Standard of Truth Podcast: S5B10 Kristy’s KorneЯ – D&C 93 Part 1

Host: Dr. Gerrit Dirkmaat
Guest: Dr. Richard LeDoux
Date: August 27, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode delves into Doctrine and Covenants Section 93, with Dr. Gerrit Dirkmaat guiding listeners through the historical and theological context behind one of Joseph Smith’s most profound revelations. The main focus is on how D&C 93 addresses age-old questions surrounding the nature of Jesus Christ and God, contrasting Latter-day Saint (LDS) beliefs with traditional Christian doctrine. The hosts examine how early Christians grappled with Christology, eventually leading to the Trinitarian doctrine, and how the LDS perspective (as revealed in D&C 93) offers revolutionary insights on the nature of divinity and humanity, setting the stage for deeper discussion in the next episode.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Underrated Significance of D&C 93

• Dr. Dirkmaat highlights that D&C 93 is often undervalued among Latter-day Saints compared to other popular sections, even though it deeply impacts LDS understanding of God and Jesus.

  • Notable Quote [01:00]:

    “Section 93 is probably one of the most undervalued revelations of Joseph Smith in terms of what it brings to a believer in the Restoration.” – Dirkmaat

• Unlike other sections with ample contextual stories, D&C 93 lacks detailed historical background from Joseph Smith but provides crucial doctrinal content.

2. The Central Problem for Early Christians: Jesus and Monotheism

• Early Christians faced a dilemma: How can Jesus be God without violating Jewish monotheism?
  • Dirkmaat illustrates the dilemma by referencing both Jewish and pagan philosophies and their views on divinity and monotheism.
  • Notable Quote [05:19]:

    “Christians were arguing that Jesus was, in fact, God... But if God is God, and Jesus is also God, then you’ve got a problem right here in River City, because… aren’t you then a limited polytheist?” – Dirkmaat

3. Varieties of Early Christian Belief: Ebionites, Docetists, Marcionites

• Ebionites: Jewish Christians who regarded Jesus as a powerful mortal, not divine.
  • Maintained strict monotheism by making Jesus a supremely inspired but human prophet.
• Docetists: Believed Jesus was fully divine, only appearing to have a human body and suffer mortality.
  • “How big do you have to make that spear to kill an immortal God? ...Docetists simply argue Jesus never actually had a body.” [16:55]
• Marcionites: Claimed Jesus was a separate, “better” God than the vengeful God of the Old Testament; led to dualism and notorious antisemitism.

4. The Arian Controversy and the Council of Nicaea

• Arius: Argued Jesus was created by God, making him subordinate.

  • Arius tried to balance monotheism and Christ’s divinity by teaching Jesus was divine but not co-eternal or self-existent like God the Father.
  • Notable Quote [26:27]:

    “If you go back far enough, at some point God must have created Jesus… that means, in one very important way, Jesus is not equal to the Father; he doesn’t have the same aseity.” – Dirkmaat

• Athanasius and Trinitarianism: Fervently opposed Arianism; championed that Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are co-eternal, of the same substance, and uncreated.

  • The Council of Nicaea (325 AD) established Trinitarian doctrine: one God in three persons, each coequal and coeternal.

• The Creed’s Paradox [35:11]:

  “We worship one God in Trinity and Trinity in unity, neither confounding the persons nor dividing the essence…” – Dirkmaat on the Nicene Creed

5. Council of Chalcedon and the “Glorious Contradiction”

• The Council of Chalcedon (451 AD) declared Jesus fully God and fully man at the same time—a doctrine that defies normal logic but became standard Christian teaching.

• Modern Mainline Christianity:

  • Despite the Reformation, Protestant groups retained the Trinitarian and Christological conclusions of these early councils.

• Latter-day Saint Contrast:

  • LDS theology, as established later in D&C 93, diverges sharply:
    • God and Jesus are distinct, personal beings.
    • Progress, growth, and corporeality are central LDS beliefs, unlike classical Christian immutability and incorporeality.

6. The Problem of Evil in Christian Thought

• Dirkmaat illustrates the “problem of evil” triangle:

  • God is all-powerful (omnipotent)
  • God is all-good (omnibenevolent)
  • Suffering and evil exist in the world
  • “Why doesn't he [God] stop suffering, if he can and loves us?” [53:50]

• Agency as a Partial Christian Response:

  • Humans’ agency explains some suffering, but not natural disasters or predestination.
  • Notable Illustration [54:25]:
    • Dirkmaat uses a personal scenario (drunk driving accidents) to demonstrate the complexity of agency and undeserved suffering.

• Predestination and the Justice of God:

  • Calvinist concepts like predestination attempt to address why some are created knowing they will be damned.
  • Quote [59:24]:

    “He created people that he knew would not be saved to demonstrate his justice.” – Dirkmaat on Jonathan Edwards’s logic

7. Setting Up D&C 93’s Theological Revolution

• The episode ends on a cliffhanger:

  • The next part will explain how Doctrine & Covenants 93 answers these profound theological problems—particularly the nature of Jesus, God, humanity, and the solution to the “problem of evil.”

• Final Tease [1:01:34]:

  “Next episode, we’re going to talk about how Doctrine and Covenant Section 93 helps answer these questions. …it revolutionizes theology and certainly Latter-day Saint theology.” – Dirkmaat

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On LDS-Christian Dialogues [03:52]:

  “If it was a non-denominational evangelical Christian, if it was a Catholic, if it was Lutheran, Baptist, all of them would say that we worship a different Jesus... and not really understanding where they were coming from.” – LeDoux

• On Trinity vs. LDS View [36:44]:

  “We…think of the heavenly family as an exalted man and an exalted woman…the Holy Ghost as…this being that…doesn’t have a body yet, very glorified. …We don’t think of them as this kind of essence that fills everything, but…as an individual.” – Dirkmaat

• On the mathematical impossibility of Chalcedonian doctrine [50:29]:

  “He’s 100% man, and at the same time 100% God. For those of you who failed remedial math…I mean, what is the definition of being immortal? You are not mortal. Right?” – Dirkmaat

• On the Problem of Evil and Divine Justice [58:58]:

  “If God knew that he was going to create me…knowing not only that I wouldn’t be saved and that I would burn in hell forever. He. He created me knowing full, full well that I would never even have a chance to be saved.” – Dirkmaat

Timestamps for Key Segments

| Time | Segment | Topic | |-----------|-----------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------| | 00:10 | Intro to D&C 93 | Its importance, lack of context, uniqueness | | 05:19 | The Early Christian Problem | Jesus as God and monotheism—how to reconcile? | | 12:00 | Ebionites & Docetists | Spectrum of early Christian beliefs about Jesus | | 17:26 | Question: How Early Are These Debates? | LeDoux and Dirkmaat discuss early Christian diversity | | 27:16 | The Arian Controversy | Arianism, aseity, and why LDS beliefs are misunderstood | | 36:44 | Athanasius & The Trinity Established | Council of Nicaea and its aftermath | | 53:50 | Problem of Evil in Theology | God’s omnipotence, suffering, and human agency | | 59:24 | Predestination and Calvinism | Edwards and the question of God’s justice | | 1:01:34 | Looking Forward | Teaser for how D&C 93 answers these problems |

Tone & Style

• Intellectual but approachable:
  Dirkmaat uses humor, self-deprecation, and personal anecdotes to make complex theology accessible.
• Engaged, conversational:
  Dialogues feel natural, with clarifying questions and real-world examples.
• Instructional, faith-promoting:
  The aim is to clarify misconceptions and show the distinctiveness and richness of the Latter-day Saint view, inviting curiosity for the next episode.

Takeaways for Listeners

• Understanding the early Christian debates about Jesus’s nature illuminates why conversations between Latter-day Saints and other Christians often feel like “talking in two separate languages.”
• The LDS view, as articulated in D&C 93, stands apart from mainstream Christianity not just in details but in foundational assumptions about God, Jesus, and the potential of humanity.
• The next episode promises to show how these scriptural revelations revolutionize the approach to faith, evil, and the meaning of life itself.