Daniel C. Peterson's Blog, page 131

“A marvelous manifestation, and admonition from a higher source”

    ***   The literarily-inclined Orson F. Whitney served as a member of the Council of the Twelve from 1906 until his death in 1931.  I share a quotation from his memoirs that may already be familiar to most of my readers.  But it’s a  wonderful passage, and perhaps some out there don’t know […]

Comedic gold under the banner of heaven

    ***   With his kind permission, I republish here the summary of Episode 4 of Under the Banner of Heaven that the inimitable Jim Bennett posted on his Facebook page:   Come, Brother. Come, sister. Abide with me as we range Under the Banner of Heaven Episode Four, Church and State. Beards vigorously encouraged. […]

Joseph Smith and Religious Freedom

    ***   Just up!   Undaunted Witnesses Episode 4: Joseph Smith: Man, Prophet—or Both? As an uneducated farm boy claiming to see God the Father, Jesus Christ, and various angels, Joseph Smith also claimed to translate an ancient record and receive modern revelation. Experiencing sorrow and failure as well as joy and success […]

“Can You Suppose That the Lord Will Spare You?”

    ***   Two new articles appeared today at noon in Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship:   ““Can You Suppose That the Lord Will Spare You?”: Moroni’s Charged Rhetoric in Alma 60:30–32,” by Matthew L. Bowen Abstract: Under the duress of a lengthy war, and prompted by recent Lamanite military successes, as […]

“Witnesses” streaming, and Vikings killing, assaulting, and pillaging

    ***   It’s an appropriate time, I think, for a status report on the Interpreter Foundation’s Witnesses movie project.   The first part of the project was production of the film Witnesses, which was released in theaters in June of 2021.  We are excited that it is now available everywhere on streaming platforms: […]

A double standard in the age of the #Me Too movement?

    ***   The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is being held up right now more or less as a foreign object of horror and ridicule in the Hulu/FX miniseries Under the Banner of Heaven.  Not for the first time — think of such cultural monuments as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s A […]

Remembrance

    ***   If you’re at all interested in the topic of life before and after life, don’t let the opportunity pass you by to see Remembering Heaven while it’s in movie theaters.  (I don’t know the extent of its distribution, but I know that it’s playing at several locations here in Utah Valley.). […]

The Earliest Text of the Book of Mormon

    ***   But briefly, first, please have a look at this article from today’s Meridian Magazine:   ““Undaunted”: See the Docudrama that Tells the Rest of the Story Behind the Witnesses of the Book of Mormon”   ***   I’m pleased to mention here that tomorrow, 10 May 2022, is the date for […]

An important part of my approach to other faiths and worldviews

    ***   Well over three decades ago now, I spent a summer in Berkeley, California, participating in a small seminar led by the preeminent student of comparative religions Huston Smith (1919-2016) and sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities.   It was an extraordinary and memorable experience on many levels — not the […]

Number Three

    ***   I’m pleased to announce (although, owing to my schedule today, I’m announcing it about four and a half hour late) that the third installment of the Interpreter Foundation’s “Undaunted Witnesses” reels went up this (Saturday) evening:   Undaunted Witnesses Episode 3: David Whitmer, Witness, with Camrey Bagley Fox and Gerrit Dirkmaat […]