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Liminal Spaces

Liminal Spaces

Last updated on: December 10, 2025 at 10:08 pm by Dan Peterson

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Liminal Spaces 2025-12-10T22:08:30-07:00 Dan Peterson

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Steve Jobs, in January 2005 (Wikimedia Commons public domain photo)

Here are a couple of intriguing documented “last words”:

On his deathbed, the inventor Thomas Edison (1847-1931) — who, for whatever it’s worth, is thought to have been a deist who rejected common orthodox Christian notions of a personal God — is reported to have said, just before he went silent, “It is very beautiful over there.”
The final words spoken by Steve Jobs (1955-2011) were reported by his sister, Patty, who had been by his bedside, in the eulogy that she delivered at his memorial service. They were spoken several hours before his actual death. According to her account, he looked at her, and then for a long time at his children. Then at his life-partner, Laurene, and then over their shoulders past them. Finally, he said “Oh wow. Oh wow. Oh wow.”.

A sunset at Dana Point, California, taken by Mike Tilley. Not tonight.
(Wikimedia Commons public domain photo)

My wife and I watched the sun go down this evening from Dana Point. We walked out to the very bench from which, I believe, her mother liked to view the sunset when she came down to Southern California. The sky was quite clear — much lighter than appears in the photograph immediately above — and I had hopes that we might see the famous green flash once again. But we didn’t. Although I must candidly admit that, having looked so intently at the sun on the horizon, I was actually able to see a green spot for several minutes after sundown, even with my eyes closed. I don’t think, though, that such spots actually count.

The spine and the cover design for Royal Skousen’s second edition of “The Book of Mormon: The Earliest Text”

As it now is every week, today (Wednesday) is the Interpreter Foundation’s pre-appointed day for sharing online chapters of published books that have previously appeared in print. (Thursday was the regularly-set day for a long time, prior to the redesign of our website.) We share these articles, after we’ve recaptured a reasonable amount of revenue from the sales of the original books toward recouping our costs, so as to make them as widely and easily accessible as we are able. That is a principal goal of the Interpreter Foundation.

Now, let me make one point as clear as I possibly can (while, of course, keeping in mind the important scientific principle that it’s impossible to make anything foolproof because fools are so ingenious): These republished articles are not to be confused with the new articles that go up on Fridays. (I mention this because, some time back, a failure to grasp the distinction caused a great deal of heartburn and misguided indignation in a certain rather isolated region of the internet, the consequences of which still afflict some of that region’s residents.).

The republished chapter for today is Steadfast in Defense of Faith: “On the Importance of the Original Manuscript of the Book of Mormon,” written by Royal Skousen:

Part of our book chapter reprint series, this article originally appeared in Steadfast in Defense of Faith: Essays in Honor of Daniel C. Peterson, edited by Shirley Ricks, Stephen D. Ricks, and Louis Midgley. For more information, go to https://interpreterfoundation.org/books/steadfast-in-defense-of-faith/.

“Summary: The original manuscript of the Book of Mormon provides the best possible view we have, however indirect, of Joseph Smith translating the Book of Mormon. In support of witness claims, the manuscript evidence argues that Joseph viewed the revealed words of the English text using his translation instrument, the seer stone, for about 25 to 35 words at a time, and that he read the words off to his scribe, spelling out the difficult names when necessary, and then having the scribe read back the words to make sure they had gotten down the text as accurately as possible for that viewing before going on to the next viewing. The result was a tightly controlled transmission of the text, even though errors occasionally entered the text. On the other hand, the manuscript clearly disproves the witness claim that the transmission allowed for no error at all, either in the words or in their spelling; there was definitely no ironclad control over the textual transmission.”

The Newspaper Office and Print Shop in the former Mormon city of Nauvoo, Illinois
(Wikimedia Commons public domain)

Now it’s time, however, for a brief glance at some important news that you might otherwise have missed:

The main concert hall in Brigham Young University’s Music Building.

Finally, though, I turn to the storied Christopher Hitchens Memorial “How Religion Poisons Everything” File™. First, I offer something quite simple and familiar for today’s selection of Christmas music: In a not-quite-three-minute video, see Brigham Young University’s combined student choirs and its philharmonic orchestra perform “Joy to the World.” The still-new BYU Music Building remains a magnificent addition to campus. And, all in all, not only the music but the choirs and the building itself abundantly justify their inclusion in the Hitchens File. Just think, once more, about how very much better this world would be if they didn’t exist!

One of the entrance signs for the campus of Brigham Young University, in Provo, Utah (Wikimedia Commons public domain image)

And here’s yet another horror, representing a further (redundant) example of the evils that are continually visited upon our innocent and unsuspecting world by the wicked machinations of theistic crazies: “A Farmer’s Field of Dreams? BYU-built smart tech maps moisture levels, will adjust watering automatically: BYU engineers are using Bluetooth to help farmers track precise water levels” BYU’s motto, prominently displayed at the entrance to campus, is “Enter to learn; go forth to serve,” and it’s pretty clear that the pestiferous and meddlesome fanatics that sponsor and run the place are intent upon following that rule: Clearly, they have no intention of leaving other people alone.

This toxic BYU project, however, is just one of the many specimens that are to be found in the inexhaustible Hitchens File. Here’s another: “Rome’s First Giving Machine Kiosks Launched at Piazza della Repubblica: Donations Now Open for UNICEF, Sant’Egidio and the Red Cross”

Posted from Newport Beach, California

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