Noah’s sacrifice, James Tissot (1836 – 1902) This post is from Chapter 4 of my forthcoming book, Noah’s Flood and the Philosophies of Men .   We are told in Genesis 5:28-32, “And Lamech lived an hundred eighty and two years, and begat a son: And he called his name  Noah , saying, This  same  shall  comfort  us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the Lord hath  cursed . And Lamech lived after he begat Noah five hundred ninety and five years,

Partially broken clay tablet containing cuneiform inscriptions and a unique map of the Mesopotamian world. Probably from Sippar, Mesopotamia, Iraq. 700-500 BC. The British Museum, London. This post is from Chapter 3 of my forthcoming book, Noah’s Flood and the Philosophies of Men .   There is a very simple statement concerning the Flood and God’s Word on the internet website Answers in Genesis , which seems to be the major voice of conservative, young-earth Christians: “This

The Flight of the Prisoners  (1896) by James Tisso So, I will continue to post chapters from my book, Noah’s Flood and the Philosophies of Men , which has not as yet been published. If you want the blogs that fit the current Come Follow Me lessons, they are on my website at trentdeestephens.com , toward the back of the blogs. We are told in 2 Kings 24:11-14 [that in 598/597 BC], “Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came against the city [of Jerusalem], and his servants did besiege

My book cover featuring a section of the painting, Noah's Ark  (1846), by Edward Hicks At this point, I am going to depart from my regular blogs that I have been posting for the past four years. If you want to keep pace with my blogs dealing with the Old Testament Come Follow Me weekly program, all of those posts are still on my website from four years ago. I am not going to repeat them here. Rather, each of the next several weeks, I am going to post a chapter from my new, fo

Where Science Meets the Old Testament, for the Come Follow Me lesson February 2-8; Moses 7   For me, Moses chapter 7 is very interesting. Part of the chapter is clearly vision and part of it appears to be narrative of what was happening to and around Enoch. In other parts, it is not clear whether the text describes vision, actual events, or is metaphorical.   For example, we are told in Moses 7:13-14, “And so great was the faith of Enoch that he led the people of God, and the

Enoch Walks with God 1728, by Gerard Hoet Where Science Meets the Old Testament, for the Come Follow Me lesson January 26- February 1 ; Genesis 5; Moses 6   We are told in Doctrine and Covenants 107:48-49, “Enoch was twenty-five years old when he was ordained under the hand of Adam; and he was sixty-five and Adam blessed him. And he saw the Lord, and he walked with him, and was before his face continually; and he walked with God three hundred and sixty-five years, making him

One dragon of the Ishtar Gate of Babylon, Iraq, colored glazed and molded bricks, 6th century BC. Pergamon Museum, Berlin Where Science Meets the Old Testament, for the Come Follow Me lesson January 19-25; Genesis 3-4; Moses 4-5   Genesis 3:1   states,  “ Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made…” The Bible Hub shows the Hebrew as: וְהַנָּחָשׁ֙ (wə·han·nā·ḥāš) the serpent הָיָ֣ה (hā·yāh) was [more] עָר֔וּם (‘ā·rūm) crafty, shrewd

The Vision of the Lord Directing Abraham to Count the Stars , wood engraving, 1860, Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld Where Science Meets the Old Testament, for the Come Follow Me lesson January 12-18; Genesis 1-2; Moses 2-3; Abraham 4-5   The Babylonians, apparently, invented the base-seven week, along with a seven-day creation cycle, around 2,000 BC, not for mathematical reasons, but because of their astronomy and religion, and founded on the seven visible, “movable” celestial

Archangel Michael Defeating Satan, by Guido Reni (1575-1642) Where Science Meets the Old Testament, for the Come Follow Me lesson January 5-11; Moses 1   Genesis 1:1 states, “In the  beginning   God   created  the  heaven  and the  earth .” That’s it, no introduction, no preparatory statement even as to who might be writing those words. By contrast, Moses 2:1 states, “And it came to pass that the Lord spake unto Moses, saying: Behold, I  reveal  unto you concerning this  heav

Ezra Reading the Law for the People, Nehemiah 8:5-6, Gustave Doré's illustrations for La Grande Bible de Tours, 1866. This etching is a bit inaccurate as it suggests Ezra was reading from the stone tablets, which by then had been lost. Where Science Meets the Old Testament, for the Come Follow Me lesson December 29–January 4: Introduction to the Old Testament   The following is an excerpt from part of a chapter in my forthcoming book: Noah’s Flood and the Philosophies of Men

Statue of Christ, 1833, by Bertel Thorvaldsen, Vor Frue Kirke (Our Lady’s Church), Copenhagen; the inscription at the base reads “Kommer til mig” (“Come to me”). This is the original white  Carrara marble  statue; Wikimedia Commons Where Science Meets the Doctrine and Covenants, for the Come Follow Me lesson Dec 22-28; Christmas   I cite here a portion of The Living Christ, The Testimony of the Apostles, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, January 1, 2000. 1  I h

History of the discovery of the “sex-determining region Y” (Sry) gene, located on the Y Chromosome (after Du and Taylor, 2015). 1   Where Science Meets the Doctrine and Covenants, for the Come Follow Me lesson Dec 15-21; The Family: A Proclamation to the World   The Family: A Proclamation to the World , read by President Gordon B. Hinckley, September 23, 1995, states, “All human beings—male and female—are created in the image of God. Each is a beloved spirit son or daughter o

White Dwarf Star—the Future of Our Solar System Where Science Meets the Doctrine and Covenants, for the Come Follow Me lesson Dec 8-14; The Articles of Faith  and  Official Declarations 1  and  2   The Articles of Faith , #10 states, “We believe in the literal  gathering  of Israel and in the restoration of the  Ten Tribes ; that  Zion  (the New Jerusalem) will be built upon the American continent; that Christ will  reign  personally upon the earth; and, that the earth will b

The   Death of a Good Old Man , illustrated by  William Blake , engraved by  Luigi Schiavonetti , 1813. From “The Grave”, a Poem by Robert Blair. Metropolitan Museum of Art, 17.3.2399, Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1917. Public domain. Where Science Meets the Doctrine and Covenants, for the Come Follow Me lesson Dec 1-7; Doctrine and Covenants 137-138   Doctrine and Covenants section 138 was a vision given to President Joseph F. Smith in Salt Lake City, Utah, on October 3, 1918

Percent of energy and matter in the known Universe. 1 Where Science Meets the Doctrine and Covenants, for the Come Follow Me lesson Nov 24-30; Doctrine and Covenants 135-136   Doctrine and Covenants Section 136 was, “The word and will of the Lord, given through President Brigham Young at Winter Quarters, the camp of Israel, Omaha Nation, on the west bank of the Missouri River, near Council Bluffs, Iowa.”   Doctrine and Covenants 136:32-33 states, “Let him that is  ignorant l

Pangea map, with names of the continents. 1   Where Science Meets the Doctrine and Covenants, for the Come Follow Me lesson Nov 17-23; Doctrine and Covenants 133-134   We are told in Doctrine and Covenants 133:23-24 and 26-27, that at Christ’s Second Coming, “He shall command the great deep, and it shall be driven back into the north countries, and the  islands  shall become one land; And the  land of Jerusalem  and the land of  Zion  shall be turned back into their own place

Statue of the Angel Moroni on the Bern Switzerland Temple 1   Where Science Meets the Doctrine and Covenants, for the Come Follow Me lesson Nov 10-16; Doctrine and Covenants 129-132   Sections 129-131 of the Doctrine and Covenants are riddled with verses that are frequently quoted, many dealing with scientific topics. These sections contain some profound and fascinating teachings, and are one reason I decided to take on the subject of science and the scriptures in the first p

I will be doing a book signing for my new book: Science and the Old Testament , at the Walrus and Carpenter bookstore, 251 N. Main Street, in Pocatello, next Saturday, November 8, 3-5 pm. I hope to see you there. Please tell your friends and family. Trent Stephens

Baptisms for the Dead in the Mississippi River, October 27 th , 1840; a portion of page 3 (1) of 102 pages, FamilySearch. 1   Where Science Meets the Doctrine and Covenants, for the Come Follow Me lesson Nov 3-9; Doctrine and Covenants 125-128   Doctrine and Covenants sections 127-128 were letters from Joseph Smith to the Saints in Nauvoo. Section 127, verse 1; dated September 1, 1842; says, in part, “Forasmuch as the Lord has revealed unto me that my enemies, both in Missour

The Unfinished Nauvoo House, by Trent Stephens, drawn from the original oil on canvas, by David Hyrum Smith, circa 1865. Where Science Meets the Doctrine and Covenants, for the Come Follow Me lesson Oct 27-Nov 2; Doctrine and Covenants 124   It seems clear to me that Doctrine and Covenants section 124 is a good example of the notion that all scripture is not equal. Other examples are sections 127 and 128, which are epistles from Joseph Smith to the Latter-day Saints at Nauvoo