Daniel C. Peterson's Blog, page 213

“Visions in a Seer Stone”?

    Two new book reviews have just appeared in Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship, one by Brian Hales and the other by Brant Gardner:   “Theories and Assumptions: A Review of William L. Davis’s Visions in a Seer Stone” A review of William L. Davis, Visions in a Seer Stone: Joseph Smith […]

Revision 4.17 “Jihad”

    This is roughly how the relevant text read in my old book Abraham Divided, from the mid-1980s.  But it’s a passage, I think, that now needs considerable expansion and nuancing.  Comments are welcome, as are suggestions of issues that you would want to see covered, questions to which you would like answers:   […]

“It’s not there just somehow by chance.”

    It’s a limited point — it proves no point of anybody’s religious doctrine true — but it’s a point that sometimes needs to be made.   So, as further evidence of the fact that first-rate scientific competence and understanding isn’t intrinsically incompatible with thoughtful religious faith, I offer the example of Charles H. Townes, […]

“Were the Names “Mahijah” and “Mahujah” Inspired by Adam Clarke’s Commentary?”

    New, on the website of the Interpreter Foundation:   “Book of Moses Textual Criticism Article Preview 2: Were the Names “Mahijah” and “Mahujah” Inspired by Adam Clarke’s Commentary?”   ***   Interpreter Radio Show — August 30, 2020 The 30 August 2020 broadcast of the Interpreter Radio Show is now available online, free […]

Revision 4.16 “The Hajj”

    It is incumbent upon every Muslim who can afford to do so to make the pilgrimage to “the Ancient House” (the Ka’ba) at Mecca at least once in his or her life.[1]Those who cannot afford to do so or are otherwise unable are exempt from the requirement. Make the pilgrimage and visit the […]

Revision 4.15 “The Hajj”

    It is incumbent upon every Muslim who can afford to do so to make the pilgrimage to “the Ancient House” (the Ka’ba) at Mecca at least once in his or her life.[1]Those who cannot afford to do so or are otherwise unable are exempt from the requirement. Make the pilgrimage and visit the […]

Our galaxy is “highly skewed toward fitness for life”

    Here are a couple of passages from Gerald L. Schroeder’s God According to God: A Scientist Discovers We’ve Been Wrong About God All Along (New York: HarperOne, 2009):   In the passage immediately below, Schroeder, an American living in Jerusalem who was trained in physics and planetary science at MIT, offers a basic initial checklist for […]

An “Update” from Professor Muhlestein regarding work on the Book of Abraham

    On the website of the Interpreter Foundation, an important “Update” has been posted.  It is attached to and immediately follows Professor Kerry Muhlestein’s “Raising the Abrahamic Discourse: An Essay on the Nature of Dialogues About the Book of Abraham”:   https://interpreterfoundation.org/rai...   ***   Some of you, I think, will find this 18.5-minute […]

Revision 4.15 “Almsgiving and fasting in Islam, preceded by a bit more on prayer”

    Remarkably, although the duty of prayer is often mentioned in the Qur’an, that book never specifically mentions a duty of praying formally five times daily. One legend says that Muhammad received the commandment of five daily prayers during his miraculous ascension into heaven from the Temple Mount at Jerusalem. Origi­nally, so the story […]

The aged Martin Harris in Utah

    Reports about Martin Harris upon his arrival in Utah in 1870, from Susan Easton Black and Larry C. Porter, Martin Harris: Uncompromising Witness of the Book of Mormon (Provo: BYU Studies, 2018):   From Irinda McEwan, his grandniece, at whose home in Salt Lake City he stayed for a while: Anyone who heard Martin Harris […]