Mormon Discussion Podcast

On tonight’s episode RFM and Bill Reel dive further into the Mark Hofmann story exposing Elder Oaks and at the time Elder Gordon B. Hinckley as potentially deceiving and lying about what transpired in their meeting with Hofmann and their efforts to obtain what they believed were authentic and also damaging documents to the Church’s narrative and the faith of its members.  Bill concludes with revealing multiple never before seen documents including the Hofmann’s outline for the forged 116 pages of the book of Lehi, Hofmann’s Psychological evaluation, his education report cards, and a master list of all the signatures/authored documents he forged of famous people.RESOURCES: Elder Oaks 1985 talk that includes much around the Hofmann affair including suggesting a Salamander could be interpreted as the angel Moroni – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hAL-qLOISsElder Oaks suggesting if we keep the commandments we won’t be deceived while the listener recognizes Elder Oaks, then Elder Gordon B Hinckley, and other leaders were in fact deceived by Hofmann – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hAL-qLOISsElder Oaks saying way too much about the Hofmann ordeal that in the end compromises the events as he tells them https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/1987/10/recent-events-involving-church-history-and-forged-documents?lang=eng The post Mormonism LIVE !: 015: Tales of Hofmann appeared first on Mormon Discussion by Bill Reel.

Using a recent video published by the LDS Church titled “How Can It Not Be True”, RFM and Bill Reel take this short 1 minute and 15 second video that attempts to impose faulty evidence and faulty reasoning as proving the Church is true and decimate it. When they are finished, answering the question How can it not be true becomes quite easy.RESOURCES: How Can It Not Be True – LDS VIdeo – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvxH24aPkTQChris Johnson – Stylistic Drift – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAGasQ7j_ZI Christopher Smith – Stylistic Drift – http://www.withoutend.org/stylistic-drift-book-mormon-dictation/Terrence Chambers – New Testament Phrases in the Book of Mormon – http://www.iosrjournals.org/iosr-jhss/papers/Vol.%2022%20Issue2/Version-1/R220201120147.pdfBook of Mormon Anachronisms – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anachronisms_in_the_Book_of_MormonCriticism of the Book of Mormon – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_the_Book_of_Mormon19th century material in the Book of Mormon – https://www.churchistrue.com/blog/19th-century-protestant-phrases-in-book-of-mormon/Book of Mormon Archeology – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archaeology_and_the_Book_of_MormonFaithful LDS Scholar Richard Bushman on 19th century material in the Book of Mormon – https://faenrandir.github.io/a_careful_examination/bushman-on-19th-century-phrasing-and-theology-in-the-book-of-mormon/Richard Bushman on Joseph Smith producing pseudepigrapha – https://www.missedinsunday.com/memes/scripture/mormon-pseudepigrapha/synopsis of Grant Palmer’s Insider’s view of Mormon Origins – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/An_Insider%27s_View_of_Mormon_OriginsGrant Palmer’s Mormon Stories Interview – https://www.mormonstories.org/podcast/mormon-stories-030-031-032-and-033-an-insiders-view-of-mormon-origins-an-interview-with-grant-palmer/The Dreams of the Smith Family – Contains Joseph Smith Sr.’s dream that resembles the Vision of the Tree of Life – https://sunstonemagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/sbi/articles/064-22-29.pdfIntroduction to the Grammatical and Substantive changes to the Book of Mormon – http://www.utlm.org/onlinebooks/3913intro.htm The post Mormonism LIVE !: 014: How Can It Not Be True? appeared first on Mormon Discussion by Bill Reel.

RFM and Bill Reel have a guest on today, Chris Bloxham, who gets us started by telling us a funny story from his mission. After that we give our callers a chance to share their funny mission stories, and finish off having RFM share a funny story from his mission.Please donate to Mormonism LIVE ! by CLICKING HERE The post MORMONISM LIVE !: 012: The Funniest Missionary Story appeared first on Mormon Discussion by Bill Reel.

There are five rules to the game of Mormonism; all of them from the perspective of church leaders:Rule No. 1–We are going to hide stuff from you.Rule No. 2–We are going to try to keep you from finding the stuff we are hiding from you.Rule No. 3–We are going to lie about hiding stuff from you. Rule No. 4–You can’t blame us for hiding stuff from you.Rule No. 5–If you talk about the stuff we are hiding from you, we will hide you. (See Rule No. 2)Once you understand the five “rules of the game,” everything else falls into place.RESOURCES:https://youtu.be/4hAL-qLOISshttps://www.deseret.com/2008/8/2/20379462/be-cautious-about-lds-history-articles-elder-oaks-says?fbclid=IwAR22qAPf6HvVfRVyLX_faN2NGYRqvuxMQj-VUA1I20y_votqlxiy-egQMgIhttps://youtu.be/Eqi-ll1PSr0?t=1https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/teaching-seminary-preservice-readings-religion-370-471-and-475/the-mantle-is-far-far-greater-than-the-intellect?lang=eng&fbclid=IwAR3UdfA0Yy1EIhOpnaIr42oeR8pTPuSmNs-PdFd6NpL5gjX78e1wG8FSqashttps://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/1986/01/truth-and-more?lang=eng&fbclid=IwAR3lTzVmfLSDIN22CSFzqtYRVpraCSTlnzt0U1k_zvoHGh8G9PwX9SfygG4https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/russell-m-nelson/truth-and-more/?fbclid=IwAR0cxr5OaF7YED0mPLTq57yGcYg5C2SCHgY94bhxST_OzJxo92Fe6Yy5dnkhttps://youtu.be/lsi3wLiyiEE?t=520https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/church/news/president-oaks-counsels-young-couples-defending-the-gospel-on-the-frontline-?lang=eng&fbclid=IwAR22qAPf6HvVfRVyLX_faN2NGYRqvuxMQj-VUA1I20y_votqlxiy-egQMgIhttps://youtu.be/Uj2VWhuW50w?t=2666https://youtu.be/RPeIgjZ0EQg?t=742https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/1993/04/keep-the-faith?lang=eng&fbclid=IwAR3lTzVmfLSDIN22CSFzqtYRVpraCSTlnzt0U1k_zvoHGh8G9PwX9SfygG4https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/media/video/2015-10-2060-elder-vern-p-stanfill?lang=eng&fbclid=IwAR3_4rgQQtelIZwdX-Dm5w6LqIWum5E78RDrDY2He8BeKhjRbi3v-j9zttIhttps://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2019/10/56andersen?lang=eng&fbclid=IwAR3J7TtWjDfYfVjO6xcFXNa1-M5XXsU_luV2H4tj-vKGYOAXRF8TKRR0ci4https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2012/10/can-ye-feel-so-now?lang=eng&fbclid=IwAR0_-V_9p9yrxkD9zcCcVpT-szyykb_vcN54k1x83hpb4Zvf5CEOEHN0zzk The post MORMONISM LIVE !: 011: The Rules of the Game appeared first on Mormon Discussion by Bill Reel.

In todays Episode Jonathan Streeter fills in for Bill Reel and takes RFM on a journey discussing the first miracle in Mormonism. They discuss the role that Demonic possessions and exorcisms play in religion generally and how such things have influenced Mormonism specifically. The post MORMONISM LIVE !: 010: Demonic Possession, Exorcism, and Mormonism appeared first on Mormon Discussion by Bill Reel.

Today I sit down with two brothers, Samuel & Joseph.  Both of these two brothers know the issues.  They both have gone down the rabbit hole of Mormonism seeing its messiness and complexity.  Having gone down the rabbit hole they came out different sides.  Joe’s faith, once strong and both feet in, dissolved and vanished away as he left the Church and navigated the hard path out of the Church and making a new life and a happy one at that.  Sam on the other hand, while agreeing with much of what the critic has to say, has continued to stay seeing value in continued practice and activity and faith that Mormonism can still be and become an inspiring place to be part of community, to raise a family, and to do God’s work.  The most profound part of this conversation is the love and vulnerability these two brothers share with each other, honoring each others path and validating the position that the other has arrived at.  Maybe, there is something each of us can learn from these two incredible men as they seek to set aside faith positions and simply love each other as brothers making space for each other to show up as they are with no expectation of what that should look like. The post Mormon Discussion: 358: Two Brothers Two Paths appeared first on Mormon Discussion by Bill Reel.

Moroni 7:27 asks Has the day of Miracles Ceased? The answer in the scriptures is nay. Yet What happens when we take a look at what LDS Leaders suggest as the miracles that are happening. We use two Sound clips at the backdrop of todays discussion. One is David Bednar’s recent BYU devotional where Elder Bednar imposes that miracles are happening today just as in days of old and gives us 8 quotes that are supposed to be evidence of the miracles except there aren’t any…. unless you are counting smiles, hours served, phones answered, and a person was were they were supposed to be.  The second clip revolves around Wendy Nelson informing us that President Nelson was prompted prior to Covid in 2020 to cancel all of their bookings for the year.  But when this “miracle” is examined it seems to contain deep factual problems and negative theological ramifications. RESOURCES: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/moro/7?lang=eng https://youtu.be/Az6-7yzZOLs?t=1 https://www.thechurchnews.com/podcast/2021-01-05/sister-wendy-nelson-sheri-dew-president-nelson-prophet-three-years-201007 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3yRp2C7BN8&fbclid=IwAR07EbuLdC4cgIibxrFlAruDHq7TuvqkinwLO3eKB_Th6reMy-GHct93fd8 www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAt4Od0teNg&fbclid=IwAR35-eQ-732TcFVmpQeXAceXtYTZ6MycK378lzYfqqiOBow4Vq7M-70DwWc www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJZ4JaCOIL8&fbclid=IwAR27aNOPG308McVU-E5-TaaZiizQddoIXCh3h6cA6kp0QVQlzRJ9HND8HdQ The post MORMONISM LIVE !: 009: Elder David Bednar & Wendy Nelson, Has The Day Of Miracles Ceased? appeared first on Mormon Discussion by Bill Reel.

Today we sit down with Dr. Darrel Ray and Shane Larsen and talk to them about the organization “Recovering From Religion“.  We talk with Dr. Ray about how this organization got started, his two books “God Virus” and “Sex & God“.  We ask Shane about how he went from a Mormon to volunteering and organizing a local chapter of RFR in Salt Lake City, Utah.  and Then we talk to both of them about the need for such organizations and support to those leaving religion and recovering from the trauma and shame.  We discuss the resources RFR provides and how others can find them. RESOURCES: https://www.recoveringfromreligion.org/ https://www.meetup.com/rfr-salt-lake-city-ut/Meetup RFR Salt Lake City Group –  https://www.amazon.com/Sex-God-Religion-Distorts-Sexuality/dp/0970950543https://www.amazon.com/God-Virus-Religion-Infects-Culture/dp/0970950519 https://www.amazon.com/God-Virus-Religion-Infects-Culture/dp/0970950519   The post Mormon Discussion: 357: Recovering From Religion appeared first on Mormon Discussion by Bill Reel.

We once again develop this weeks episode around Director of the Church History Library, Keith Erekson. Except this time we address his expertise as a hoax expert. No Seriously, this guy is one of the worlds experts on discerning hoaxes. He has written articles, given presentations, and taught in academia about such helping people for years to to discern and deconstruct hoaxes. But catch this….. he has been unable to apply those same tools to his religious beliefs and that is the topic for tonight’s episodeRESOURCES: https://www.keitherekson.com/2020/03/how-to-detect-a-hoax/https://www.keitherekson.com/2020/03/how-to-analyze-a-hoax/https://www.keitherekson.com/2021/01/how-to-talk-about-rumors-and-conspiracy-theories/ The post MORMONISM LIVE !: 008: Keith Erekson Hoax Expert appeared first on Mormon Discussion by Bill Reel.

Tonight RFM and Bill Reel take a look at how Director of the Church History Library, Keith A. Erekson, frames apologetics, inoculation, and publicly frames the criticisms of the Church. What tone does he use? What approach does he take with the critic and their criticisms? What approach does he take with the issues? How does he interact with the members of the Church in terms of transparency? Vulnerability? Honesty? and Forthrightness? Is this an improvement or is it a deeper layer of deception? We do this by examining his recent Fireside w/ multiple stakes published on the Fredrickson Stake Youtube ChannelKeith Erekson is the head of the vaults where historical items are saved in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He and his two assistants are the only folks with unfettered access to these archives and storage. The post MORMONISM LIVE !: 007: Keith Erekson – Analysis of the Director of the Church History Library appeared first on Mormon Discussion by Bill Reel.