Podcast
Informed Saints
Hosted by Informed Saints · EN
The podcast where you can learn about everything from polygamy to gold plates. Hosted by Stephen Smoot, Neal Rappleye, and Jasmin Rappleye.
17episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
The Hebrew Grammar Joseph Smith Tried to Delete from the Book of Mormon
1w ago00:43:13Tap to summarizeThe Book of Mormon will not stop telling you where the record is. Who's holding it. Who handed it off. What they did with it and why. A retired trial attorney read that and recognized something from thirty years in courtrooms: a chain of custody. Jasmin Rappleye, Neal Rappleye, and Stephen Smoot sit down with Stephen Lundwall: retired IP and business attorney and former BYU religion faculty, to talk about Authentic: The Book of Mormon, Evidences of a Miracle, written with his wife Rebecca Lundwall and published by Deseret Book. Lundwall makes the case the way he'd make it to a jury: witnesses, exhibits, cross-examination, and a closing argument. ===Informed Saints Credits=== Produced by The Ancient America Foundation Producer: Spencer Clark Hosts: Stephen Smoot, Neal Rappleye, Jasmin Rappleye In this episode: • What "provenance" means, and why archaeologists and attorneys care about the same thing • Why Moroni being the final author of the record changes everything about the handoff • Isaac Taylor's 1827 argument that ancient literature, history, and religion all rest on secure transmission — published the same year Moroni delivered the plates • What the original and printer's manuscripts actually show, and why the translation itself is evidence • Elizabeth Whitmer and Emma Smith on what they watched happen day after day • The interruptions Joseph never needed read back to him • The 28 words in Joseph Smith's own handwriting — the only ones in the entire manuscript • How Oliver Cowdery learned to spell Coriantumr • The Hebraic "if–and" conditional in Moroni 10:4 that Joseph edited out of later editions • Bernard DeVoto, internal consistency, and translating a 500-page book inside out • The "legal truth test" for a witness who says he saw an angel: honest, competent, biased, reasonable • David Whitmer's 1881 Richmond affidavit — and why Alexander Doniphan's signature on it matters Get Authentic: The Book of Mormon, Evidences of a Miracle by Stephen and Rebecca Lundwall: https://amzn.to/4ww8YrH Further Readings: https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/original-manuscript-of-the-book-of-mormon-circa-12-april-1828-circa-1-july-1829/194 https://archive.org/details/addresstoallbeli00whit/page/9/mode/1up https://scripturecentral.org/archive/books/book-chapter/-gift-and-power-god-0 https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/history-circa-summer-1832/1 https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/printers-manuscript-of-the-book-of-mormon-circa-august-1829-circa-january-1830/1 https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/original-manuscript-of-the-book-of-mormon-circa-12-april-1828-circa-1-july-1829/1 https://www.deseret.com/faith/2026/06/05/church-of-jesus-christ-acquires-daguerreotype-some-say-is-the-only-photo-of-joseph-smith/ Subscribe for more faithful scholarship on the Book of Mormon, Church history, and the ancient world. Study deeply, believe boldly. ===Discover=== If any of our thoughts resonated with you, consider learning more about the single most influential book in our lives. https://www.discoverbookofmormon.org/ ===Content Disclaimer=== The views expressed represent ours alone and do not necessarily reflect the official position of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. #BookOfMormon #LDS #ComeFollowMe #InformedSaints #JosephSmith #BookOfMormonWitnesses #Moroni #EmmaSmith #OliverCowdery #DavidWhitmer #MartinHarris #RoyalSkousen #GoldPlates #BookOfMormonTranslation #Hebraisms #ChainOfCustody #Provenance #AlexanderDoniphan #LatterDaySaints #StephenLundwall
Transcribe →Did Brigham Young Order the Mountain Meadows Massacre?
2w ago01:00:17Tap to summarizeOn September 11, 1857, Latter-day Saints, assisted by a group of Paiutes, killed between 100 and 140 men, women, and children of an Arkansas wagon train at Mountain Meadows in southern Utah. There is no way to soften that. So this episode asks the harder questions head-on: how did a people who had been driven from their own homes commit the worst atrocity in their history; and did Brigham Young order it? Jasmin Rappleye, Neal Rappleye, and Stephen Smoot sit down with Dr. Casey Griffiths — assistant professor of Church history and doctrine at BYU, co-host of the Church History Matters podcast, and former president of the John Whitmer Historical Association — to walk through the definitive primary-source research: Massacre at Mountain Meadows (Ronald Walker, Richard E. Turley Jr., and Glen Leonard) and Vengeance Is Mine (Richard E. Turley Jr. and Barbara Jones Brown), both from Oxford University Press, along with Casey's What You Don't Know About the 100 Most Important Events in Church History. ===Informed Saints Credits=== Produced by The Ancient America Foundation Producer: Spencer Clark Hosts: Stephen Smoot, Neal Rappleye, Jasmin Rappleye In this episode: • The Utah War of 1857: why President James Buchanan sent roughly a third of the U.S. Army (~2,500 troops) toward Utah — and why the press branded it "Buchanan's Blunder" • The Nauvoo Legion's Sebastopol strategy, Lot Smith's famously polite wagon-burnings, and the army's miserable winter at Fort Bridger • Thomas L. Kane's dash via Panama to broker peace — arriving in Salt Lake on Christmas Day • The Baker–Fancher party from Arkansas: denied provisions town by town, and the anthrax outbreak near Fillmore that fed poisoning rumors • What (maybe) happened in Cedar City — and why stake president Isaac Haight sought retribution after the wagon train had already left • The plan to blame the Paiutes, John D. Lee's role as on-site commander, and William Dame's fateful approval • James Haslam's ride to Salt Lake and Brigham Young's letter — "let them go in peace" — arriving two days too late • September 11: the false flag of truce, the "do your duty" signal, and the 17 young children who survived • The Haight–Dame blow-up at the site, the original letterbook, and why the evidence points away from Brigham Young ordering the massacre • Trials, a deliberately hung jury, the Pittman-shorthand transcripts, and John D. Lee's execution at Mountain Meadows • Mormonism Unveiled, Mark Hofmann forgeries, and how the "Brigham Young ordered it" myth persists from Under the Banner of Heaven to American Primeval • President Henry B. Eyring's 2007 statement at the 150th anniversary — and what facing this history honestly asks of all of us Go deeper: Massacre at Mountain Meadows — Walker, Turley & Leonard (Oxford University Press): https://amzn.to/4fsHtYU Vengeance Is Mine — Turley & Jones Brown (Oxford University Press): https://amzn.to/4yLAQKf What You Don't Know About the 100 Most Important Events in Church History — Casey Griffiths, Mary Jane Woodger, and Susan Easton Black: https://amzn.to/4fDL7PX Trial transcripts online (Turley & Jones Brown): https://mountainmeadowsmassacre.com Church Resources: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/2007/09/the-mountain-meadows-massacre?lang=eng https://history.byu.edu/mountainmeadowsmassacre Subscribe for more faithful scholarship on Latter-day Saint history and scripture. Study deeply, believe boldly. ===Discover=== If any of our thoughts resonated with you, consider learning more about the single most influential book in our lives. https://www.discoverbookofmormon.org/ ===Content Disclaimer=== The views expressed represent ours alone and do not necessarily reflect the official position of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. #MountainMeadowsMassacre #MountainMeadows #BrighamYoung #JohnDLee #UtahWar #LDSHistory #ChurchHistory #LatterDaySaints #LDS #MormonHistory #CaseyGriffiths #ChurchHistoryMatters #AmericanHistory #UtahHistory #VengeanceIsMine #AmericanPrimeval #ComeFollowMe #ChurchOfJesusChrist #InformedSaints
Transcribe →What Most Latter-day Saints Miss About Facsimile 2
3w ago00:34:10Tap to summarizeThe facsimiles are the only pictures in Latter-day Saint scripture — and Facsimile 2 is the strangest of them. Critics say Egyptologists translated it long ago and "disproved" the Book of Abraham. Some Saints treat it as secret temple code waiting to be cracked. So what can we actually know about this mysterious circle? Jasmin Rappleye, Neal Rappleye, and Stephen Smoot sit down with Egyptologist Dr. John Gee (MA, Berkeley; PhD, Yale) — one of the few scholars published on hypocephali in mainstream, peer-reviewed Egyptological venues — and draw on A Guide to the Book of Abraham (BYU Studies), co-authored by Gee, Smoot, Kerry Muhlstein, and John Thompson. ===Informed Saints Credits=== Produced by The Ancient America Foundation Producer: Spencer Clark Hosts: Stephen Smoot, Neal Rappleye, Jasmin Rappleye In this episode: What a hypocephalus is — and why the Greek "under the head" mistranslates the Egyptian kher-tep, "at the head" The owner's name on Facsimile 2 — Sheshonq — and why it belonged to a different mummy than Facsimiles 1 and 3 Book of the Dead 162: the "great and secret book" that turns a hypocephalus into a passport through the gates of the next life The 100+ known hypocephali (Tamás Mekis's catalog) — papyrus, linen, lead, copper, ceramic, and one lost gold disc Why modern Egyptologists' readings aren't the same as ancient Egyptian interpretations — and Gee's peer-reviewed study of mismatched figure identifications The one block of text scholars can read — the very figures Joseph Smith said are "to be had in the holy temple of God" — and its parallels on the Ptolemaic temple gate at Karnak The rim inscription's references to the temple of the Benu bird (the phoenix) at Heliopolis The missing head and missing quadrant — and whether the published solar bark and two-headed central figure fall within the ancient range "The great cow who gave birth to the sun": Hathor, Esna, and why identifications shift from city to city Figure 6, the earth in its four quarters, and the four winds on a Cairo Museum sarcophagus Why Joseph Smith's journals call this "the astronomical cut" — and the Kolob connection to Abraham 3 How much the facsimiles actually matter: "not the keystone of our religion" Further Readings: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=5293&context=byusq https://byustudies.byu.edu/issue/61-4 https://www.archaeopress.com/Archaeopress/Products/9781789693331 https://www.magicgatebg.com/Books/Joseph%20Smith%20Hypocephalus.pdf https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/byusq/vol17/iss3/2/ https://www.deseretbook.com/product/5033745.html?srsltid=AfmBOorIWyDxSEgPvDjozuGpTfW85jWOEiYsTguXkryo8GKAMTQfBCEt https://interpreterfoundation.org/journal/temple-themes-in-the-book-of-abraham ===Discover=== If any of our thoughts resonated with you, consider learning more about the single most influential book in our lives. https://www.discoverbookofmormon.org/ ===Content Disclaimer=== The views expressed represent ours alone and do not necessarily reflect the official position of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. #BookOfAbraham #Facsimile2 #Hypocephalus #JosephSmith #PearlOfGreatPrice #Egyptology #JohnGee #AncientEgypt #BookOfTheDead #Kolob #Karnak #Heliopolis #JosephSmithPapyri #LDS #LatterDaySaints #ChurchOfJesusChrist #ComeFollowMe #BookOfMormon #LDSScholarship #InformedSaints
Transcribe →What Most Readers Miss About the Sword of Laban
Jul 1200:44:27Tap to summarizeCritics once called the Book of Mormon's weapons a fatal flaw — steel swords in 600 BC? Scimitars a thousand years before Muhammad? Bows and arrows in ancient America? Then archaeology started coming into play. In this episode, Jasmin Rappleye, Neal Rappleye, and Stephen Smoot dig into Matthew Roper's Anachronisms: Accidental Evidence for the Book of Mormon, published through the Interpreter Foundation — an exhaustive documentation of weapons critics once claimed couldn't have existed. ===Informed Saints Credits=== Produced by The Ancient America Foundation Producer: Spencer Clark Hosts: Stephen Smoot, Neal Rappleye, Jasmin Rappleye In this episode: Roper's scorecard: 12 of 15 allegedly anachronistic weapons now confirmed, 2 partially confirmed The sword of Laban (1 Nephi 4) and the critics — Clark Braden (1884), a 1964 Notre Dame Press book, Walter Martin's Kingdom of the Cults (1997) — who insisted steel didn't exist in Nephi's day The meter-long steel sword discovered by Avraham Eitan at a fortress near Jericho, dated to the late 7th century BC King Tut's meteoric-iron, gold-hilted dagger and other gold-hilted weapons of the ancient Near East Why "steel" in the Book of Ether may reflect layers of translation — and why the King James Bible renders Hebrew bronze as "steel" The macuahuitl: the obsidian-edged Mesoamerican sword conquistadors said cut better than Spanish steel (Ross Hassig, Michael Coe) — going back to Olmec San Lorenzo Scimitars from Enos to the Egyptian khopesh, the Hebrew kidon, Goliath's weapons in 1 Samuel 17, and curved blades on the Lachish reliefs Curved blades in the New World: Tonina, Teotihuacan, and San Lorenzo Nephi's steel bow, the "bow of steel" of 2 Samuel 22:35 / Psalm 18, and composite bows with metal fittings Bows, arrows, and atlatls in ancient Mesoamerica — and what a 2005 Copán study changed Further Readings: Read the primary source: Matthew Roper, Anachronisms: Accidental Evidence for the Book of Mormon https://scripturecentral.org/evidence/book-of-mormon-evidence-bow-and-arrow https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/ancient-mesoamerica/article/classic-maya-warfare-and-weapons-spear-dart-and-arrow-points-of-aguateca-and-copan/8E310349816CEA249F7A7A6095A90B4C https://scripturecentral.org/archive/books/book-chapter/bow-and-arrow-book-mormon https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/arts-and-entertainment/atlatl https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0278416522000794 https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1205&context=jbms https://scripturecentral.org/evidence/book-of-mormon-evidence-cimeters https://scripturecentral.org/knowhy/why-does-the-book-of-mormon-mention-cimeters https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/jbms/vol5/iss1/7/ https://scripturecentral.org/knowhy/what-kinds-of-swords-did-book-of-mormon-peoples-use https://interpreterfoundation.org/journal/lehi-the-smelter-new-light-on-lehis-profession https://interpreterfoundation.org/blog-the-hilt-thereof-was-of-pure-gold https://interpreterfoundation.org/journal/anachronisms-accidental-evidence-in-book-of-mormon-criticisms-chapter-2-warfare-in-the-book-of-mormon https://interpreterfoundation.org/journal/anachronisms-accidental-evidence-in-book-of-mormon-criticisms-introduction Subscribe for more faithful scholarship every week. Study deeply, believe boldly. ===Discover=== If any of our thoughts resonated with you, consider learning more about the single most influential book in our lives. https://www.discoverbookofmormon.org/ ===Content Disclaimer=== The views expressed represent ours alone and do not necessarily reflect the official position of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. #BookOfMormon #LDS #ComeFollowMe #InformedSaints #BookOfMormonEvidence #Anachronisms #SwordOfLaban #Macuahuitl #Nephi #AncientAmerica #Mesoamerica #BiblicalArchaeology #Archaeology #LatterDaySaints #Scimitar #AztecWarfare #MatthewRoper #Jericho #ScriptureStudy #FaithAndScholarship
Transcribe →The Data About Latter-day Saint Women the Media Won't Tell You
Jul 700:51:33Tap to summarizePeople online will tell you Latter-day Saints are leaving the Church in droves — especially women. But when social scientists actually run the numbers, a very different story emerges. In this episode,the Informed Saints crew sit down with Dr. Jenet Erickson — professor of Church History and Doctrine at Brigham Young University, Wheatley Institute fellow, and Deseret News columnist — alongside co-hosts Neal Rappleye and Stephen Smoot to unpack the new BYU Studies report, Latter-day Saint Trends in the United States: Religiousness, Well-Being, and Retention (co-authored by Justin Dyer, a previous guest on the show). Together we explore: Why Latter-day Saints lead the nation in active retention — and what that phrase means The real story of the gender gap: millennial women, faith, and what actually changed Claudia Goldin's Nobel Prize–winning "quiet revolution" in women's education and work Politics as a key predictor of disaffiliation Christian Smith and the 1991 turning point: materialism, the divorce revolution, and institutional distrust Pew data on Latter-day Saint women reporting deep peace and high happiness Wheatley findings across 13 countries: religiously active women 4–5× more likely to report strong marriages, meaning, and happiness W. Bradford Wilcox (University of Virginia) on highly religious men as husbands and fathers Tyler VanderWeele and Harvard's Human Flourishing research on religion and mental health — and the "religion is a crutch" objection The toxic perfectionism surprise: who actually struggles most What mothers and fathers each contribute to a child's development — including Erickson's BYU Studies paper It Takes Two The single strongest predictor of whether a child keeps their faith The new Gospel Topics essay on women, the Family Proclamation's "individual adaptation" clause, and today's work-family arrangements President Oaks' counsel on not outsourcing family life ===Informed Saints Credits=== Produced by The Ancient America Foundation Producer: Spencer Clark Hosts: Stephen Smoot, Neal Rappleye, Jasmin Rappleye Further Readings: https://ifstudies.org/about-us/jenet-erickson https://byustudies.byu.edu/article/it-takes-two https://rsc.byu.edu/vol-25-no-3-2024/addressing-crisis-meaning-identity-through-covenant-relationship https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/jenet-erickson/designed-for-covenant-relationships/ https://byustudies.byu.edu/article/parental-influence-on-adolescent-perfectionism https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-topics/family?lang=eng https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-topics/womens-service-and-leadership-in-the-church?lang=eng https://foundations.byu.edu/0000019b-1343-d613-a59b-17df82980000/latterdaysaintreligiosity-pdf https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2025/02/26/religious-landscape-study-executive-summary/ https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2025/02/26/decline-of-christianity-in-the-us-has-slowed-may-have-leveled-off/ Justin Dyer EP: https://youtu.be/7IMZGScnEok ===Discover=== If any of our thoughts resonated with you, consider learning more about the single most influential book in our lives. https://www.discoverbookofmormon.org/ ===Content Disclaimer=== The views expressed represent ours alone and do not necessarily reflect the official position of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. #LDS #LatterDaySaints #InformedSaints #BYUStudies #JenetErickson #FaithAndFamily #LDSWomen #WomenOfFaith #Retention #FaithCrisis #ReligionAndMentalHealth #Motherhood #Fatherhood #FamilyProclamation #ComeFollowMe #SocialScience #WheatleyInstitute #Perfectionism #ChristianFaith #TheChurchOfJesusChrist
Transcribe →Was Joseph Smith's Presidential Run a Power Grab? The Real Story
Jun 2800:39:26Tap to summarizeJoseph Smith was the first U.S. presidential candidate ever assassinated while campaigning — but almost no one knows why the Prophet decided to run in the first place. After Missouri's extermination order, a president who shrugged, and five candidates who refused to lift a finger, running for president became the last option left to secure the rights of the Latter-day Saints — and every other persecuted minority in America. In this episode, hosts Jasmin Rappleye, Neal Rappleye, and Stephen Smoot work through Spencer McBride's Joseph Smith for President: The Prophet, the Assassins, and the Fight for American Religious Freedom to unpack the 1844 campaign — what drove it, what it actually proposed, and how it ended in Carthage. ===Informed Saints Credits=== Produced by The Ancient America Foundation Producer: Spencer Clark Hosts: Stephen Smoot, Neal Rappleye, Jasmin Rappleye In this episode: The 1838 Mormon War in Missouri, Governor Boggs' extermination order, and the ~800 redress petitions taken to Washington The meeting with Martin Van Buren ("Little Van") and his infamous "your cause is just, but I can do nothing" reply Joseph's letters to the five 1844 candidates — Henry Clay, John C. Calhoun, Martin Van Buren, Lewis Cass, and Richard M. Johnson The "states' rights doctrine… a dead carcass, a stink offering" quote — and why you can't map Joseph's politics onto modern parties The campaign pamphlet "General Smith's Views of the Powers and Policy of the Government" (printed by John Taylor, ghostwritten by W. W. Phelps) The platform: federal protection of civil and religious rights, a smaller and pay-cut Congress, abolishing slavery by 1850, prison reform, a national bank, and westward expansion with Native consent Abraham O. Smoot, the electioneering missionaries, and the courthouse mob in Dresden, Tennessee The Council of Fifty, the westward look toward Deseret, and how local Hancock County politics fed the road to Carthage Read the book: Spencer McBride, Joseph Smith for President (Oxford University Press) — https://amzn.to/4vuQg3p Subscribe for more faithful scholarship every week. Study deeply, believe boldly. Further Readings and Sources: https://rsc.byu.edu/book/mormon-redress-petitions https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/history-draft-1-january-31-december-1840/3 www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/minutes-and-discourse-29-january-1844/1 www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/discourse-8-february-1844/1 https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/general-smiths-views-of-the-powers-and-policy-of-the-government-of-the-united-states-circa-26-january-7-february-1844/1? https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/articles/religious-freedom? https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/discourse-8-february-1844/1? www.josephsmithpapers.org/articles/joseph-smiths-letter-to-1844-presidential-candidates www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/minutes-29-november-1843/2 ===Discover=== If any of our thoughts resonated with you, consider learning more about the single most influential book in our lives. https://www.discoverbookofmormon.org/ ===Content Disclaimer=== The views expressed represent ours alone and do not necessarily reflect the official position of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. #JosephSmith #BookOfMormon #LDS #ComeFollowMe #LatterDaySaints #ChurchHistory #Nauvoo #JosephSmithForPresident #SpencerMcBride #ReligiousFreedom #MormonHistory #1844Election #HenryClay #CouncilOfFifty #Abolition #StatesRights #AmericanHistory #InformedSaints #Restoration #Deseret
Transcribe →Joseph Smith was NOT a criminal killed in a gunfight
Jun 2100:40:41Tap to summarizeWhat if the weapon that killed Joseph and Hyrum Smith at Carthage Jail wasn't really a gun — but the legal system itself? Most Latter-day Saints have only a vague sense of why Joseph was even in that jail on June 27, 1844. The real story goes back years, and it looks a lot like a conspiracy. Jasmin Rappleye, Neal Rappleye, and Stephen Smoot trace "the road to Carthage" — drawing on Carthage Conspiracy by Dallin H. Oaks and Marvin S. Hill (University of Illinois Press) and Joseph I. Bentley's "Road to Martyrdom: Joseph Smith's Last Legal Cases," along with related work in Sustaining the Law — to show how Joseph's enemies weaponized the courts to pull him out of Nauvoo and keep him in Carthage long enough to kill him. ===Informed Saints Credits=== Produced by The Ancient America Foundation Producer: Spencer Clark Hosts: Stephen Smoot, Neal Rappleye, Jasmin Rappleye In this episode: The three Missouri extradition attempts (1841, 1842, 1843) and the Mormon War of 1838 behind them How Joseph used habeas corpus — from Magna Carta to the Nauvoo municipal court — to thwart extradition The six dissidents (William & Wilson Law, Robert & Charles Foster, Francis & Chauncey Higbee) and their break with Joseph over plural marriage "Lawfare" in action — adultery charges, riot charges, and the goal that was never conviction Thomas Sharp, the Warsaw Signal, and the open calls for extermination The Nauvoo Expositor and the "three polys": polygamy, polytheism, and politics Three Expositor myths debunked — suppressing the truth, the First Amendment, and the "neutral truth-teller" pose (the 14th Amendment, 1868, and Near v. Minnesota, 1931) Suppressing the paper vs. destroying the press — where the legal overreach actually was The exorbitant bail, Governor Ford's empty guarantees, and the last-minute treason charge — and why treason, a non-bailable capital offense, was the whole point Subscribe for more faithful scholarship every week. Study deeply, believe boldly. Primary source Dallin H. Oaks and Marvin S. Hill, Carthage Conspiracy: The Trial of the Accused Assassins of Joseph Smith (University of Illinois Press) Joseph I. Bentley, "Road to Martyrdom: Joseph Smith's Last Legal Cases" Scholarly sources mentioned in the episode Dallin H. Oaks, "Suppressing the Nauvoo Expositor" (in Sustaining the Law) Sustaining the Law: Joseph Smith's Legal Encounters (Jane H. Wise / Gordon A. Madsen, eds.) — collected legal-history essays referenced throughout Craig L. Foster, article in Interpreter on 19th-century precedents for suppressing newspapers Brian C. Hales, on plural marriage and "polygamy insiders" (referenced terminology) Related background reading Near v. Minnesota (1931) — landmark First Amendment / prior-restraint case discussed in the episode Richard E. Turley Jr., Ronald W. Walker, and Glen M. Leonard, Massacre at Mountain Meadows (Oxford University Press) — for the later-trauma context the hosts flag ===Discover=== If any of our thoughts resonated with you, consider learning more about the single most influential book in our lives. https://www.discoverbookofmormon.org/ ===Content Disclaimer=== The views expressed represent ours alone and do not necessarily reflect the official position of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. #JosephSmith #Carthage #BookOfMormon #LDS #ComeFollowMe #ChurchHistory #Nauvoo #LatterDaySaints #DallinHOaks #NauvooExpositor #MormonHistory #HyrumSmith #ThomasFord #FirstAmendment #HabeasCorpus #Martyrdom #InformedSaints #FaithfulScholarship #DoctrineAndCovenants #LDSHistory
Transcribe →Did Joseph Smith Fall for the Kinderhook Plates?
Jun 1400:35:40Tap to summarizeDid Joseph Smith try to translate a known hoax? In 1843, forged brass plates dug from a burial mound near Kinderhook, Illinois were rushed to Nauvoo, and critics have used the story ever since as proof that Joseph Smith was a fraud. But the documented history tells a very different story — one most members (and most critics) have never heard. In this episode, Jasmin Rappleye, Neal Rappleye, and Stephen Smoot break down what really happened when the Kinderhook Plates came to town: who forged them and why, how the "discovery" was staged, and what Joseph Smith actually did when he examined them. Drawing on research by Mark Ashurst-McGee and Don Bradley, they show how the famous William Clayton journal entry ("President Joseph has translated a portion...") traces back to a single character compared against the Egyptian Alphabet and Grammar — a scholarly exercise using the study tools available to him, not a revelation. No seer stone. No Urim and Thummim. No Book of Kinderhook. The trap never sprang shut, and what Joseph Smith didn't do may be the most compelling evidence of his sincerity as a prophet and translator. In this episode: - What were the Kinderhook Plates, and who made them? - The forgers' real motive (it wasn't what you think) - Why the Saints — and the national press — took the plates seriously - What Joseph Smith asked for when he first saw them - The single character behind William Clayton's "translation" entry - Does any of this implicate the Book of Abraham? (No — here's why) - Why no revelation ever came, and what Mosiah 8 says about translating records "of ancient date" - How the Church itself helped expose the hoax in 1981 - Kinderhook's staged witnesses vs. the Book of Mormon witnesses ===Informed Saints Credits=== Produced by The Ancient America Foundation Producer: Spencer Clark Hosts: Stephen Smoot, Neal Rappleye, Jasmin Rappleye Further reading: - Mark Ashurst-McGee and Don Bradley, "President Joseph Has Translated a Portion: Solving the Mystery of the Kinderhook Plates," in Producing Ancient Scripture (University of Utah Press, 2020) - Don Bradley and Mark Ashurst-McGee, "Joseph Smith and the Kinderhook Plates," in A Reason for Faith: Navigating LDS Doctrine and Church History (BYU Religious Studies Center, 2016) - Stanley B. Kimball, "Kinderhook Plates Brought to Joseph Smith Appear to Be a Nineteenth-Century Hoax," Ensign, August 1981 - Richard Lyman Bushman, Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling (2005) https://rsc.byu.edu/reason-faith/kinderhook-plates https://scripturecentral.org/knowhy/what-do-the-kinderhook-plates-reveal-about-joseph-smiths-gift-of-translation https://mormonr.org/qnas/a9l1T/the_kinderhook_plates https://archive.org/details/EnsignAugust1981/page/n67/mode/2up https://bhroberts.org/records/0yAxfr-08AjsB/wilburn_fugates_confession_letter https://bhroberts.org/records/0yAxfr-0ECbgq/quincy_whig_report_on_kinderhook_plates_discovery https://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/digital/collection/NCMP1820-1846/id/8508 https://bhroberts.org/records/0yAxfr-0QZHpx/john_taylor_and_wilford_woodruff_broadside_with_facsimile_of_kinderhook_plates https://bhroberts.org/records/0yAxfr-0xL2FO/parley_p_pratt_describes_kinderhook_plates_to_john_van_cott_and_says_they_contained_genealogy_of_the_jaredites_back_to_ham https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/journal-december-1842-june-1844-book-2-10-march-1843-14-july-1843/203 https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/egyptian-alphabet-circa-early-july-circa-november-1835-a/1 https://bhroberts.org/records/0yAxfr-lgCrLb/william_clayton_records_josephs_history_account_of_plates_in_first_person https://bhroberts.org/records/0yAxfr-03lrqP/william_clayton_journal_entry_describing_joseph_translating_kinderhook_plates https://bhroberts.org/records/0yAxfr-QiqJGb/in_wwps_hand_gael_gives_definition_of_boat_hieroglyph https://bhroberts.org/records/0yAxfr-0KdaJS/confession_letter_of_wilburn_w_fugate_says_joseph_would_not_translate_the_plates_until_authenticated https://archive.org/details/EnsignAugust1981/page/n67/mode/2up Subscribe for more episodes where we take the hardest questions about Latter-day Saint history and scripture seriously — because you can study deeply and believe boldly. ===Discover=== If any of our thoughts resonated with you, consider learning more about the single most influential book in our lives. https://www.discoverbookofmormon.org/ ===Content Disclaimer=== The views expressed represent ours alone and do not necessarily reflect the official position of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. #KinderhookPlates #JosephSmith #BookOfMormon #LatterDaySaints #LDS #ChurchHistory #BookOfAbraham #MormonHistory #informedsaints
Transcribe →Joseph Smith's 1843 Vision Most Latter-day Saints Have Never Heard
Jun 700:28:57Tap to summarizeIn April 1843, Joseph Smith stood on the Nauvoo temple grounds and described a vision he had received: he had seen the resurrected dead take each other by the hand and embrace one another, reuniting families across the veil. Most Latter-day Saints know that handclasps carry sacred significance in temple worship — but very few know that this exact motif runs through the entire ancient world, from the Hebrew Bible to early Christianity to Byzantine art to Egyptian temple ritual. In this episode, Jasmin Rappleye, Neal Rappleye, and Stephen Smoot sit down with Spencer Kraus to discuss his paper "God Hath Shown Unto Me a Vision: The Sacred Handclasp and the Resurrection of the Dead," published in Temple Insights: Scholarship, Craftsmanship, and Fellowship (The Interpreter Foundation / Temple on Mount Zion Symposium). ===Informed Saints Credits=== Produced by The Ancient America Foundation Producer: Spencer Clark Hosts: Stephen Smoot, Neal Rappleye, Jasmin Rappleye Spencer Kraus, “‘God Hath Shown unto Me a Vision’: The Sacred Handclasp and the Resurrection of the Dead,” in The Temple: Seership, Craftsmanship, and Fellowship., ed. Jeffrey M. Bradshaw and Stephen D. Ricks (Orem, UT: Interpreter Foundation; Salt Lake City: Eborn Books, 2025), 369–393. David M. Calabro, “The Divine Handclasp in the Hebrew Bible and in Near Eastern Iconography,” in Temple Insights: Proceedings of the Interpreter Matthew B. Brown Memorial Conference, ed. William J. Hamblin and David Rolph Seely (Orem, UT: Interpreter Foundation; Salt Lake City: Eborn Books, 2014), 88–92; https://interpreterfoundation.org/journal/the-divine-handclasp-in-the-hebrew-bible-and-in-near-eastern-iconography. Matthew B. Brown, “The Handclasp, the Temple, and the King,” in Hamblin and Seely, Temple Insights, 5–10; https://interpreterfoundation.org/journal/the-handclasp-the-temple-and-the-king. Stephen D. Ricks, “Dexiosis and Dextrarum Iunctio: The Sacred Handclasp in the Classical and Early Christian World,” FARMS Review 18, no. 1 (2006): 431–436; https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1673&context=msr. Brent J. Schmidt, Relational Faith: The Transformation and Restoration of Pistis as Knowledge, Trust, Confidence, and Covenantal Faithfulness (Provo, UT: BYU Studies, 2022), 87–118. David M. Calabro, “The Reach, the Handclasp, and the Embrace: Gestures of the Gods in the Ancient Egyptian Abydos Formula,” in Seek Ye Words of Wisdom: Studies of the Book of Mormon, Bible, and Temple in Honor of Stephen D. Ricks, ed. Donald W. Parry, Gaye Strathearn, and Shon D. Hopkin (Orem, UT: Interpreter Foundation; Salt Lake City: Eborn Books, 2020), 291–310; https://interpreterfoundation.org/reprint-the-reach-the-handclasp-and-the-embrace. Subscribe to Informed Saints for scholarly-grounded discussions of Latter-day Saint scripture, history, and temple worship. Study deeply, believe boldly. ===Discover=== If any of our thoughts resonated with you, consider learning more about the single most influential book in our lives. https://www.discoverbookofmormon.org/ ===Content Disclaimer=== The views expressed represent ours alone and do not necessarily reflect the official position of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. #BookOfMormon #LDS #JosephSmith #Temple #SacredHandclasp #InformedSaints #LatterDaySaints #Resurrection #Anastasis #DandC129 #ComeFollowMe #LDSScholarship #ChristianHistory #EarlyChristianity #BibleStudy #Mormon #ScriptureStudy #LDSChurch #TempleWorship #SpencerKraus
Transcribe →Mesoamerica vs. The Heartland: The Book of Mormon Geography Debate
May 2401:14:28Tap to summarizeWhere did the Book of Mormon actually take place? It's one of the most divisive internal debates among Latter-day Saints — and one of the most misunderstood. In this episode, Jasmin Rappleye, Neal Rappleye, and Stephen Smoot sit down with Brant Gardner — author of the six-volume Second Witness commentary on the Book of Mormon and one of the most widely published Book of Mormon scholars working today — to lay out the methodological, archaeological, anthropological, and textual case for Mesoamerica, and why the Heartland model doesn't hold up under scrutiny. Read Brant Gardner's "Heartland vs. Mesoamerica" article series at The Interpreter Foundation, and check out his brand new book The Record and Explorations in Book of Mormon Authenticity, published by FAIR. Use discount code INFORMED15 for 15% off at the FAIR bookstore. https://fairlatterdaysaints.org/store/product/the-record-and-the-reading-explorations-in-book-of-mormon-authenticity/ ===Informed Saints Credits=== Produced by The Ancient America Foundation Producer: Spencer Clark Hosts: Stephen Smoot, Neal Rappleye, Jasmin Rappleye Episode Resources: www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-topics/book-of-mormon-geography https://bhroberts.org/records/HcTowb-KL5WGb/observer_and_telegraph_reporter_mentions_the_three_witnesses_and_reports_on_lds_missionary_activity_in_ohio https://news.artnet.com/art-world/guatemala-mirador-calakmul-karst-basin-lidar-maya-settlements-2235254 https://www.newsweek.com/hidden-ancient-mayan-megalopolis-60000-structures-discovered-guatemala-using-797865 arstechnica.com/science/2021/10/lidar-reveals-hundreds-of-long-lost-maya-and-olmec-ceremonial-centers/ www.sci.news/archaeology/lidar-olmec-maya-ceremonial-complexes-mexico-10206.html www.cnn.com/2023/02/16/world/maya-civilization-causeways-lidar-discovery-scn scripturecentral.org/knowhy/why-did-nephis-people-want-him-to-be-a-king https://interpreterfoundation.org/journal/unavailable-genetic-evidence-multiple-simultaneous-promised-lands-and-lamanites-by-location-possible-ramifications-of-the-book-of-mormon-limited-geography-theory scripturecentral.org/knowhy/what-was-the-nature-of-nephite-fortifications https://byustudies.byu.edu/article/archaeological-trends-and-the-book-of-mormon-origins?post_type=article&p=8754 scripturecentral.org/archive/periodicals/journal-article/archaeological-trends-and-book-mormon-origins bookofmormonresources.blogspot.com/2011/09/water-fight-on-river.html scripturecentral.org/archive/periodicals/journal-article/hypothesis-concerning-three-days-darkness-among-nephites scripturecentral.org/archive/periodicals/journal-article/in-thethirtyandfourthyearageologistsviewofthegreatdestructionin3nephi bmslr.org/geology-of-the-book-of-mormon/ scripturecentral.org/archive/books/book-chapter/another-noteonthethreedaysofdarkness www.sci.news/othersciences/linguistics/science-tempest-stela-ahmose-worlds-oldest-weather-report-01826.html scripturecentral.org/archive/books/book-chapter/another-noteonthethreedaysofdarkness en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Martin_Tuxtla bmslr.org/geology-of-the-book-of-mormon/ en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Lunas_Decalogue_Stone en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michigan_relics scripturecentral.org/archive/periodicals/journal-article/mormonisms-encounter-michigan-relics scripturecentral.org/archive/periodicals/journal-article/mormonisms-encounter-michigan-relics byustudies.byu.edu/article/tools-leave-marks-material-analysis-of-the-scotford-soper-savage-michigan-relics bmslr.org/ziff-magic-goggles-and-golden-plates/ interpreterfoundation.org/journal/a-combinatorial-approach-to-modeling-all-possible-golden-plates bhroberts.org/platemath/ www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/book-of-mormon-1830/56 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teotihuacan commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tikal_Stela_31.jpg interpreterfoundation.org/blog-the-heartland-versus-mesoamerica-part-1 Subscribe to Informed Saints for scholarly-grounded discussions of Latter-day Saint scripture, history, and archaeology. Study deeply, believe boldly. ===Discover=== If any of our thoughts resonated with you, consider learning more about the single most influential book in our lives. https://www.discoverbookofmormon.org/ ===Content Disclaimer=== The views expressed represent ours alone and do not necessarily reflect the official position of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. #BookOfMormon #LDS #ComeFollowMe #BookOfMormonGeography #Mesoamerica #Heartland #HeartlandVsMesoamerica #BrantGardner #InformedSaints #LatterDaySaints #HillCumorah #JosephSmith #BookOfMormonEvidence #LDSScholarship #Mormon #ScriptureStudy #LDSChurch #AncientAmerica #Teotihuacan #Maya #FAIRMormon
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