Daniel C. Peterson's Blog, page 908

BOM Mosiah 15

      Today’s reading, Mosiah 15, forthrightly declares that “God himself shall come down among the children of men, and shall redeem his people” (15:1).   Verses 2-5, however, have caused some perplexity.  They seem unclear, and not a a few readers (mostly critics) have felt that they’re inconsistent with modern Mormon “tritheism” and even with mainstream [Read More...]

President Martin Van Buren’s two happiest days

    Martin Van Buren (who served 1837-1841) wasn’t much of a president.  Certainly not insofar as it concerned the Mormons.  But this is a good line:   As to the presidency, the two happiest days of my life were those of my entrance upon the office and my surrender of it.   It really [Read More...]

Wall Street Journal: “With welcoming stance, conservative Utah charts its own course on refugees”

    I’m enormously gratified to watch as Utah (and, by extrapolation, its predominantly Mormon population) distinguishes itself, while still adhering to its fundamentally conservative values and political orientation, from many others in the United States (notably a large proportion of conservative Evangelicals) in its response to Trumpism and to the plight of refugees.   First, [Read More...]

Our place in the universe

    David Wills, of Australia, who frequently alerts me to really interesting science stories, reminds me of this fascinating video:   https://www.facebook.com/Universe.Exp...   If you’re in need of a dose of humility or a bit of awe, have a look.  (If you don’t believe that you are in need of some additional humility or [Read More...]

Al-Ghazali and Ibn Rushd duke it out, verbally.

    http://existentialcomics.com/comic/126   The second book published by the Islamic Translation Series — part of BYU’s Middle Eastern Texts Initiative (METI), a project that I conceived and for which I served as editor in chief until my expulsion from the Maxwell Institute in 2012 — was al-Ghazali’s The Incoherence of the Philosophers.   Ibn Rushd (aka [Read More...]

“LDS Church launches ‘I Was a Stranger’ website for Mormon women’s refugee relief effort”

    Are you frustrated because you want to do something, but don’t know how, or how to get started?   This looks like a wonderful, wonderful effort:   http://www.deseretnews.com/article/86...   Here’s the actual website:   https://www.lds.org/refugees?cid=HP_S...   I’m very proud of the Church for undertaking this project.    

“Donald Trump: A History of Violence”

    There are many reasons why I not only oppose Donald Trump but find him deeply repugnant.  This eleven-minute video (which, I warn you, contains two or three visual and/or barely audible f-bombs) depicts just one of them:     Those who really, really dislike my opposition to Mr. Trump and who find it [Read More...]

BOM Mosiah 14

    Mosiah 14, today’s reading, is simply Abinadi’s quotation of the “Suffering Servant” poem from what we now know as Isaiah 53.   Jews have often taken the poem to refer to personified Israel, while Christians have typically interpreted it messianically, as a moving description of Christ as atoning savior.     Note the [Read More...]

The difference the Resurrection makes

    “If Jesus rose from the dead, then you have to accept all that he said; if he didn’t rise from the dead, then why worry about any of what he said?  The issue on which everything hangs is not whether or not you like his teaching but whether or not he rose from [Read More...]

“How Mormon is Mitt Romney? Fifty jokes for Trump”

    Admittedly, not all contributors to Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture receive the degree of attention that this one does:   http://religiondispatches.org/how-mor...   Give us time, though.  Give us time.