Daniel C. Peterson's Blog, page 864

BOM Alma 14

    One passage in Alma 14 has really stood out to me for several years now:  Alma 14:21, which describes the treatment of the prophets Alma and Amulek by the apostate people of Ammonihah.   And many such things did they say unto them, gnashing their teeth upon them, and spitting upon them, and [Read More...]

Berdyaev on theosis or divinization

    The central idea of the Eastern Fathers was that of theosis, the divinization of all creatures, the transfiguration of the world, the idea of the cosmos and not the idea of personal salvation. . . .  Only later Christian consciousness began to value the idea of hell more than the idea of the [Read More...]

“To Those Who Gave the Last Full Measure of Devotion”

    I’m grateful to my neighbor, Dr. Lynn Dayton, for sharing this video with our high priests group today:   http://lp.hillsdale.edu/memorial-day/...   Memorial Day Weekend has become a major time for fun and recreation and for family reunions, and I’m scarcely opposed to that.  I think, however, that we do need to devote at [Read More...]

“Mormonism and Science”

    For those who might be interested, here’s a list of articles addressing various aspects of Mormonism and science:   http://en.fairmormon.org/Mormonism_an...   Some might find them to be useful resources, I think.    

“Idaho State Sued by Athlete for Anti-Mormon Bias”

    When I first saw this headline, I thought to myself that it was most likely a case of a young Latter-day Saint’s oversensitivity.  I’ve been out and about in academia a bit myself, and have occasionally been snubbed, mocked, insulted, or otherwise inappropriately treated on account of my religious affiliation.  It’s never risen to [Read More...]

“How God Messed Up My Happy Atheist Life”

    An interesting personal essay:   http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2...   May it happen again and again.    

Should I choose Bad Door 1 or Bad Door 2?

    I make a serious (and, on the whole, quite successful) effort to avoid politics on my blog on the Sabbath.   There are — blessedly — more fundamentally important things than partisan politics.  (I’m especially grateful for that fact during this dismal presidential campaign.)   But I still have more than an hour before [Read More...]

“North Dakota Mosque a Symbol of Muslims’ Long Ties in America”

    My paternal grandparents were immigrants to North Dakota.  My grandfather from Denmark as an infant, though there’s a possibility that he was actually born in the United States.  My grandmother came from Norway as a teenage girl, alone.   Some of the Muslim immigrants to North Dakota described in this article came at about [Read More...]

“Death, thou shalt die”

    It’s Memorial Day weekend.  So we spent the day — an exceptionally beautiful one — with other members of my wife’s family, visiting graves in Salt Lake City and up in Henefer.   I’m privileged to have known a few of them.   In honor of the holiday, I offer here a favorite [Read More...]

“The Great and Spacious Book of Mormon Arcade Game”

    With his trademark wit, Jeff Lindsay responds to a reply to his two recent articles in Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture (which were published here and here):   http://mormanity.blogspot.com/2016/05...   Sometimes, I fear that I lack the sheer capacity to become a critic of the Book of Mormon:  My credulousness is simply too [Read More...]