Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Latter-day Saint
“Go Down, Moses”

“Go Down, Moses”

Last updated on: March 22, 2022 at 6:11 pm by Dan Peterson

“Go Down, Moses” 2022-03-22T18:11:01-06:00 Dan Peterson

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

“God Appears to Moses in Burning Bush,” a painting from Saint Isaac’s Cathedral in Saint Petersburg” (Бог является Моисею в купине неопалимой. Роспись Исаакиевского собора в Санкт-Петербурге), by Eugène Pluchart (1848)
(Wikimedia Commons public domain image)

***

It seems that we now have a pretty firm date for the release of the Interpreter Foundation’s new docudrama, Undaunted: Witnesses of the Book of Mormon: 24 May 2022. In other words, about two months from now. I don’t know the details yet, but I believe that it will be out that day in DVD form and, very possibly, via streaming. (We are not intending a general theatrical release for it.) I’m excited to get this production out, and I hope that it will receive the widest possible circulation.

***

Four new items have appeared on the website of the Interpreter Foundation:

Come, Follow Me — Old Testament Study and Teaching Helps: Lesson 14, March 28–April 3: Exodus 7–13 — “Remember This Day, in Which Ye Came Out from Egypt”

This is the latest generous contribution from Jonn Claybaugh.

Interpreter Radio Show — February 20, 2022

In this episode of the Sunday evening Interpreter Radio Show, Bruce Webster and Kris Fredrickson discussed the responsibility of the Restored Church to fight against evil as well as the use of study Bibles to aid in scripture study. You can listen to or download the 20 February 2022 broadcast of the Interpreter Radio Show at the link that I’ve provided. It has been freed of interruptions, so you won’t have to listen to commercials or to outdated news. The first portion of the show, its first hour, was devoted to a roundtable discussing the upcoming Come Follow Me lesson #14 (Exodus 7–13). The Interpreter Radio Show can be heard every week on Sunday evenings from 7 to 9 PM (MDT), on K-TALK, AM 1640. If you’re outside of the Salt Lake Valley, however, your best option is almost certainly to listen live on the Internet at ktalkmedia.com.

Audio Roundtable: Come, Follow Me Old Testament Lesson 14 “Remember This Day, in Which Ye Came Out from Egypt”: Exodus 7–13

Bruce Webster and Kris Frederickson conducted the Interpreter Radio Roundtable for Come, Follow Me Old Testament Lesson 14, “Remember This Day, in Which Ye Came Out from Egypt” on Exodus 7–13. It has now been extracted from the 20 February 2022 broadcast of the Interpreter Radio Show (on which, see above) — and purified of commercial and other intrusions — for your listening pleasure and edification. The complete show may be heard at https://interpreterfoundation.org/interpreter-radio-show-February-20-2022/. The weekly Interpreter Radio Show can be heard live each and every Sunday evening from 7 to 9 PM (MDT), on K-TALK, AM 1640. You can also listen live on the Internet at ktalkmedia.com.

Nibley Lectures: One Eternal Round — Lesson 1

In 1990, Hugh Nibley presented a series of twelve lectures on Facsimile 2 in the Pearl of Great Price. The lectures occurred almost weekly beginning on June 27, first in the Maeser Building and later in the Joseph Smith Building auditorium. The Interpreter Foundation now makes them available to you at no charge.

***

I laughed at this short piece from the indispensable Jeff Lindsay, but it’s fundamentally serious:

“”O Captain, My Captain”: Walt Whitman’s Surprising Role in the Ultimate Refutation of All Book of Mormon Evidence”

***

From the British astrophysicist and theologian David Wilkinson, God, Time and Stephen Hawking: An Exploration Into Origins (London: Monarch Books, 2001), 166-167 (with some slight improvements in otherwise mysterious punctuation):

Some scientists . . . try to resist any theological interpretation at all costs. An interesting example using aliens and other universes is given in a paper published in the reputable journal The Quarterly Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society by Professor Edward Harrison of the University of Massachusetts.

He says that there are three possible answers as to why the universe is so finely balanced. First, that God designed it, but that answer, he argues, precludes further rational inquiry. Second, the anthropic principle, but he finds this unsatisfactory. His third answer is that our universe was created by life of superior intelligence existing in another physical universe.

How does he get to this extraordinary conclusion? First, he picks up on the above suggestions of black holes as the birthplaces of new universes. Second, he argues that due to the rapid evolution of intelligence (which we currently see in humanity) there is every reason to expect that a time will come in the future when we will be able to design and create our own universes. Thus, the fine-tuning of this universe is to be explained as an engineering project of superior beings. They have created this universe out of a black hole. He calls it a ‘natural creation theory’ and claims that it also explains why the universe is intelligible to us. It is created by minds similar to our own, who designed it to be that way.

There are so many questions to this that one hardly knows where to start! Harrison is a respected cosmologist, but this theory seems quite ludicrous if it is not an elaborate wind-up [American “set-up” or “prank”]! Will we really reach the stage of being able to build new universes? More fundamentally, where did these superior beings come from in the first place?

He criticises belief in God for stopping any further rational inquiry, but then falls into the same trap. What can we possibly know about these ‘superior’ beings in another universe? If he is to be drawn to the conclusion that this universe is designed, is it not simpler to see the ‘superior being’ as God?

Indeed, in contrast to the unknown aliens in another universe, Christians claim that this God, far from being in another universe, has revealed himself in this universe and forms personal relationship with those who open their lives to him. The evidence for the existence of God is much stronger than that for superior beings in another universe.

To say that the theist states ‘God created’ and that this stops further inquiry is naive to the extreme. It was on the basis of belief of a creator God that much of the early scientific revolution was based. Far from stopping questions, belief in God can liberate inquiry.

Uncategorized

Previous Post

March 21, 2022

A day in the life

Next Post

March 23, 2022 A full decade gone, and still I grieve

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 March 2014 August 2013 February 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What did God create on the first day?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Light Animals Plants Land