Daniel C. Peterson's Blog, page 28

On emptying Gaza out

  The Hebrew “Northern Kingdom” — often called Israel or, after its eventual capital, Samaria — was formed in the tenth century before Christ when the ten northern tribes rebelled against the political entity headquartered in Jerusalem, which thereupon came to be called the “Southern Kingdom,” or the Kingdom of Judah.  But, after a three-year […]

A Life Lived in Crescendo

  Following our participation in an endowment session at the Provo City Center Temple this past Thursday, my friend and former missionary companion and former BYU department colleague, Stephen D. Ricks, shared with me a passage (verse 94) from the apocryphal Acts of John that is suggestive of an ancient Christian prayer circle.  It occurs […]

“Upon Thy Belly Shalt Thou Go”

  Two new articles went up today on the website of the Interpreter Foundation.  The first of these was ““Upon Thy Belly Shalt Thou Go”: The Garden of Eden Serpent Symbology Based on the Concept of Seraphim,” written by Noel Hudson: Abstract: The concept of the serpentine seraphim from biblical iconography is discussed in the […]

As political a blog entry as you’ll see here

  For the past several years, I’ve refrained from posting entries here on political issues.  I’ve done so because, although I’ve had a deep interest in politics since I was about ten years old, I found that my publicly expressing my political views created adverse consequences for the Interpreter Foundation.  And, given my role with […]

Free Viewing of Witnesses Films

  This announcement came out this evening from the Interpreter Foundation: Just in time for your Come, Follow Me discussion of the witnesses to the Book of Mormon! Undaunted: Witnesses of the Book of Mormon can now be viewed for free here: https://witnessesfilm.com/  Witnesses will go up for free from 2 Feb 2025 through 1 […]

“What were the Kinderhook Plates?”

  Perhaps I just forgot to mention it.  (I recall that I once forgot something, but now I can’t remember what it was.)  Or perhaps I wanted to wait to announce it until the first full day of America’s Golden Age had arrived.  Which it now has.  Today!  In either case, this article of mine […]

Did Solomon Spalding write the original Book of Mormon?

  An important part of the Interpreter Foundation’s effort to support the early portion of this year’s Come, Follow Me curriculum is our calling renewed attention to the short-video features that we created in connection with the Witnesses film project.  Here is today’s offering: Episode 9: Is the Spaulding Argument Valid? Witnesses of the Book […]

“Undaunted” is now available for streaming at no charge!

  I’m very pleased to announce here that the Interpreter Foundation has chosen to make its 2022 docudrama, Undaunted: Witnesses of the Book of Mormon, available online at no charge.  Undaunted was created to accompany the Foundation’s 2021 dramatic theatrical film, Witnesses.  We hope that you will take advantage of this offering and that you […]

Songs of the Heart

  One of the great things about my father-in-law’s funeral on Friday was the gathering of the clan, not only from Utah but from both coasts, that it occasioned.  Some were unable to attend, but it was good to have so many together.  (A personal joy was seeing two little granddaughters meet for the very […]

Until we meet again

  A new article appeared earlier today in Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship:  “Small Hinges, Great Doorways: How Some Descendants of an Enslaved Youth Unexpectedly Became Prominent Utah Citizens,” written by Jeffrey M. Bradshaw Abstract: A vivid illustration of how “the doorways of history turn on small hinges” is found in […]