seal off avenues of escape from Kobani into Turkey — which seems ominous.  If ISIS merely wanted to take possession of real estate, they would, I think, be more than happy to allow the residents of the city to leave.  And [Read More...]

Much recent nonsense has seriously compromised the Nobel Peace Prize.

    But I’m happy at the committee’s choice for this year:   http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-...   Imagine a girl being called out of her high school chemistry class to be told that she’s won a Nobel Prize.  That’s probably not a very common scenario . . .   Posted from Princeville, Kauai, Hawaii    

“A Response to Grant Palmer’s ‘Sexual Allegations Against Joseph Smith and the Beginnings of Polygamy in Nauvoo’”

    This week’s regular Friday publication in Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture:   http://www.mormoninterpreter.com/a-re...   Posted from Princeville, Kauai, Hawaii    

A troll’s death

    I never particularly followed the Madeleine McCann case, and, of course, I regret the premature death of Brenda Leyland (just as I regret anybody’s premature death).   But this article is an illustration of the mean-spirited madness that’s out there in cyberworld:   http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/m...   What on earth would possess somebody to so [Read More...]

Thursday in Laie

      My wife and I attended a session in the Laie Hawaii Temple Thursday morning, where we had a wonderful time.  As residents of Utah Valley, which is still fairly monochrome, we enjoyed being surrounded very largely by people of Polynesian and Asian background in the Temple; it was a visible reminder of the [Read More...]

Is there “an atheistic literary style”?

    A provocative thought from a provocative thinker:   “An interesting essay might be written on the possession of an atheistic literary style. There is such a thing. The mark of it is that wherever anything is named or described, such words are chosen as suggest that the thing has not got a soul [Read More...]

“They were dead — but they were all . . . so happy!”

    Today’s weekly column in the Deseret News:   http://www.deseretnews.com/article/86...   Posted from Ko Olina, Oahu, Hawaii    

2 Nephi 16

    Today’s reading, 2 Nephi 16 (= Isaiah 6), recounts the prophetic call of Isaiah.   His awestruck, even terrified, reaction to his vision is noteworthy.  He fears that he’s going to die, but, having undergone a supernatural purification, he survives.   However, what’s really remarkable about the chapter is the simple but plain fact [Read More...]