Thomas Nagel (b. 1937). I have not yet had a chance to read Thomas Nagel’s recent book Mind and Cosmos: Why the Materialist Neo-Darwinian Conception of Nature is Almost Certainly False (Oxford University Press, 2012). However, given the negative reaction of some outspoken atheistic materialists to the book, as chronicled by Andrew Ferguson at The … Read more
The cover page of the new edition of the Doctrine and Covenants and Church History seminary manual. The Church has released a new edition of the Doctrine and Covenants and Church History manual for seminary students. One of the remarkable aspects of the new manual is that it includes a discussion of several sensitive topics in … Read more
Are these really the best adjectives to describe MormonThink? One of the complaints I hear from the proprietors and/or supports of MormonThink is that it is unfair to characterize MormonThink as being “anti-Mormon” or as being unfair and overly critical of the Church. If you read the purpose statement on MormonThink you’ll see gratuitous (and … Read more
(An image I found on Reddit. This pretty much sums up the “October Surprise” very nicely.) Some of you may remember that the ever incorrigible Tom Phillips has long been promising an “October Surprise” that would, allegedly, shatter the foundations of the Church and send Mormons into panic. It was only a matter of time, … Read more
Menander (Μένανδρος), one of ancient Greece’s greatest dramatists. Since I mentioned him in my last post, here’s one of my favorite zingers from Menander. ἄλυπον ἄξεις τὸν βίον χωρἰς γάμου. You said it brother!
A map of ancient Alexandria. Concerning the intellectual culture of ancient Alexandria, Peter Green wryly observes the following. Timon of Philus, a bitter lampoonist . . . wrote of Ptolemy’s Alexandrian think tank: “In the polyglot land of Egypt many now find pasturage as endowed scribblers, endlessly quarreling in the Muses’ birdcage.” . . . … Read more
Richard Lyman Bushman (b. 1931). Craig A. Evans is an evangelical New Testament scholar whose book Fabricating Jesus: How Modern Scholars Distort the Gospels I received as a Christmas gift. In his book, Evans stresses the importance of using rational argument to sustain Christian faith, particularly Christian faith in the historical authenticity of the New … Read more
Joseph Smith Preaching to the Indians (1890) by William Armitage. Some of the responses to the Church’s recent essay on DNA and the Book of Mormon have been rather perplexing. (The responses of certain prominent critics of the Church, who shall, for their sakes, remain nameless, were downright embarrassing.) One of the responses I’ve heard … Read more
You’re just a few clicks away from owning this excellent book! So what are you waiting for? The Book of Moses in the Pearl of Great Price has been the attention of considerable Latter-day Saint scholarship. Beginning with the pioneering work of Hugh Nibley, much work has been done on understanding the history, nature, and … Read more
The Temptation and Fall of Eve (1808) by William Blake. Here’s another insight from Ziony Zevit, this time about the nature of the serpent in Genesis 3. The serpent was ‘arūwm. People characterized as ‘arūwm conceal what they feel and what they know (Prov 12:16, 23). They esteem knowledge and plan how to use it in … Read more
One of the NHM altar inscriptions. As promised, here is my article (co-written with my good friend Neal Rappleye) responding to Dan Vogel’s arguments against the significance of the NHM altar inscriptions for the Book of Mormon’s historicity. The article can accessed online here. If nothing else, the article will probably serve as a good … Read more
Der Meister – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832). I am currently taking a senior seminar on the life and writings of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. My professor, Hans Wilhelm-Kelling, has an article comparing some of Goethe’s (often enigmatic) religious convictions with Latter-day Saint theology. According to Kelling, some of Goethe’s religious thoughts that intersect with … Read more
