Daniel C. Peterson
{{Short description|American professor of Islamic Studies and Arabic at Brigham Young University}}
{{other people|Daniel Peterson}}
{{Infobox person
|name = Daniel C. Peterson
|image = Daniel Peterson 2012.jpg
|caption =
| birth_name = Daniel Carl Peterson
|birth_date = {{birth date and age|1953|1|15}}
|birth_place = California, United States
|death_date =
|death_place =
|resting_place =
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|known_for = {{hlist|Islamic studies|Mormon apologetics}}
|education =
|alma_mater = {{hlist|University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)|Brigham Young University}}
|occupation = {{flatlist|
- Scholar
- historian
- author
- professor
}}
|employer = Brigham Young University
|title =
|term =
|party =
|spouse = Deborah Stephens Peterson
|children = 3
|relatives =
|signature =
|website =
}}
Daniel Carl Peterson (born January 15, 1953){{LCCN8 |n92058251 }} is a retired professor of Islamic Studies and Arabic in the Department of Asian and Near Eastern Languages at Brigham Young University (BYU).
Career
A native of southern California, Peterson received a bachelor's degree in Greek and philosophy from BYU and, after several years of study in Jerusalem and Cairo, earned a Ph.D. in Near Eastern Languages and Cultures from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
Peterson was a professor of Islamic Studies and Arabic at BYU, where he taught courses in Arabic language and Islamic religion, history and culture. He has authored several books and numerous articles on Islamic and Latter-day Saint topics.{{cite web |title=Latter-day Saint Scholars Testify —Daniel C. Peterson |url=https://www.fairlatterdaysaints.org/testimonies/scholars/daniel-c-peterson-2 |website=fairlatterdaysaints.org |publisher=FAIR |access-date=6 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210414002256/https://www.fairlatterdaysaints.org/testimonies/scholars/daniel-c-peterson-2 |archive-date=14 April 2021}}{{cite web |title=Daniel C. Peterson |url=https://www.fairlatterdaysaints.org/authors/peterson-daniel |website=fairlatterdaysaints.org |publisher=FAIR |access-date=6 August 2021}}
He also founded and served as director of BYU's Middle Eastern Texts Initiative from 1992–2010.
{{cite web
| last =Middle Eastern Texts Initiative
| title =METI Editors
| publisher =Brigham Young University
| url =http://meti.byu.edu/meti_staff.php
| format =web page
| access-date =2013-08-29
| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20121125091802/http://meti.byu.edu/meti_staff.php
| archive-date =2012-11-25
| url-status =dead
Peterson has served in various capacities including chairman of the board for what is now known as BYU's Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship. In 2007, in recognition of his establishment of the Middle Eastern Texts Initiative, Peterson was named a Utah Academy Fellow and declared a lifetime member of the Utah Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters.{{cite web |title=UASAL Awards |url=http://www.utahacademy.org/awards/ |website=utahacademy.org |publisher=Utah Academy of Science Arts and Letters |access-date=6 August 2021}}
Peterson retired from BYU on July 1, 2021, but is still active in several public non-scholarly projects, including the production of a feature film that tells the story of the three witnesses of the Book of Mormon.{{Cite web |date=2021-06-30 |title=Retiring BYU Professor Closes Teaching Chapter and Opens New Doors with "Witnesses" Film |url=https://hum.byu.edu/retiring-byu-professor-closes-teaching-chapter-and-opens-new-doors-with-witnesses-film |access-date=2025-02-04 |website=BYU Humanities |language=en}}
Apologetics
Peterson is known for his work as an apologist and scholar on subjects dealing with claims of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), of which he is a member. He is the founding editor-in-chief of the FARMS Review (now the Mormon Studies Review), a periodical produced by the Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, serving since 1989. The institute replaced Peterson as editor in June 2012.{{cite web|url=http://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=54358137&itype=CMSID
| last =Stack
| first =Peggy Fletcher
| author-link =Peggy Fletcher Stack
| title = Shake-up hits BYU's Mormon studies institute
| newspaper =The Salt Lake Tribune
| format =
| date =26 June 2012
Peterson is also a regular participant in online fora about Mormonism where he discusses the Latter-day Saint faith and its apologetics.{{cite web|title=Mormon Discussions|url=http://mormondiscussions.com/phpBB3/index.php|access-date=30 October 2013}} One of his projects has been the development of a website featuring the testimonies of Latter-day Saint scholars.{{Cite web |title=Mormon Scholars Testify |url=https://www.patheos.com/resources/additional-resources/2010/04/mormon-scholars-testify |access-date=2025-02-03 |website=www.patheos.com |language=en}} The site is currently entitled Latter-day Saint Scholars Testify{{cite web |title=Latter-day Saint Scholars Testify |url=https://www.fairlatterdaysaints.org/testimonies/scholars |publisher=FAIR |access-date=3 February 2025}} and is part of FAIR. As of 2025 it hosts 357 testimonies.
Peterson is the first and current editor-in-chief of Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship.
{{Cite news
| last =Stack
| first =Peggy Fletcher
| author-link =Peggy Fletcher Stack
| title = Split emerges among Mormon scholars
| newspaper =The Salt Lake Tribune
| format =web page
| date =25 April 2013
| url =http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/56184763-78/mormon-review-institute-studies.html.csp
| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20141216012348/http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/56184763-78/mormon-review-institute-studies.html.csp
| archive-date =16 December 2014
| access-date =6 August 2021
| url-status =dead
}}
Personal life
Peterson served as a missionary in the Switzerland Zurich Mission, with Edwin Q. Cannon serving as his mission president. Peterson later served on the Church's Gospel Doctrine Committee and as a bishop.{{cite news |last1=Reavy |first1=Pat |title=Witnesses describe Mitchell as intelligent but controlling |url=https://www.deseret.com/2009/12/1/20355952/witnesses-describe-mitchell-as-intelligent-but-controlling |access-date=6 August 2021 |work=Deseret News |date=1 December 2009 |language=en}}{{better source needed|date=June 2013}}
File:Daniel Peterson (Mormon) 002.jpg.]]Peterson and his wife, the former Deborah Stephens, have three sons.
Publications
- {{Citation
| last =Peterson
| first =Daniel C.
| year =1995
| title =Abraham Divided: An LDS Perspective on the Middle East
| publisher =Aspen Book
| isbn =978-1562362249
| url-access =registration
| url =https://archive.org/details/abrahamdividedld00pete
}}.
- {{Citation
| last =Peterson
| first =Daniel C.
|year =1998
| title =The Last Days: A Comprehensive Survey of Prophetic and Doctrinal Statements by Latter-Day Prophets and Apostles
| publisher =Aspen Books
|isbn =978-1562360627
}}.
- {{Citation
| last1 = Peterson
| first1 = Daniel C.
| author-mask = 2
| last2 = Ricks
| first2 = Stephen D.
| author2link= Stephen D. Ricks
| year = 1998
| title = Offenders for a Word: How Anti-Mormons Play Word Games to Attack the Latter-Day Saints
| url=http://publications.maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/book/offenders-for-a-word/
| publisher = Foundation for Ancient Research & Mormon Studies
| isbn = 0-934893-35-7
}}.
- {{cite book |editor1-last=Parry |editor1-first=Donald W. |editor2-last=Peterson |editor2-first=Daniel C. |editor3-last=Welch |editor3-first=John W. |editor1-link=Donald W. Parry |editor3-link=John W. Welch |title=Echoes and Evidences of the Book of Mormon |date=2002 |publisher=Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship |isbn=978-0934893725 |url=https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1026&context=mi}}
- {{Citation
| last = Peterson
| first = Daniel C.
| year = 2007
| title = Muhammad, Prophet of God
| location = Grand Rapids, Michigan
| publisher = Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company
| isbn = 978-0-8028-0754-0
}}.{{cite journal |last1=Qaddumi |first1=Thora |title=Review of Muhammad: Prophet of God |journal=Brigham Young University Studies |date=2011 |volume=50 |issue=1 |pages=164–168 |jstor=43044849 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43044849 |access-date=6 August 2021 |issn=0007-0106}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{cite web |title=Daniel C. Peterson profile |url=https://humanities.byu.edu/person/daniel-c-peterson/ |publisher=BYU's College of Humanities |access-date=6 August 2021}}
- {{cite journal |last1=Peterson |first1=Daniel C. |title=Reflections on Secular Anti-Mormonism |journal=FARMS Review |date=2005 |volume=17 |issue=2 |pages=423–450 |url=https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1632&context=msr |access-date=6 August 2021 |issn=2156-8049}}
- {{cite web |last1=Peterson |first1=Daniel C. |title=Sic et Non (blog) |url=http://www.patheos.com/blogs/danpeterson/ |publisher=Patheos |access-date=6 August 2021 |language=en}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Peterson, Daniel C.}}
Category:20th-century Mormon missionaries
Category:American Latter Day Saint writers
Category:American Mormon missionaries in Switzerland
Category:Brigham Young University alumni
Category:Brigham Young University faculty
Category:Mormon studies scholars
Category:Maxwell Institute people
Category:University of California, Los Angeles alumni
Category:Christian scholars of Islam
Category:Latter Day Saints from California
Category:Latter Day Saints from Utah
Category:American expatriates in Egypt