Daniel C. Peterson's Blog, page 190

“Three witnesses who were representative of the human race”

    Roughly a year before his death, we recorded a two-day interview with Richard Lloyd Anderson (9 May 1926 – 12 August 2018).  Armed with a law degree from Harvard and a doctorate in ancient history from the University of California at Berkeley, Richard was a meticulous scholar who devoted a large portion of […]

Some favorite music for the season (1)

    Among the glories of the Christmas season is its music.  I would like to share here a few of my favorite pieces.  First, though, please permit me to remind you, yet again, of the magnificent eighteen-minute video The Christ Child, produced by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  It ranks very […]

Two Hundred and Fifteen Years Ago, Today

    Perhaps, had he not been born so close to the superholiday of Christmas, Joseph Smith’s birthday would have been widely commemorated among contemporary Latter-day Saints, more or less in the manner of, say, Pioneer Day.  Perhaps.  As it is, like a celestial object that’s positioned adjacent to the sun in the daytime sky, […]

Ghost Stories, Richard Dawkins, Christmas, and Other Related Matters

    I call to your attention two new items that have been posted on the website of the Interpreter Foundation:   Audio Roundtable: Come, Follow Me Doctrine and Covenants Lesson 1 “Hearken, O Ye People” (D&C 1) This is an Interpreter Radio Roundtable for Come, Follow Me Doctrine and Covenants Lesson 1, “Hearken, O Ye People,” on D&C 1. The panelists […]

“A Prophet Like Moses,” and “The Journey of the Magi”

    Two items were published on the website of the Interpreter Foundation today.   The first, by David R. Seely, appears in Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship:   ““A Prophet Like Moses” (Deuteronomy 18:15–18) in the Book of Mormon, the Bible, and the Dead Sea Scrolls” Abstract: David Seely provides […]

Some possible reading for Christmas week

    I’ve assembled links below to various Christmas-related columns that I’ve written over the past decade or so for the Deseret News.  It occurred to me that someone out there might enjoy reading one of them.  If nothing else, perhaps one of my handful of obsessive and implacable anonymous online critics will be able […]

A Revelation in the Operating Room

    But first, a new item appeared yesterday on the website of the Interpreter Foundation:   “Book of Moses Essays #34: Moses 1 in Its Ancient Context: Moses in the Spirit World (Moses 1:1–8)”   ***     I’ve been very much enjoying Sheri Dew, Insights from a Prophet’s Life: Russell M. Nelson (Salt Lake City, […]

Revision 8.8 More opposition to the BYU Jerusalem Center

    Don’t miss this important (and relevant) monument from the history of Israeli popular music:     As the Center came under attack it was clearly the Church itself that was being assaulted. The Latter-day Saint claim that this was a university building, an academic facility, rather than a mission home or a church, […]

“Joseph Smith’s Translation Projects under a Microscope”

    Two new articles appeared today in Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship.   The first of the two is by Brant A. Gardner:   “Joseph Smith’s Translation Projects under a Microscope” Review of Producing Ancient Scripture: Joseph Smith’s Translation Projects in the Development of Mormon Christianity, edited by Michael Hubbard MacKay, Mark Ashurst-McGee, […]

“Adam and Christ, Eve and Mary at Christmastime”

    New on the website of the Interpreter Foundation, from Jeffrey Mark Bradshaw:   “Exploring the Symbolism of Christ in Ancient Christmas Carols and Traditions: Adam and Christ, Eve and Mary at Christmastime”   ***   Tonight, my wife and I joined with the producer and the director of the Witnesses film project and […]