Defending the Faith: Conference in Logan will focus on temples

Including a 90-minute break for lunch, the conference will run from 8:30 a.m. until it adjourns, following a 40-minute panel discussion, at 5:30 in the evening, leaving time for family night.

With the second-oldest functioning temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints crowning a hill adjacent to the Utah State University campus, and with the church's newest temple just a few miles away in Brigham City — though the Calgary Alberta Temple will succeed to that honor roughly 24 hours before the conference opens — Logan seems a particularly appropriate place in which to reflect upon the concept of the temple, both ancient and modern. All are welcome. The conference isn't restricted to scholars.

Daniel C. Peterson is a professor of Islamic studies and Arabic at BYU, where he also serves as editor in chief of the Middle Eastern Texts Initiative. He is the founder of MormonScholarsTestify.org, the general editor of "Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture" online at www.mormoninterpreter.com and he blogs daily at www.patheos.com/blogs/danpeterson.