March 18, 2024

  On Saturday, here in this very space, I posted a couple of references to the alleged “transfiguration” of Brigham Young that is said by quite a few to have occurred while he was speaking to an outdoor audience of Latter-day Saints at Nauvoo, Illinois, on 8 August 1844.  (See “Two Witnesses to a Pivotal Event.”)  This speech, of course, was given in the wake of the 27 June 1844 assassination of Joseph and Hyrum Smith that had left the... Read more

March 17, 2024

  First of all, Happy St. Patrick’s Day to all of those out there who have ever been Irish, or thought about being Irish, or know somebody who’s Irish, or have heard of either Ireland or St. Patrick’s Day, or who haven’t.  We enjoyed our corned beef, cabbage, carrots, and potatoes today, and I hope that you did, or will, also. And, while I’m doling out best wishes, we all need to congratulate Mr. Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin on his unforeseen... Read more

March 16, 2024

  Recently, Adam Colvin provided me with copies of two documents from his family history.  With his kind permission, I share portions of them here.  The first extract comes from a “Life Sketch of Simeon Adams Dunn,” compiled by Nancy Dunn Watson: James Dunn, the brother of Simeon, came to their home in Van Buren [Wayne County, Michigan] as a missionary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He preached the gospel in that neighborhood and Simeon and his... Read more

March 15, 2024

  A new article has just been posted on the website of the Interpreter Foundation:  “Premortal Life and Mortal Life: A Fearful Symmetry,” written by Jeffrey M. Bradshaw Abstract: Bodily weakness, along with the varied circumstances into which we were born, provide the essential initial and ongoing conditions that shape the challenges and opportunities of our mortal probation. In life, we are not expected merely to preserve our innocence in defiance of worldly tendencies, nor are we compelled to cede... Read more

March 14, 2024

  Last night, I was among a group of people who had been invited to a meeting with Elder Clark G. Gilbert, a member of the Seventy, who currently serves as Commissioner of Education for the Church Educational System; Elder Alvin F. Meredith III, who is also a member of the Seventy and who was relatively recently appointed president of Brigham Young University-Idaho; and C. Shane Reese, the still relatively new president of the main Brigham Young University campus in... Read more

March 13, 2024

  I occasionally use the expression objective public proof.  I’ve recently been asked what I mean by it. Let me take the phrase apart just a bit. “Proof,” as the word is typically used and as I am using it here, is a fact or a piece of information that demonstrates the existence of something or, more broadly, the truth of a proposition. In mathematics, which (along with formal logic) probably illustrates the notion of “proof” most clearly, a proof... Read more

March 12, 2024

  The following is basically a close paraphrase or a gloss (for my note-taking purposes) of “A Beginner’s Guide to the ‘Fine-Tuning’ Argument” by Max Baker-Hytch of the University of Oxford.  As always with such notes, I make no claim of originality for what follows but share them because, while I’m taking notes for my own eventual use elsewhere, I think others might find them of potential interest.  I do not claim entries on this blog as publications of mine:... Read more

March 11, 2024

  I think that apologetics, as such, is inevitable.  Stripped of specifically religious elements, it’s merely the defense of a position.  Scholars defend positions all the time, as they should.  So do all the rest of us. Whenever there is disagreement — e.g., over religion, politics, political candidates, even favorite restaurants or best vacation destinations — there will be affirmative statements and there will negative ones.  “The food is wonderful there.”  “Maybe, but the service is really, really slow.”  “It’s... Read more

March 10, 2024

  For many years now, my most devoted atheist commenter here (never a Latter-day Saint) has repeatedly (and repetitiously) asserted that religious claims can neither be examined, tested, nor investigated.  (Which, I’m guessing, is intended to show — in what might perhaps be a kind of folk echo or pop version of once-fashionable logical positivism — that such claims are nonsense.  He never actually formulates an argument, so I’m left to speculate.  But that seems to be what’s in the... Read more

March 9, 2024

  I agree with this article, which was written by a Roman Catholic:  “Does Jesus Have a Sense of Humor? Jesus is fully God and fully man. He is like us in every way except sin. This includes having a sense of humor.” It reminds me of the review of a book from another Catholic thinker that I came across a couple of years ago:  “Making God Laugh: A new book makes the case that humor is heavenly.”  Alas, though, I... Read more

Follow Us!



Browse Our Archives