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A new collection of articles on the temple!

A new collection of articles on the temple!

Last updated on: April 25, 2026 at 5:06 pm by Dan Peterson

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A new collection of articles on the temple! 2026-04-25T17:06:50-06:00 Dan Peterson

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The St. George Utah Temple, the oldest continuously functioning temple in the Church, was originally dedicated in 1877. (LDS Media Library)

Newly posted today: Conversations with Interpreter: Kent Jackson, “The Lord Gave Cain a Sign”:

In this episode of Conversations with Interpreter, Dr. Kent Jackson, Emeritus Professor of Ancient Scripture at BYU, looks at the translation of Genesis 4:15. Dr. Jackson has published his own translation of Genesis, which gave him important insights into the biblical text. He points out that the translation is the King James Version of the Bible is misleading in this verse and that by translating the verse differently, a clearer understanding emerges. Bible readers since Late Antiquity have wrestled with this verse, but Dr. Jackson argues that it is actually straightforward and the KJV reference to a “mark” on Cain should be understood as a “sign” for Cain. We also discuss Bible translations and the value in modern Bible translations. Kent Jackson’s article was recently published in Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship and is available at https://interpreterfoundation.org/journal/the-lord-gave-cain-a-sign.

The recently dedicated Red Cliffs Utah Temple is the second temple within the city limits of St. George. (Wikimedia Commons public domain image)

Returning from southern Utah early yesterday afternoon, I was pleased to see that a copy of Jeffrey M. Bradshaw and Stephen D. Ricks, eds., The Temple: Seership, Craftsmanship, and Fellowship—Temple on Mount Zion Volume 8—Proceedings of the Seventh Interpreter Foundation Matthew B. Brown Memorial Conference, had been delivered to our house during my absence:

Proleptic Exaltation: Joseph Smith’s First Vision as Seer Initiation and Ritual Endowment — Donald Patrick Bradley Sr.
Abraham on the Bishop’s Throne: Egyptian Christianity and the Book of Abraham — David Calabro
Oracles against the Nations and Prophetic Imitation of Temple Liturgy — John S. Thompson
The Book of Revelation, the Temple, and the Bridegroom — Breck England
From Plural Marriage to Exaltation: The Dynamics and Depth of Literary Craftsmanship in Doctrine and Covenants — Steven L. Olsen
Re-Creating the Most Detailed and Accurate 3D Model of Herod’s Temple — I. Daniel Smith
The Abrahamic Covenant: Then and Now — Jeffrey M. Bradshaw
Joy in the Harvest: Temple Language, Metaphors, and Allusions in Ammon’s Speech (Alma 26) — Matthew L. Bowen
The Right Hand as a Symbol of Covenantal Faithfulness in Ancient Mediterranean Temple Contexts — Brent J. Schmidt
“God Hath Shown unto Me a Vision”: The Sacred Handclasp and the Resurrection of the Dead — Spencer Kraus

Sky Mountain Golf Course in Hurricane, near St. George, Utah

Oh boy! Could we really be this lucky? Not only will we get a second “Mormon wives” series, out of Orange County, California, but we may be privileged to have a third, from Arizona! From azcentral: “Is ‘Secret Lives of Mormon Wives’ spinoff in Arizona real? What to know”

And this is worthwhile: “Analysis: The Church of Jesus Christ isn’t suing ‘Mormon Stories’ over the word ‘Mormon.’ A look at the lawsuit: A content creator and an IP attorney break down the church’s lawsuit against ‘Mormon Stories’ and the reality of brand confusion.” So is this: “Who Is a Mormon?” And, on the same subject, I’ve already recommended this one: “Protecting the Symbols of Christ’s Church: How a Trademark Lawsuit Aligns with Prophetic Guidance”

In Utah’s Bryce Canyon National Park (Wikimedia CC photo by Jon Zander[digon3])

Within the first day of my just-completed road trip to and through southern Utah, the good folks over at the Peterson Obsession Board (suddenly sounding a bit like life-long vegetarians) had begun to cluck and tut-tut about my general dietary habits as revealed by what I had grabbed during quick stops in small eateries in tiny towns and rural areas. (We all ate similarly; some had desserts with their meals, which I didn’t.)

In one of his books, the late Elder Neal A. Maxwell quoted this maxim: “All Indians walk in single-file lines. At least, the one I saw did.” I don’t think that I need to say much more than that about the perils of extrapolating from too small a sample or from unrepresentative data. Those risks should be obvious to any clear-thinking person. I will, though, share a little anecdote that has amused me since it happened:

Fairly early in my mission to German-speaking Switzerland, we tracted out a woman who, at a certain point in our conversation, felt the need to tell us how much she disliked the United States. She had recently visited the country for the first time, and she had hated it. She saw nothing, she said, but asphalt and concrete and buildings that blocked the sky. I asked where she had traveled during her stay. “New York City,” she said. “Manhattan.” I pointed out that there were other places in America besides New York City. Places like Kansas and Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon and coastal California. No, she said, she had no interest in ever going back to America again. It was nothing but asphalt, concrete, and skyscrapers.

I’ll also pass silently by the hints and insinuations about sexual impropriety that have been offered by my Malevolent Stalker and his less talented and much less subtle wannabe imitator, the Ministalker (aka Everybody’s WC, or something like that). See Matthew 12:34.

Kolob Canyon, Zion National Park, between St. George and Cedar City, Utah
Photo by G. M. Hatfield, Wikimedia Commons public domain image

I will, however, comment on a misunderstanding that has gained a bit of traction among the small group who eagerly gobble such things up. The error goes back to something that I posted here on Tuesday, 22 April, in response to one of their purported concerns:

“Had Peterson’s wife been able to come along, would her expenses have been paid?”

No. As in past trips, she would have paid for her own meals. In the past, when she has flown to a filming location, she has paid her own airfare. She and Peterson would have shared a room, though. And she probably would have driven in the same car with Peterson.

One of the sleuths over at the POB smells a rat here. There’s skullduggery going on! My wife and I were both listed as executive producers for Witnesses (2021), Undaunted (2022), and Six Days in August (2024) and yet my expenses were covered while hers were not? Plainly, in my incompetent and ham-handed way, I’m somehow trying to deceive them or to conceal something untoward.

Here’s the truth, though: Neither one of us has ever been paid for our work as executive producers. Nor have we ever had our expenses covered as executive producers.

This is actually useful to understand; I myself didn’t fully understand an executive producer’s role in filmmaking before I began to function as one.

In movie production, the executive producer secures funding, manages the budget, and oversees the entire production process from development through distribution. He or she might be involved — as, in fact, we were — in major casting decisions, but an executive producer is certainly involved in hiring the director and key members of the production crew, in reviewing and approving the script, and in reviewing the film as it develops, as well as in legal and marketing decisions.

It’s a behind-the-scenes role. It doesn’t entail being present for filming. Which means, in our case, that my wife and I were very seldom on the set for Witnesses, Undaunted, and Six Days in August — and, even then, only when the shooting was local. Although we were once or twice on the set at LDS Motion Picture Studios in Provo and at This is the Place Heritage Park in Salt Lake City, we weren’t compensated for being there. It wasn’t necessary for us to be there, and we didn’t travel to Upper Canada or upstate New York or Tennessee. Neither us ever earned a cent or was reimbursed a penny for any of those three films.

My wife and I are executive co-producers for Becoming Brigham and, in that capacity, neither of us is paid or has an expense account. However, I’m actually in front of the camera for this current series, while she isn’t. That isn’t part of being an executive producer (and, incidentally, it wasn’t my idea to put me before the camera). So, because I need to be there on set, my transportation and lodging and food have been covered out of their budget by Redbrick Filmworks when we’ve filmed in Illinois, New York, Iowa, Missouri, and southern Utah. My wife came along on some of the early film shoots for Becoming Brigham but, since her presence there wasn’t essential, her expenses weren’t covered. She was a theater major, so she’s interested and offers useful input, and I enjoy having her along. (See 1 Corinthians 9:5.) But, when they occur, we pay such expenses ourselves.

I regret to inform the eager detectives at the Peterson Obsession Board that they’ll need to look elsewhere for corruption and wrongdoing on my part. I have absolutely no doubt that they will.

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