Daniel C. Peterson's Blog, page 271

In which I denounce science as a sham!

    Just a few minutes ago, I read the confident claim, made online by someone whom (as far as I can tell) I don’t know and have never met, that I consider science a sham.  This was stunning news to me, as I’ve had, or thought I had, a lifelong interest in scientific subjects […]

At the Holy Sepulcher

    A poignant passage about Jerusalem’s Church of the Holy Sepulcher from the late Reverend Dr. Jerome Murphy-O’Connor, O.P. (1935-2013), a Roman Catholic and a Dominican priest who was, for decades, a professor of New Testament at the illustrious École Biblique there in that city:   One expects the central shrine of Christendom to stand out in majestic isolation, but anonymous buildings cling to it like barnacles. […]

“Well there ain’t no time to wonder why. Whoopie! We’re all gonna die!”

    You may perhaps have heard that a disease called coronavirus is going around.  Here are some comments on different aspects of the illness and the responses to it, from various sources:   “On Coronavirus, Where Are All the Grownups?”   “President Trump Needs to Step Up on the Coronavirus”   “Rick Scott’s Moment” […]

Is dishonesty to non-Muslims okay in Islam?

      Quite unrelated to the image above:   Fairly commonly, I’m told by critics of Islam that Muslims believe it legitimate to lie to non-Muslims (presumably on just about anything).  Thus, supposedly, there’s no value in entering into any contract with Muslims or into any treaty with an Islamic state.  Moreover, according to […]

Geology and Third Nephi (14): “Broken and Scattered Rocks” (Part One)

    And behold, the rocks were rent in twain; they were broken up upon the face of the whole earth, insomuch that they were found in broken fragments, and in seams and in cracks, upon all the face of the land.  (3 Nephi 8:18)   We’re nearing the end, but I’m still working my way […]

“Enoch the Seer” (and Some Who Evidently Can’t See At All)

    Newly posted on the website of the Interpreter Foundation:   In God’s Image and Likeness 2: Enoch, Noah, and the Tower of Babel: Moses 6:13-25: Enoch, the Seer Part of our book chapter reprint series, this article originally appeared in In God’s Image and Likeness 2: Enoch, Noah, and the Tower of Babel (2014) by Jeffrey M. […]

The sacrifice of Martin Harris

    Thanks to the generous efforts of many volunteers and the kind support of generous donors, the fountain that is the Interpreter Foundation continues to produce, week in and week out.  Here are three very recent items that we hope will be of interest and benefit to our audience:   Audio Roundtable: Come, Follow Me Book […]

Geology and Third Nephi (13): “Whole Face of Land Changed” (Part Two)

    Yup.  Here’s another set of notes drawn mostly from Bart J. Kowallis, “In the Thirty and Fourth Year: A Geologist’s View of the Great Destruction in 3 Nephi,” BYU Studies 37/3 (1997-1998):   After a violent eruption, the volcano and the area surrounding it often appear completely foreign.  The volcano itself may have changed from a […]

A democratic salvation

    A recurring theme in the texts that we’ve been reading in my Islamic philosophy class — particularly, I think, in the Faṣl al-Maqāl (“The Decisive Treatise”) of Ibn Rushd and in Ibn Ṭufayl’s Ḥayy ibn Yaqẓān (“Alive, Son of Awake”) — is the notion that the real theological and philosophical truth should be restricted only to […]

Geology and Third Nephi (12): “Whole Face of Land Changed” (Part One)

    I’m plugging on, posting another set of notes drawn mostly — today, entirely — from Bart J. Kowallis, “In the Thirty and Fourth Year: A Geologist’s View of the Great Destruction in 3 Nephi,” BYU Studies 37/3 (1997-1998):   Dr. Kowallis points out, quite correctly in my judgment, that we would be wrong to read 3 […]