Podcast?
With the excommunication of Bill Reel pending, there is discussion in the Progmo world that there is a void in the Mormon podcast world in the faithful but nuanced (Middle Way) category. I’m passionate...
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Evolution and BOM Historicity
I recently became aware of an interesting study related to beliefs on evolution among members of the LDS Church. The study led by BYU professors, including Steven Peck, polled LDS BYU students over 30...
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LDS Temple Changes for 2019
The new year brought new changes in LDS temple ceremonies, effective Jan 1, 2019. I have not been yet personally, so I am reporting this based on what I have read from reliable sources while...
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Elder and Sister Renlund Worldwide Devotional on Faith and Doubt
Elder and Sister Renlund spoke on faith and doubt in a world wide devotional last night. Today, there is some pretty harsh criticism of the talk from the Progmo-Exmo community. I sustain Elder...
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Jordan Peterson, Sam Harris, and Dieter F. Uchtdorf on belief
Dieter F. Uchtdorf spoke at the BYU devotional this week, on the subject of doubt and belief, which ties into a very interesting, recent four hour debate on religion between Jordan Peterson and Sam...
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Stephen Smoot on the Imperative for Book of Mormon Historicity
In 2013, Smoot published an article The Imperative for a Historical Book of Mormon, in which he lays out his case for the requirement for the Book of Mormon to be ancient and historical in order for...
View ArticleDevotional talk on Charity — comparison of 1 Corithinthians 13 and Moroni 7
I also was given topic of charity with scriptures 1 Corinthians 13 and Moroni 7. I love these two passages. I love how they interact with each other. The Book of Mormon is quoting the Bible here. And...
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Jana Riess on Millennial Mormons Quick Take
I picked up the Kindle version of Jana Riess’ new book The Next Mormons: How Millennials Are Changing the LDS Church. and skimmed through it. The book contains data, charts, and personal anecdotes from...
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LDS Membership Statistics 2019
Here are my charts for the LDS Membership Statistics Report, updated with the numbers reported April 6, 2019. These statistics are for calendar year 2018. See last year’s statistical report here....
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Cody and Leah Young’s Excommunication from Mormon Church
Cody and Leah Young were excommunicated from the LDS Church last week. I listened to most of the two interviews they did with John Dehlin totaling 8+ hours, including a recording of their church...
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Bad Book of Mormon Apologetics
Last year, FairMormon had a big win for their organization when LDS General Authority Kevin Pearson came to speak at their conference and endorsed them. I consider myself an LDS Apologist. I was...
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Rob’s Take 7-14-19
Welcome to the first blog edition of Rob’s Take. Rob’s Take first started when as a college student and still living at home, I shared a bedroom with my younger brother and would stay up late...
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Vagueapologetics
I was tagged in a post on a Facebook thread by Bill Reel where he asked: For believers, how do you solve the Lucy Walker conundrum. Do you choose to believe Joseph Smith lied to Lucy about what God...
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Radio Free Mormon, Weird Alma, the First Vision, and Gaslighting
The Radio Free Mormon podcast took on the First Vision in a recent episode. RFM is hitting his stride as a podcaster. He’s well researched, entertaining, and uses his attorney skills to present a...
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Spencer Fluhman BYU Devotional The University and the Kingdom of God
Dr. Spencer Fluhman, the Maxwell Institute Director, gave a BYU Devotional speech titled “The University and the Kingdom of God” July 30, 2019. I can have a flair for the dramatic, but I really...
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David Ostler Bridges Review
David Ostler’s book Bridges, covering the topic of LDS faith crisis, published by Kofford Books is released tomorrow Aug 7, 2019. After presiding in the Freetown Sierra Leone Mission in West Africa,...
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FairMormon Conference Report 2019
I missed the FairMormon conference last week but caught the streaming. You can still purchase the streaming option for $30 and watch all the presentations....
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LDS Exclusivity and Doctrinal Humility
Last week, I posted about Scott Gordon’s presentation at FairMormon on the CES Letter. I’ll repeat that here, but I want to focus on my thoughts prompted by a comment in that thread. Scott got...
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Mark Wrathall on Justice and Mercy in the Book of Mormon
The Maxwell Institute is producing fantastic work, exploring LDS scripture and theology from a scholarly perspective. They are patterning the work B.H. Roberts invited us all to do. “I believe...
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Rob’s Take 11-21-2019
This is my first blog post in about three months. That’s the longest dry spell since I first put up my personal website and started blogging in September 2015. I have huge motivation and ambitions...
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Responsibility of the Active, Metaphorically-Believing LDS
This blog post is a follow up from a previous blog post review of the book Bridges, by David Ostler. This post considers some of the criticisms of the book or pushback on some of the ideas from the...
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Book of Mormon translation thoughts from Don Bradley
I’m enjoying Don Bradley’s new book Lost 116 Pages. I’m just getting to the good part where Don describes what’s on the lost pages. I wanted to highlight an excerpt from the book and a bit of...
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Terryl Givens on the Pearl of Great Price
My focus this winter has been on the #2 ranked Springville basketball team and will be through February. Go Red Devils! My posting frequency has gone down, but I continue to be excited about sharing...
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Terryl Givens Joseph Smith quotes Part 2
This is a continuation of a prior post where I shared quotes from Terryl Givens very interesting presentation at Benchmark Books. Indented quotes will be from Brother Givens unless otherwise...
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Missionary Service: a $15B proposal
You’ve probably seen the recent story about the LDS Church saving surplus tithing funds and growing a large “rainy day fund”, estimated at $100B. The math goes like this. Let’s assume the Church...
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Fallibility of the Book of Mormon
For over 100 years, Bible scholars have analyzed the Bible text and historical sources to understand more about things like: when it was written, by whom, actual historical events or extant literary...
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LDS Handbook Changes — revelation or response to criticism?
The LDS Church published changes in its handbook and made this available to general membership for the first time. Previously, the handbook was private and only available to general and local...
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A Hypothetical Revelation on Gay Marriage
The following is NOT an official LDS Church announcement. <start of hypothetical announcement> Brothers and sisters. It’s a strange feeling to speak in this empty Conference Center today while...
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LDS Membership Statistics 2020
Here are my charts for the LDS Membership Statistics Report, updated with the numbers reported April 4, 2020. These statistics are for calendar year 2019. See last year’s statistical report here. In...
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Book of Mormon Wordprint Studies in 2020
Book of Mormon wordprint studies have been used by both critics and Apologists to provide valuable insights into the text of the BOM. The purpose of this post is to reintroduce my wordprint study, to...
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Mormon Faith Crisis Podcast — Episode One
Episode 1: Intro https://www.churchistrue.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/FCR-001-Intro.mp3 Welcome to Episode 1: Intro from the Church is True Faith Crisis and Reconstruction Podcast Series. I am an...
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LDS Faith Crisis Podcast Episode 2: Old Testament
https://www.churchistrue.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/FCR-002-Old-Testament.mp3 Last updated:Tuesday, June 9, 2020The post LDS Faith Crisis Podcast Episode 2: Old Testament appeared first on LDS...
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LDS Faith Crisis Podcast Series Episode 3: Book of Mormon Evidence
https://www.churchistrue.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/FCR-003-Book-of-Mormon-Evidence.mp3 Last updated:Tuesday, June 9, 2020The post LDS Faith Crisis Podcast Series Episode 3: Book of Mormon...
View ArticleChurch is True Podcast — first week review
The Church is True Faith Crisis and Reconstruction podcast series is here. The first three episodes were released this week. Here’s a link to the first episode: Mormon faith crisis podcast link At the...
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Podcast Episode 4 Book of Mormon Content
https://www.churchistrue.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/FCR-004-Book-of-Mormon-Content.mp3 In this episode, I discuss the aspects of the Book of Mormon that could lead to faith crisis. There are...
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Illuminating confusing Book of Mormon passages with 19th century works
In my most recent podcast episode Book of Mormon content, which focuses on modern theological content in the Book of Mormon, I point out a couple instances where study of 19th century works help...
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Podcast Episode 5 Book of Mormon Translation
https://www.churchistrue.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/FCR-005-Book-of-Mormon-Translation.mp3 Faith Crisis and Reconstruction Podcast Series, Episode 5: Book of Mormon Translation In this...
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Book of Mormon translation theory for an inspired 19th century view
Here’s a summary of my theory on Book of Mormon translation. This post is taken from transcript of this week’s podcast episode. It’s a little sloppy for a blog post, but here it is if you don’t have...
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Podcast Episode 7 First Vision
https://www.churchistrue.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/FCR-007-First-Vision-Priesthood-Restoration-LDS-Exclusivity.mp3 Faith Crisis and Reconstruction Podcast Series, Episode 7: First Vision,...
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LDS Exclusivity
Transcript from a portion of my most recent podcast episode on the First Vision: This idea of LDS exclusivity and the idea that we are, God’s only true church. Jana Reese in her book, The Next...
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Podcast Episode 8 Book of Abraham and JST
https://www.churchistrue.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/FCR-008-Book-of-Abraham-and-JST.mp3 Faith Crisis and Reconstruction Podcast Series, Episode 8: Book of Abraham and JST In this episode, I discuss...
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Mormonism and Universalism
I’m highlighting portions from my most recent podcast episode in blog posts right now. This week, I produced an episode on the Book of Abraham, Book of Moses, and JST. In this episode, I break down...
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Podcast Episode 9 Polygamy and Late Nauvoo Doctrine
https://www.churchistrue.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/FCR-009-Polygamy-and-Late-Nauvoo-Doctrine.mp3 Faith Crisis and Reconstruction Podcast Series, Episode 9: Polygamy and Late Nauvoo Doctrine In...
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Podcast Episode 10 Prophets, Revelation, Current Issues–LGBT, Female Equality
https://www.churchistrue.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/FCR-010-Prophets-Revelation-LGBT-Female-Equality.mp3 Faith Crisis and Reconstruction Podcast Series, Episode 10: Prophets, Revelation, Current...
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Podcast Episode 11 New Testament and Belief in God
https://www.churchistrue.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/FCR-011-New-Testament-and-Belief-in-God.mp3 Download Faith Crisis and Reconstruction Podcast Series, Episode 11: New Testament and Belief in God...
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LDS view of New Testament construction
The following is a portion of the transcript from the most recent episode from the churchistrue Faith Crisis and Reconstruction podcast series. Please let me know if you’re listening and what you...
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Podcast Episode 12 Lived Experience
https://www.churchistrue.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/FCR-012-Lived-Experience.mp3 Download mp3 link Faith Crisis and Reconstruction Podcast Series, Episode 12: Lived Experience This is the final...
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Episode 12 Lived Experience podcast episode excerpt
The following is an excerpt from Episode 12 of the churchistrue Faith Crisis and Reconstruction series: Lived Experience. To emphasize some of the lived experience aspects, I’m going to highlight...
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Trickle Up Revelation from podcast episode 10
Today’s blog post is an excerpt from the churchistrue Faith Crisis and Reconstruction podcast episode 10 on the subject of “Trickle Up Revelation”. Next topic: trickle up revelation. One of my...
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Church is True blog podcast update Dec 2020
Update on the churchistrue podcast and blog. This is hopefully not a dramatic YAGE (yet another grand exit). I finished the last podcast episode Aug 18. My original plan was once I was finished...
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