Daniel C. Peterson's Blog, page 989

“The Purpose of a Savior”

    Another key part of the Church’s 2015 Christmas campaign, “A Savior is Born”:   https://www.mormon.org/christmas/info...    

“Could Queen Nefertiti’s Tomb Reveal Secrets from Egypt’s Shadowy Past?”

    The odds are high that what’s behind the wall will turn out to be reminiscent of Geraldo Rivera’s dramatic, live-on-camera entrance into Al Capone’s vault, which, as I recall it, found a pile of dusty debris and a broken bottle or two.   On the other hand, it could potentially be a remarkably big [Read More...]

“Latter-day Saints, Baptists worship together at Christmas Jubilee”

    Although I’m reliably informed (by anonymous internet commentators who don’t know me) that I hate, fear, and despise all non-Mormons, I was very pleased to read about this:   http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article...    

“How ‘Star Wars’ Was Influenced by a Mormon”

    I’m not sure how convinced I am that a Mormon is responsible for these parallels, but they’re interesting:   http://www.ldsliving.com/How-Star-War...   Brought to my attention by Blake Ostler.    

New Testament 349

    John 19:31-37   The gospel of John is here citing Psalm 34:20, where it is said of the Lord that “He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken.”   It was important to the understanding of Jesus as the perfect illustration of the Passover lamb that no bone in his body be [Read More...]

“A Muslim, a Jew, and a Christian walk into a Texas mosque . . . “

    I appreciate Jabra Ghneim’s bringing this to my notice:   http://forward.com/opinion/327453/a-m...   Just one quibble about an article and an event of which I otherwise heartily approve:   Rafiza Chowdhury, a hijab-wearing member of the Islamic Center of Irving, is quoted in the piece as acknowledging that many of her non-Muslim neighbors are “scared,” [Read More...]

“Court: Catholic School Must Hire Gay Man”

    Well, the future is upon us:   http://www.theamericanconservative.co...   I can’t imagine that it will be long before Brigham Young University and other church-related institutions are under similar legal pressures.   All institutions must become the same.  Diversity demands it.   (Thanks — I guess — to Charles Steinman for alerting me to [Read More...]

“Pure love led Christ to descend from the courts of glory”

    My 2011 Christmas column for the Deseret News appeared on 22 December of that year:   http://www.deseretnews.com/article/70...    

From Dave Barry, “Christmas Shopping: A Survivor’s Guide”

    In some notes on my computer, I find this important historical observation, evidently from something published by the famed scholar Dave Berry in 2014:   “In the old days, it was not called the Holiday Season; the Christians called it ‘Christmas’ and went to church; the Jews called it ‘Hanukkah’ and went to [Read More...]

Virginia schools shut down because of threats and anger from anti-Muslims

    This incident came up during an hour-long radio interview that I did a couple of days ago, but I had, at that point, heard nothing about it.  Now, though, Jabra Ghneim has alerted me to these two articles:   “When a school assigned homework on Islam, it drew so many threats the district [Read More...]