Daniel C. Peterson's Blog, page 69

Why do we celebrate Christmas?

  The other day, here on this blog, I posted an appreciation of Walt Disney and of the Walt Disney Company that he founded slightly more than one hundred years ago in Los Angeles, California, on 16 October 2023.  Rather mysteriously, it was titled “In praise of Disney.” The immediate impetus for my post wasn’t […]

We do we celebrate Christmas?

  The other day, here on this blog, I posted an appreciation of Walt Disney and of the Walt Disney Company that he founded slightly more than one hundred years ago in Los Angeles, California, on 16 October 2023.  Rather mysteriously, it was titled “In praise of Disney.” The immediate impetus for my post wasn’t […]

“Pixelated Prophets”

  This new article went up earlier today in Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship:  “Pixelated Prophets: A History and Analysis of Book-of-Mormon-Themed Video Games,” written by Geoffrey M. Draper and Aaron M. Curtis Abstract: Video games represent an innovative medium for entertainment and artistic expression with potential for fostering deeper engagement […]

In praise of Disney

  I thought this article, written by Jacob Hess, an interesting one and worth commending to your attention:  “What is the modern apostleship? Elder Patrick Kearon enters an order Latter-day Saints believe to be ancient, divinely inspired” But now, on to a very different topic: I explained a few days ago that, inspired by President […]

Getting Ready for the Beginning of 2024

    The subject of this coming year in the “Come, Follow Me” curriculum of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will, of course, be the Book of Mormon.  At the very beginning, the Witnesses of the Book of Mormon will be a focus. Accordingly, it seems an appropriate time to call attention, […]

On the future of BYU

  I love Brigham Young University.  I believe in it.  I never wanted to teach anywhere else.  I was deeply influenced by President Spencer W. Kimball’s memorable 1975 address, “The Second Century of Brigham Young University.”  It still feels strange to me to be retired from BYU and to be, now, only a (small and insignificant) […]

Have you seen “The Oath” yet?

  I noticed this Public Square Magazine article online the other day and found it interesting.  And then found, to my surprise, that I myself was mentioned in it: “Tapped Out: Criticism an Unsustainable Fountain for Faith: The fact that accusation clouds religious epistemology is a lesson we can all learn from a debacle on a […]

Human sacrifice? Or a funerary scene?

  My mother grew up in St. George, and my brother was dedicated in the St. George Utah Temple.  It has always had a special place in my heart and soul, and it played a particular role in the earliest stirrings of my own personal faith.  And President Jeffrey R. Holland means a great deal […]

Middle Initials and “Mormonism”

  You should really take a couple of minutes to read Elder Dale G. Renlund’s account of what he — a physician, by the way — explicitly identifies as the miracle of President Jeffrey R. Holland’s recovery from a very serious illness that brought him to the brink of death:  “Of President Holland’s health and […]

Elder Patrick Kearon

  I would like to suggest a Christmas gift to you, both for yourself and for family and friends.  I have in mind the Yale edition of the Book of Mormon — formally, The Book of Mormon: The Earliest Text— edited by Royal Skousen.  (You can read something of my personal view of the Yale […]