In which I try again
“It’s difficult to get a man to understand something,” quipped the famous American writer and “muckraker” Upton Sinclair (1878-1968), “when his salary depends on not understanding it.”
Our new film project begins, while our earlier project continues to produce
Hugh B. Brown wrote, "We should be in the forefront of learning in all fields, for revelation does not come only through the prophet of God nor only directly from heaven in visions or dreams."
Two Palestinian Christians, and a visit with one of the most interesting of Latter-day Saint historians
Latter-day Saints are scripturally obligated, in my judgment, to support the gathering of Israel. But we are not obligated to support any particular policy of the United States toward Israel, let alone any particular policy of Israel itself.
The Body as the Temple of God
Hingson argues that the connection between temples and physical bodies is more than just metaphor, with bodies able to be literally classified as temples according to various scholarly criteria.
The Dawn of the Age of Disinformation Against Science
The age of disinformation against science began in the 1950s when the executives of six of America's largest tobacco companies met at the Plaza Hotel in New York City with a public relations firm to talk about what they should do about the growing research linking smoking and lung cancer.
Do any arguments against the Church have any merit?
“Can there be any valid criticisms of the Church?” I’ve posted a response to the challenge at least twice, and I’ve been attacked each time for what I wrote, by people who plainly didn’t understand what I wrote and, it seems, couldn’t be bothered to try to understand it.
What is the Relationship Between Freemasonry and the Temple Endowment?
I’ve recently read several German-language books, including Anton Grabner-Haider and Peter Strasser, Hitlers mythische Religion: Theologische Denklinien und NS-Ideologie (Vienna, Cologne, and Weimar: Böhlau Verlag, 2007). I actually have mixed feelings about the overall thesis of the book.
Suddenly remembering Ioan Culianu
On May 21, 1991, I called my friend Dr. Ioan Petru Culianu at his office at the University of Chicago to discuss a project he wanted to collaborate on with me. His secretary answered. "I'm sorry," she said, but he was murdered earlier today."
Archaeologists Reveal Oldest Inscription in Jerusalem: A Canaanite Curse
The Book of Mormon offers at least two really good examples of such ancient simile oaths or simile curses.
Pioneer, the Verb
Let's make every day a pioneer day by using "pioneer" as a verb.
On that possible image of Joseph Smith
I think that the image is serving for many as a kind of Rorschach test, and that their responses probably tell us more about them than about the person in the portrait.
“Witnesses” claims a prize
I’m so very grateful to our filmmaking team of Mark Goodman, James Jordan, and Russell Richins, and to Mitch Davis, who wrote the initial script for the dramatic film, and to all of the donors and volunteers and other contributors who made Witnesses.