Ephraim Avigdor Speiser (1902–1965). Bob Smith, in a comment on this post of mine, drew attention to E. A. Speiser’s comments on the question of creation from pre-existing matter in Genesis. Here is what Speiser had to say. If the first sentence states that “In the beginning God created heaven and earth,” what ensued was chaos … Read more
Der Wanderer über dem Nebelmeer “The wanderer over a sea of fog” (1818), by Caspar David Friedrich. I had a chance once to view a large selection of similar Romantic landscape paintings in the Belvedere in Vienna. Anyone who knows me knows that I’m a sucker for Romanticism. One of my favorite books of all time … Read more
Destruction of Leviathan (1865) by Gustave Doré Not according to Ziony Zevit. “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” On the basis of this well-known rendering, it can be argued that the ancient Israelites believed in creation ex nihilo, that is, creation out of nothing. This happens not to be the case. … Read more
[This is a semi-humorous, semi-serious follow up to these posts here and here.] Anyone who has played the Nintendo 64 classic The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time knows that the first dungeon you must complete is going inside the Deku Tree. Below are screen shots of the actual dialogue between the Deku Tree … Read more
One of the Lachish ostraca (7th century BCE), written in paleo-Hebrew script. Some time ago I posted a blog entry at Interpreter on the atheist polemicist Richard Dawkins’ argument that the Book of Mormon is a fraud because Joseph Smith rendered his translation into Jacobean English. Dawkins’ argument is (and I’m not making this up) … Read more
Abra, Kadabra, Alakazam! My good friend Brandon Habermeyer has an interesting blog post on the relationship between Mormonism and magic. I actually agree with a lot of what Brandon has highlighted in his blog post. I am also pleased that this is a question that has been explored by numerous Mormon historians. I myself remember reading D. … Read more