Daniel C. Peterson's Blog, page 149

Still thinking about Arlington, and about Christ

    ***   Yesterday’s visit to Arlington National Cemetery was a substitute for what we had thought we would be doing.  Plans changed.  But it was both interesting and meaningful.   Arlington is replete with former presidents, generals, admirals, justices of the Supreme Court, senators, secretaries of State and Defense, and other dignitaries.  It’s […]

Biblical Studies and Studies of the Book of Mormon

    ***   I want to share with you the links to three articles from a prior number of Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship:   Daniel C. Peterson, “Celebrating Exactitude, When It’s Appropriate” Abstract: It’s almost always better to be right than to be wrong, to be exact than to be […]

Memories at Arlington

    ***   Two new pieces, both of them book reviews, went up today in Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship:   “A Masterpiece on Resisting Our Impulses to Leave,” by Daniel Ortner Review of S. Michael Wilcox, Holding On: Impulses to Leave and Strategies to Stay (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2021). 128 pages. […]

Churchill and Smuts

    ***   Flying eastward today, I watched and enjoyed the film Black Nativity, which I had never seen before.  It’s based on a 1961 play by the famous Harlem Renaissance writer Langston Hughes (1901-1967).  Originally released in late November of 2013, it really is a Christmas film.  And, although not entirely unpredictable, it’s […]

A plea for charity

    ***   Contrary to the reputation that’s been carefully cultivated for me in some circles over the past decade or two, I’ve never favored nor enjoyed no-holds-barred internet fisticuffs.  Nor have I ever supported personal attacks.   People who really know me, I think, will have no problem believing that, in fact, I’m […]

“The House of Christmas”

    ***   Come, Follow Me — D&C Study and Teaching Helps: Lesson 52, December 20-December 26: Christmas (“The Living Christ”) Another piece kindly produced for the Interpreter Foundation by Jonn Claybaugh.   Audio Roundtable: Come, Follow Me Doctrine and Covenants Lesson 52 “The Matchless Gift of God’s Divine Son”: Christmas The Interpreter Radio […]

John L. Sorenson (1924-2021)

    ***   I’ve been hoping to find a nice uninterrupted period for reflection and writing.  I intended to use it to write a little piece—inadequate though it would inevitably be —about my friend and long-time colleague John L. Sorenson, who died last week at the age of ninety-seven, only a few days after […]

“What is My Witness?”: A New Video from Deseret Book and Excel Entertainment on the Interpreter Foundation Website

    ***   The Interpreter Foundation has now posted a video of an event that Deseret Book and Excel Entertainment sponsored in Provo on the evening of 14 October 2021:   Deseret Book’s What is My Witness Event   The gathering celebrated the release of the Interpreter Foundation’s dramatic film, Witnesses, on DVD and via […]

In case you haven’t noticed, it’s Christmastime

    ***   An interesting new — very new — item was posted today on the website of the Interpreter Foundation:   “The First Days and the Last Days: Commentary on Joseph Smith—Matthew”   Please take a look!   ***   Just in time for Christmas and the beginning of the 2022 Old Testament […]

Ritual Complexes, the Book of Mormon, and the Book of Moses

    Here are five articles from a previous number of Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship that you might find of interest:   M. Steve Andersen, “The Practice and Meaning of Declaring Lineage in Patriarchal Blessings” Abstract: In this paper, I show that declarations of lineage in patriarchal blessings have, since the […]