Word of the Day

strake |strāk|noun1 a continuous line of planking or plates from the stem to the stern of a ship or boat.2 a protruding ridge fitted to an aircraft or other structure to improveaerodynamic stability.ORIGIN Middle English : from Anglo-Latin stracus, straca; probably from the Germanic base of the verb stretch .

New Gospel Discovered!

As you, the three readers of this blog, are aware, I am involved in research of the NT and related topics.  Well, during one of my forays into BYU's special collections vault I came across a very old and yet unpublished manuscript written in an obscure Utardic dialect.  It contains a number of sayings of Jesus (see Gospel of Thomas) that I believe are particularly interesting to an LDS audience.  The text has no title to speak of, so in the edition that I will publish it will be called "The Gospel of the Mormons".  Here is one of the logia that I have translated most recently.

Logion 32:  "Peter said to Jesus: 'Lord, how are we to overcome our enemies and receive the inheritance laid aside for us?'  Jesus answered: 'I never said it would be easy, I only said it would be worth it.'"

As you can see, there are some serious doctrinal implications.  More to come...

Word of the Day

Gibbon never disappoints.

demesne |diˈmān|noun historical1 land attached to a manor and retained for the owner's own use.• the lands of an estate.• archaic a region or domain : she may one day queen it over that fair demesne.2 historical Law possession of real property in one's own right.PHRASESheld in demesne (of an estate) occupied by the owner, not by tenants.ORIGIN Middle English : from Old French demeine (later Anglo-Norman French demesne) ‘belonging to a lord,’ from Latindominicus, from dominus ‘lord, master.’ Compare with domain .

Word of the Day

Hegira |hiˈjīrə; ˈhejərə| (also Hejira or Hijra |ˈhijrə|)nounMuhammad's departure from Mecca to Medina in ad 622, prompted by the opposition of the merchants of Mecca and marking the consolidation of the first Muslim community.• the Muslim era reckoned from this date : the second century of the Hegira. See also AH .• ( hegira) an exodus or migration.ORIGIN via medieval Latin from Arabic hijra ‘departure,’ from hajara‘emigrate.’

Hike #6 - Cascade Saddle Redux

Bright and early on the 4th of July some friends and I hiked to Cascade Saddle.  Last year I hiked to the same destination, but started at Rock Canyon.  This time we started at the Big Springs trailhead in the south fork of Provo Canyon.  I'm not exactly sure how long the hike is.  The various sources I've checked seem to disagree, but it's somewhere between 9 and 12 miles roundtrip.  The trail starts off easy enough, but before long it gets steep and rocky.  However, there was plenty of shade along the way.  Once you get to the top there's a nice view of the valley as well as some of the other nearby peaks.  You can also hike along the ridges to the north or south, but there aren't really any trails.  

Words of the Day

exiguous |igˈzigyoōəs; ikˈsig-|adjective formalvery small in size or amount : my exiguous musical resources.
desuetude |ˈdeswiˌt(y)oōd|noun formala state of disuse : the docks fell into desuetude.

Words of the Day

I've got two of them for you today:

ratiocinate |ˌratēˈōsəˌnāt; ˌra sh ē-|verb [ intrans. ] formalform judgments by a process of logic; reason.
opprobrious |əˈprōbrēəs|adjective(of language) expressing opprobrium.• disgraceful; shameful : their opprobrious conduct.