Daniel C. Peterson's Blog, page 1221

Announcing the online edition of Royal Skousen’s “Analysis of Textual Variants of the Book of Mormon”

    The Interpreter Foundation is privileged, as of 7 October 2014, to host an electronic version of Professor Royal Skousen’s massive six-book Analysis of Textual Variants of the Book of Mormon on its website, thus making one of the most impressive undertakings in the history of Latter-day Saint scholarship easily accessible, at no charge, to [Read More...]

Flavors

    One of the many pleasures of visiting Hawaii is trying new — or revisiting uncommon — flavors.   Consider pitaya, for example, commonly known as “dragon fruit”:     Its flavor isn’t quite as exotic as its appearance — really, how could it be? what could possibly live up to that remarkable look? [Read More...]

An earlier visit to Hawaii

    I’m headed over to Laie later today, and my mind goes back to a previous visit when I delivered the annual Joseph Smith Lecture there on the Hawaii campus of Brigham Young University in 2009:   http://newsroom.byuh.edu/node/1578/print   It was a lot of fun, and I spent more time at BYU-Hawaii than I ever [Read More...]

When the Supreme Court speaks, has the thinking been done? And how about when it DECLINES to speak?

    http://www.millennialstar.org/16396/   Is the debate over redefining marriage over?   Only if you’re a slave who turns his or her thinking over to the government.  Which I hope and trust you’re not.   Did Roe v. Wade settle the question of abortion?  Did the Dred Scott decision end the debate over slavery?  Is [Read More...]

“Syria in Crisis”

    If there’s anybody out there who cares to read solid and informed analysis of the ongoing situation in and around Syria, here’s a good place where grown-up, knowledgeable commentators follow and explain the news from that very sad region of the globe:   http://carnegieendowment.org/syriainc...   By the way, I’ve been fearing a major [Read More...]

“35 memorable photos from the ‘LDS Church News’ archives”

    Charles Steinman called this to my attention.  It’s a lot of fun:   http://m.deseretnews.com/top/2740/0/3...   Posted from Ko Olina, Oahu, Hawaii    

Ain’t it the truth?

    “It is terrible to contemplate how few politicians are hanged.”  (G. K. Chesterton, in The Cleveland Press [1 March 1921])   If every incumbency ended in execution, I suppose we would — if we had any at all — have a more purely disinterested and idealistic breed of politician . . .   [Read More...]

2 Nephi 13

    It’s still Monday where I am, so I’m not late with this by my local standards.   Today’s reading, 2 Nephi 13 (= Isaiah 3), is, in many ways, a horrifying one.   By means of various symbols, Isaiah is trying to express the total upending of “normalcy” in Jerusalem and Judah that [Read More...]

Out on a catamaran on the Pacific? Life is good.

    We’ve just returned from a couple of hours sailing on a catamaran around the western side of Oahu — which is to say, on the Kauai side of the island.  Very pleasant.   Last week, we sailed on a catamaran around the southwestern and western coasts of Kauai itself, up to the Na [Read More...]

“Gladys Knight uses her voice to evangelize for the Mormon Church”

    A nice little article that some might have missed:   http://www.ohio.com/news/local/gladys...   And one of my favorites among her early songs:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdfZn...   Posted from Ko Olina, Oahu, Hawaii