Daniel C. Peterson's Blog, page 986

Music of Christmas 23

    Here’s another sentimental favorite of mine from German-speaking Europe.  The melody stems from a medieval Latin song, and the German lyrics seem to have been written by a monk in Salzburg, Austria:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7M3P8...   Joseph, lieber Joseph mein,hilf mir wiegen mein Kindlein.Gott, der wird dein Lohner seinim Himmelreich, der Jungfrau Sohn Maria.Eia! [Read More...]

Joseph Smith would be 210 years old today

    I’d like to take a pause from the frenzied “Smithmas” festivities that are currently engulfing my family and, no doubt, Mormon families all around the world to remind my LDS readers that today is Joseph Smith’s birthday.   (In my family, thus far, we’ve marked the occasion by eating breakfast and taking the [Read More...]

New Testament 358

    Mark 16:14-18   Most of us will not see Christ in this life.  But we have reliable accounts from reliable witnesses who have — both ancient and modern.   If we fail to credit those witnesses, we will be held accountable for our failure.   Posted from Richmond, Virginia    

“What was fake on the Internet this week: Why this is the final column”

    A reporter who had tried to keep up with, and debunk, fake Internet stories and bogus Web claims gives up:   https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/t...   As anybody with experience in this area knows, connivers, fanatics, and loons can launch falsehoods far faster than decent, honest, sane people can refute them.   Posted from Richmond, Virginia   [Read More...]

New Testament 356-357

    Luke 24:36-43 John 20:19-29 Compare Matthew 16:19; 18:18; Mark 16:14   In the Lukan account, Jesus makes a deliberate effort to impress upon the disciples that his resurrection was truly physical.  He tells them to touch him, and he eats before them — and not, presumably, because he’s suddenly famished, as if being [Read More...]

“The Water Diviner”

    Several months ago, on a flight to Europe, my wife and I both watched a Russell Crowe film called The Water Diviner.   I hadn’t heard of it before, but I was intrigued by its title, since I’m a passionately superstitious practitioner of water witching.   No.  Wait.  That’s the phony persona that’s been [Read More...]

New Testament 355

    Luke 24:13-35 Compare Mark 16:12-13   This wonderful story occurs only in the gospel of Luke, although Mark plainly alludes to it.   Three brief observations:   1.   Jesus is the same and yet, somehow, subtly different, so that his identity isn’t at first apparent to the two disciples walking with him toward [Read More...]

The concentration of wealth around the District of Columbia

    Driving south from Reagan National Airport, it’s impossible to miss the number of large, new corporate buildings that line the way.  For a list of some of them, see here.   By at least one measure, most of the ten richest counties in the United States are now in the greater Washington D.C. [Read More...]

A look back at some of the top Mormon-related news stories of 2015

    I’ll bet that you’d forgotten some of them.  I had.   http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/2015-ye...   Posted from Richmond, Virginia    

Music of Christmas 22

    An arrangement for piano, by Mark Hayes, of Away in a Manger:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veB_q...   Posted from Richmond, Virginia