Lecturer | Linguist | language researcher | PhD Candidate in Complex Systems
Few passages in the Doctrine and Covenants have generated more confidence than their wording actually warrants. Doctrine and Covenants 125 is one example. For many Latter-day Saints interested in Book of Mormon geography, the revelation is often treated as if
Read more
Discussions about the Book of Mormon often blur the distinction between what the text actually says and what later readers have assumed. Over nearly two centuries, traditions have developed that many now regard as established doctrine, even though the Book
Read more
Branding is often discussed as if it were a checklist: a name, a logo, a color palette, a tagline. In practice, it behaves less like a list and more like a system—interdependent, cumulative, and emergent. From a linguistic perspective, it
Read more
The podcast conversation with John Hilton is engaging and, at times, genuinely thought-provoking. It brings computational language—“word prints,” statistical patterns, intertextual links—into a discussion that is usually framed in theological or historical terms. That alone gives it a certain intellectual
Read more
Recently, Steven C. Harper asked me about my thoughts about the ideas in “The Broken Constitution” by Noah Feldman. The book presents a provocative argument that Abraham Lincoln’s actions during the Civil War were necessary breaches of the Constitution to
Read more
In a recent episode of the Mormon Stories Podcast, host John Dehlin interviews Dr. John Lundwall, who presents a sweeping critique of the Book of Mormon. His central claim is that the text is fundamentally anachronistic—not just in specific details,
Read more
One of the sources of confusion in constitutional interpretation arises from a subtle but consequential category error: natural rights are routinely treated as policy objectives rather than as constraints on political authority. This misclassification distorts both the philosophical foundations of
Read more
The CES Letter has become one of the most influential critiques of Latter-day Saint truth claims in the modern era. For many readers, it is not merely persuasive but decisive—once encountered, belief feels intellectually untenable. That effect alone warrants careful
Read more
Why Systems Matter in Theology Every theological tradition carries implicit assumptions about how reality works. Some assume that moral and spiritual outcomes follow predictable patterns: obedience yields blessing, disobedience yields punishment, belief yields salvation. Others assume something more dynamic—that growth,
Read more
I’ve had countless arguments about atheism where someone confidently claims that “atheism is the default position.” It’s a familiar line in debates about religion and belief, but the problem is that people often use the word atheism in very different
Read more