For several years, I have been one of several co-editors nursing a book on Latter-day Saints, faith, and evolution through the production stage. I’m pleased to announce it’s now available. Free. Continue reading
Category: history
Mary and the Annunciation as a Model for Scripture Study
At the opening of BYU’s 2019 Reconciling Evolution workshop—which focuses on biology pedagogy with religious students— Associate Academic Vice-President John Rosenberg represented the University in welcoming the dozens of participants to BYU. He spoke on the pursuit of knowledge, using medieval depictions of Mary, Gabriel, and the Annunciation. I have adapted my notes from his presentation for this post, by permission.
The New “Answering Gospel Questions,” Part 1: Introduction
On Dec 18, the Church announced a new section, “Guiding Principles to Help Answer Gospel Questions.” This goes along with the updated “Topics and Questions” which include both the longer and older “Gospel Topics Essays” and the much shorter “Gospel Topics.” This is quite interesting.
Covenant, Law, Grace, Works, and Faith: Understanding the Contexts of Scripture (updated)
Let me open by saying that this is a wide-ranging and complex subject. I may well prove to be wrong on this or that point. I may be missing important nuances here or there, and it’s a bit scattered and repetitive. Let’s get those disclaimers out of the way and talk about this important subject. Continue reading
April 19 Lecture, Henry Eyring Sr. vs. Melvin Cook: Chemistry, Creationism, and Competition for the Authority of Science at the University of Utah
On April 19th at 7pm, I’ll deliver a lecture, “Henry Eyring Sr. vs. Melvin Cook: Chemistry, Creationism, and Competition for the Authority of Science at the University of Utah.”
“But I Have Better Grounds”: Joseph Fielding Smith and Creationist Claims to Scientific Authority (video and notes)
I’ve linked below to the video of my recent talk at the University of Utah, and further reading for those interested.
The new Church History evolution topic essay, with commentary
A new Church History Topic essay on Organic Evolution appeared recently. These are not full-blown essays, like the Gospel Topics. Rather, they are meant as concise historical/conceptual summaries provided as background for the Saints volumes, not as a stand-alone lengthy exploration of a subject. You can find them linked, in footnotes, in Saints online. I’d like to provide some notes and comments on this short background essay.
Come Follow Me: Notes on Exodus 1-14
As we move into Exodus, time passes suddenly. We move away from the individual novella of Joseph to several hundred years later, just as we often do in the Book of Mormon. Just how long, we don’t actually know. Continue reading
Tales from the Archive: Joseph Fielding Smith, James Fletcher, and the Moon
It is somewhat well-known that Joseph Fielding Smith did not like the idea of astronauts; scripture, in his view, was clear that humans were limited to this planet, and attempts to get off it, at all, would fail. It even made the Ensign, in 2015.
LDS and Science: An Epidemic, a Puzzle, and new Apostle… in 1904
I recently discovered an article about “the first real confrontation of Mormonism with science” during the Utah smallpox outbreak at the turn of the 19/20th century.
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