podcast 154 – Mormons seeing the man behind the curtain – Part 2

A tightly knit religious group can ignore outsiders’ criticisms indefinitely. But when insiders start to demonstrate the weakness of the party line… watch out! Something has to give.

A former President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints once threw down the gauntlet about their founder Joseph Smith, saying that

Mormonism… must stand or fall on the story of Joseph Smith. He was either a Prophet of God… or he was one of the biggest frauds this world has ever seen. There is no middle ground. If Joseph was a deceiver, who willfully attempted to mislead people, then he should be exposed, his claims should be refuted, and his doctrines shown to be false…” – Joseph Fielding Smith (1876-1972)

In this episode, I summarize recent publication by two Mormon insiders who have turned into whistleblowers about the many refuted claims of Joseph Smith – Grant Palmer, and Jeremy Runnells. Bravely, they’ve chosen truth over tradition, continuing to publicly seek truth despite much pain and social loss. Their labors have not gone unnoticed; there is currently an exodus of people out of the LDS church, at least in places with widespread internet access. In this episode, you’ll hear why.

But evangelicals should not gloat. We too are a tightly knit religious community, and one which has very much circled the wagons, creating an insular culture that includes a whole parallel universe of scholars and schools, defended by an army of often half-informed apologists. We have easily brushed off the objections of Muslims, “liberals,” and “cultists.” Such outsiders are easily ignored, and with the applause of the choir, seemingly easily refuted. But what historical and other scholarship have we been ignoring? What will happen when evangelicals don’t mostly get their information from pastors, parachurch ministries, and evangelical scholars? At the end of this episode, I reflect on some areas of vulnerability here – some things hiding behind our curtain.

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