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Volcanism and the Book of Mormon

Volcanism and the Book of Mormon

Last updated on: October 6, 2024 at 1:46 pm by Dan Peterson

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Volcanism and the Book of Mormon 2024-10-06T13:46:11-06:00 Dan Peterson

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Joseph Smith speaking to the apostles in a still photograph from the set of “Six Days in August,” which has its general opening this week.

I want to give another reminder of the “sneak peek” early showings of Six Days in August that will be available on Monday night along Utah’s Wasatch Front. (It won’t be my last reminder. Sorry.) These screenings will occur in nine Cinemark theaters: Salt Lake City, Ogden, Orem, Provo, American Fork, Draper, Farmington, Sandy/Midvale, and West Jordan: Six Days in August – Early Access

And here’s another reminder that the 2021 Interpreter Foundation dramatic film, Witnesses, is currently available for free online viewing — both within the United States and internationally — and that it will continue to be available at no charge until Thursday, 10 October. That is the day that Six Days in August will open in theaters in the United States and Canada. Here is the link at which you can watch it: https://vimeo.com/824199556/ecefc622ed

Incidentally, I’ll be on the Interpreter Radio Show this evening between 7 PM and 9 PM. The Interpreter Radio Show can be heard every Sunday evening from 7 to 9 PM (MDT), on K-TALK, AM 1640, or you can listen live on the Internet at ktalkmedia.com.

Volcano Popocatépetl, north side, view from Paso de Cortez, in a photo taken by Jakub Hejtmánek at Czech Wikipedia on a serene, clear day in 2005. This is the most notable volcano in the Mexico City region, and it is quite active and potentially very dangerous. (Wikimedia Commons public domain image)

As its critics know, the Interpreter Foundation and its website are dying. They’ve been dying for many years. Every once in a while, though, there’s still a brief flicker of life. I had to miss Professor Benjamin Jordan’s lecture for Interpreter on “Potential Volcanic Activity Related to Events in the Book of Mormon” back on 25 September because I needed to participate in the Interpreter Foundation’s Six Days in August fireside that same night. However, I’ve now watched the video of Professor Jordan’s lecture, and I really enjoyed it. I think that others here might find it interesting as well:

The eighth chapter of 3rd Nephi in the Book of Mormon presents a dramatic account of the destruction of many Nephite cities by natural causes. This destruction took place at the time of Christ’s death on the cross in ancient Israel. A wide variety of events, involving earthquakes, storms, landslides, floods, and a cloud of darkness are described as occurring all at the same time. Over the years, several scholars have suggested that these events may have been connected to a volcanic eruption. What is their evidence that supports this idea? This presentation will cover their reasoning, as well as some of the examples that have been used to support their arguments in favor of this idea.

“Dr. Ben,” as his students call him, is a volcanologist and geological oceanographer. He earned a B.S. in Geology, with University Honors, and a minor in physics, from Brigham Young University in 1999. While an undergraduate he was awarded a Link Foundation internship at Florida Atlantic University’s Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution in Ft. Pierce, Florida, and served as president of the BYU Astronomical Society. In 2004, He earned a Ph.D. in Oceanography from the University of Rhode Island’s Graduate School of Oceanography, where he studied Central American volcanic history and deep-sea ash deposits. He also served as a scientific crew member aboard the ship, R/V Melville, during the 2001 G.L.I.M.P.S.E. scientific expedition to the central South Pacific, mapping and sampling deep-sea volcanoes between Tahiti and Rapa Nui (Easter Island). Upon completion of his Ph.D., he became an assistant professor of geology at United Arab Emirates University in the Middle East, after which he taught at Brigham Young University-Idaho for five years. He has been at the Brigham Young University-Hawaii campus since 2012, becoming a full professor in 2018, and dean of the Faculty of Sciences in 2022. In 2018, he served as a lecturer onboard the ship, M/V World Odyssey, as part of the Semester at Sea program and he is currently a crew member of the Polynesian voyaging canoe, Iosepa. He has geologic and/or oceanographic field experience in 38 U.S. states and 31 countries. He is a Fellow of The Explorers Club and a member of the Geological Society of America, the American Geophysical Union, and the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth’s Interior. He is the author of four books and is first or contributing author of many peer-reviewed articles and presentations. He has also served as a reviewer for multiple academic journals and organizations, including the National Science Foundation and the journal Geology.

The late Senate majority leader Harry Reid joins with the late President Thomas S. Monson, then-Elder Dallin H. Oaks, and an unnamed White House staffer in presenting President Barack Obama with his family tree as a gift from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Such family histories have always struck me as a particularly brilliant gift for people who, otherwise, already have just about everything. Is there any normal person, no matter how famous or distinguished or important or wealthy, who isn’t interested in his or her family origins and family history?

From back in August: “Virginia Latter-day Saints Host FamilySearch Exhibit at African American Heritage Festival: As many as 50 attendees create new FamilySearch accounts and learn about the Church’s online genealogical resources”

Written by the remarkable Ayaan Hirsi Ali: “Subverting the Nuclear Family: How Cancerous Ideas Infiltrated Your Home”

Writing for Public Square Magazine, Jacob Hess asks a very important question: “Why are Some Latter-day Saints Hesitant to Talk about the Family Proclamation? The Family Proclamation is beloved by members around the world. So why are some afraid to talk about it?”

The Church’s humanitarian efforts are already many and varied. How horrible! (LDS.org)

Perhaps you missed this 22.5-minute video when it first appeared in April of 2024. It contains some really disturbing material from the Christopher Hitchens Memorial “How Religion Poisons Everything” File™. It should serve to powerfully stoke the flames of the indignation that certain readers here feel against theists and theism: Faith in the Philippines

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