The Latter-day Saint tradition has canonized five different creation accounts. Despite intriguing differences, each of them can function liturgically—as does the temple account in temple worship. Christopher and Ben discuss all four creation accounts as descriptions of the dedication of the cosmos to God’s purposes rather than accounts of material origins. The teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith and the manner of dedicating a temple in antiquity fit well with this understanding of creation accounts. In discussing these creation accounts, Ben and Christopher lay a foundation for a discussion of humanity’s place in the cosmos and God’s purposes for humanity in the next episode.

themselves and their background for Old Testament studies. They cover where they're coming from, how they'll be approaching the Old Testament, and where they're going with their approach. This wide-ranging discussion deals with many of the questions on the minds of Latter-day Saints approaching the Old Testament such as: What is the Bible, or even scripture, in general, and the Old Testament in particular, and what do we do with them? How does revelation work? Who were the authors and what are the genres of the books that make up the library we call "the Bible" and what was the context and purpose of those authors in writing the texts?…

Ben and Shiloh close out this year's discussion on the Doctrine and Covenants and Church history with guest co-host Christopher Hurtado. It is evident in many places throughout Joseph Smith's life just how much of an impact the death of his older brother, Alvin, had on the way that Joseph saw the world. Section 137 gives us a lot of things to think about concerning how Joseph saw and experienced what he called were his "visions". In this section, while in vision, Joseph sees the great things and the great people in the celestial realm, and he even sees his parents there. It is interesting that his parents are still…

Shiloh and Ben discuss some historical context and the memorial passage from John Taylor dedicated to Joseph Smith after his death in Carthage, IL. How we remember and memorialize those who have come before us are powerful tools in how we frame current identities, and how we remember and memorialize Joseph Smith still speaks to the strong identity that Latter-day Saints have to the founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. There is an interesting shift between Joseph and Brigham between Sections 135 and 136, and in 136 we see Brigham taking practical advice and standards that the Saints should keep and observe along the long journey…

Ben and Shiloh discuss the many repeating themes found in Section 133 from the beginning of the D&C, and they muse over how Section 133 is an interesting original bookend following Section 132. This is as if to show that Section 133 is how things start, and Section 132 is how things ended in Joseph's experience as the leader of the Church. The "declaration of belief" concerning government found in Section 135 has an interesting historical context to the Saints when it was first written and voted on by the Saints while Joseph was away. It shows a very interesting window into the beliefs of the early Saints concerning how…

Shiloh and Ben discuss the instructions given from Joseph Smith to the Church concerning how to deal with angels, the physical nature of God, the state of the earth during the millennium, and other end-of-days prophecies. The “revelation” on polygamy pertaining to the new and everlasting covenant, written by Joseph directly to Emma, merits a bit of historical context. Polygamy is never an easy discussion, and there is still currently a lot of pain and trauma silently endured by Church members concerning these narratives and doctrines. The Church still believes in and continues to practice polygamy today. As one church leader once told Shiloh: “The church still believes in and…

Ben and Shiloh talk about the letters from Joseph Smith to the Church while he was in hiding concerning the new and unique doctrine of baptism for the dead. These letters show an increasing complexity in Joseph's understanding of the "Mormon Cosmology" and in how the Plan of Salvation operates. By the time these letters were written in 1842, Joseph had already started secretly engaging in the practice of plural marriage (showing that he had been thinking of the eternal nature of men and women and of humanity's eternal relationships) and had participated in the rites of the newly established Freemasonry lodge in Nauvoo (which added a new layer of…

Shiloh and guest co-host Christopher Hurtado talk about the early Saints' consistent divine call to create sacred space. Whether in Kirtland, Jackson County, Caldwell County, Daviess County, or Nauvoo, the Saints are instructed to construct a temple in order to perform sacred ordinances or to have revealed sacred things. When, in the New Testament, the Jews asked for a sign of authority for Jesus Christ's actions in driving out the money changers of the temple, he answered by saying "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." The people, thinking he was talking about the physical temple of stone, did not understand that "he spake of…

Ben and Shiloh are excited to talk about D&C 121, and they find that there are always new rich and beneficial conversations about the scriptures whenever we approach them with excitement. This week's readings come from the time when Joseph and his companions were in Liberty Jail. Liberty Jail becomes a pivotal moment in Joseph's life as he is not really the same person who comes out of that experience as he was when he went into it. In these particular sections we can see, hear, and feel Joseph's trauma, and we can see that God is responding to and comforting Joseph in specific ways that are unique to his…

Shiloh and Ben discuss some history of the early Saints' early persecution that is not often talked about in Sunday school. These sections comprise the period in Missouri after the Saints left Kirtland in 1837 until the Missouri "Extermination Order" in October 1838. While the relationship between the early Saints and the Missourians was not perfect in 1838 it was functional and, some historians argue, had begun to heal and mend since the Jackson County expulsion in 1834 and the Clay County expulsion in 1836. However, relationships between the Saints and their Missouri neighbors took a radical downturn in the summer and fall of 1838 leading to Governor Boggs' famous…