Daniel Peterson

Daniel Peterson: What Joseph Smith's Neighbors Thought of Him, Even When They Disagreed with His Religion

By Daniel Peterson

November 09, 2019 03:55 PM MST

A slightly younger contemporary of Joseph Smith known to us only as “Mrs. Palmer” grew up on property not far from his family’s farm near Palmyra, New York. She never accepted his prophetic claims but has nonetheless left us valuable eyewitness testimony concerning his character.

3 Min Read

Dan Peterson: Do Names in the Book of Mormon Bear Witness of Its Truthfulness?

By Daniel Peterson

September 26, 2019 12:01 PM MDT

His enemies liked to refer to Joseph Smith as “Joe.” Some still do. But he seems to have preferred the fuller and more formal Joseph. Likewise, if his father was ever called Joe by his family or friends, I’m unaware of it. There seems to have been a culture of some formality associated with the Smith family names. If Alvin was ever called “Al,” or Hyrum “Hy,” if William was commonly called “Will” or “Bill” or “Billy” or “Willy,” there’s little sign of it. Was Joseph’s sister Sophronia known as “Sophie”? Was “Katharine” commonly called “Katie” or “Kate” or “Kathy”? Perhaps. But the evidence for that seems to be lacking.

4 Min Read

Latter-day Saint Life

The Surprising and Meaningful History Behind the Word "Sacrament"

By Daniel Peterson

August 22, 2019 11:21 AM MDT

At the heart of regular weekly worship in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the simple ritual known as the sacrament. Much else is dispensable. Excepting certain conference weekends, however, the sacrament is essential.

4 Min Read

Latter-day Saint Life

What One Yale Literary Critic Had to Say About Joseph Smith + How the Prophet's Most Bold Prophecy Is Coming True

By Daniel Peterson

August 10, 2019 01:00 PM MDT

Among the most laughably improbable prophecies recorded by the Prophet Joseph Smith is Moroni’s prediction that, in the Prophet’s words, “My name should be had for good and evil among all nations, kindreds, and tongues, or that it should be both good and evil spoken of among all people” (see Joseph Smith-History 1:33).

3 Min Read

Latter-day Saint Life

How Peruvian Myths About a God Appearing to the People Echo Events in the Book of Mormon

By Daniel Peterson

June 29, 2019 02:28 PM MDT

A fascinating 2015 article by Scott Hoyt commences with a lengthy quotation from a Catholic chronicler of Peru named Pedro de Cieza de Leon. He was writing around the year 1550, fewer than 20 years after the destruction by Spanish conquistadors of the Inca empire. In the passage that I cite here, Cieza describes the appearance of Viracocha:

3 Min Read

Latter-day Saint Life

What 2 Engineers Discovered After Using Statistical Analysis to Determine Whether the Book of Mormon Was Fiction

By Daniel Peterson

May 30, 2019 11:45 AM MDT

Michael Coe, Yale University’s Charles J. MacCurdy professor emeritus of anthropology, is an eminent scholar of ancient Mesoamerica and the author of a widely read book, The Maya, that is now in its ninth edition.

4 Min Read

Latter-day Saint Life

Daniel Peterson: How Recent Findings on Beekeeping in Ancient America Relate to the Book of Mormon

By Daniel Peterson

February 21, 2019 01:51 PM MST

The Book of Mormon mentions bees or beekeeping but only twice. The first reference, in 2 Nephi 17:18, occurs in a quotation from the Old World prophet Isaiah. The second, however, concerns the Book of Mormon’s own early Jaredites: "And they did also carry with them deseret, which, by interpretation, is a honey bee; and thus they did carry with them swarms of bees” (Ether 2:3).

4 Min Read

Latter-day Saint Life

What C.S. Lewis Can Help Us Understand About Jesus Christ and Joseph Smith

By Daniel Peterson

January 10, 2019 06:22 PM MST

In C.S. Lewis’ 1950 novel The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe — the first of his seven-volume Chronicles of Narnia — four children are sent to live in the country home of an elderly professor during the 1940-41 German bombing campaign known as the “London Blitz.”

3 Min Read

Latter-day Saint Life

Why Does the Book of Mormon Reference an Ominous "East Wind"?

By Daniel Peterson

December 27, 2018 03:26 PM MST

At least 20 references to a powerful and destructive “east wind” occur in the Old Testament (e.g., at Genesis 41:6, Exodus 10:13, Jeremiah 18:17 and Ezekiel 17:10, and Hosea 13:15). Such references reflect conditions in the Palestinian home of the biblical authors. Unlike the moisture-laden west wind from the Mediterranean Sea, the east wind, originating in the Arabian desert, is dry and desiccating.

3 Min Read

Latter-day Saint Life

What J.R.R. Tolkien's Works Can Teach Us About the Book of Mormon: New Study Reveals

By Daniel Peterson

November 29, 2018 01:59 PM MST

Skeptics have sometimes compared the Book of Mormon to the work of J.R.R. Tolkien, including his epic trilogy The Lord of the Rings. If, they reason, Tolkien could create an entire imaginary world, with a large and detailed geography and a complex history that involves multiple ethnic groups, wars, and intricate subplots, it’s surely not impossible to imagine that Joseph Smith might have done the same.

3 Min Read

Latter-day Saint Life

The Excommunicated Apostle Who Continued to Share Powerful Witnesses of the Book of Mormon

By Daniel Peterson

November 15, 2018 03:25 PM MST

Editor's note: A portion of this was previously published on the author's blog.

1 Min Read

Why Latter-day Saints Need to Defend Our Beliefs, Even as We Avoid Contention

By Daniel Peterson

November 01, 2018 04:20 PM MDT

The scriptures of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints clearly advise Christian disciples to avoid the intemperate rhetoric that too often characterizes current religious and political discussions. The words of the resurrected Savior himself to the ancient Nephites will serve to illustrate this counsel:

3 Min Read

Latter-day Saint Life

What Do the Witnesses to the Book of Mormon Prove?

By Daniel Peterson

October 18, 2018 03:13 PM MDT

Let’s assume, for the sake of discussion, that the declarations of the official witnesses to the Book of Mormon are true. (I’m happy to argue for their truth, but that’s not today’s topic.) What, if anything, would they establish?

3 Min Read

Why a Worldwide Church Wasn't Even Possible Until Now + the Miracle of General Conference

By Daniel Peterson

October 04, 2018 05:50 PM MDT

One of the core doctrines of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is that ancient Christianity suffered a “great apostasy” in which priesthood authority was lost and important doctrines and covenants either lost or corrupted. Absent such an apostasy, no restoration would have been necessary.

4 Min Read

Latter-day Saint Life

Scholars Find Evidence That Book of Mormon Phrases Mocked by Critics Have a Surprising and Fascinating History

By Daniel Peterson

September 20, 2018 04:10 PM MDT

The latest products of professor Royal Skousen’s Book of Mormon Critical Text Project have just appeared: two massive books with the title of The Nature of the Original Language.

4 Min Read

Latter-day Saint Life

The Forgotten Witness of the Book of Mormon Who Refused to Deny His Faith Even Under Threat of Death

By Daniel Peterson

September 07, 2018 02:49 PM MDT

When modern Latter-day Saints think of the witnesses to the Book of Mormon, it’s likely that the men whose names most commonly come to mind are Oliver Cowdery, Martin Harris, and David Whitmer — the “Three Witnesses.” And, because seven of the “Eight Witnesses” were surnamed either “Whitmer” or “Smith,” we tend to hear a little bit about them, as well.

4 Min Read