Join Skyler and Brendon for the introductory podcast of Distinctive Christianity! Today's discussion includes the swapping of stories, explaining the purpose of the podcast, and describing the format of future episodes.

Please note that:

• CFM = Come, Follow Me
• Watch shownotes for Corrections (such as below)

CORRECTION (from Skyler): "I'm sorry, I misremembered where the quote from Hinckley is found, and the specifics of the question. The trend we mentioned regarding Hinckley in the Larry King interview is present, but the specific quote in mind was in a TIME magazine article.

Here is the Hinckley quote:

"On whether his church still holds that God the Father was once a man, he sounded uncertain, 'I don't know that we teach it. I don't know that we emphasize it...I understand the philosophical background behind it, but I don't know a lot about it, and I don't think others know a lot about it.'"

Full Article Here

The question was specifically about whether God was once a man, not about man becoming Gods. That being said, the two had historically been connected, as even seen in the famous couplet by Lorenzo Snow: 'As man is now, God once was; as God now is, man may become.' And in case it need be said, D&C 130 holds that God has a body of flesh and bones. The qualitative or ontological distinction between God and man is denied."

Resources:

Mormonism - Shadow or Reality? by Jerald and Sandra Tanner

Bart Ehrman v. James White

The King James Only Controversy: Can You Trust Modern Translations? by James White

Interview with Daniel Wallace

Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes by Kenneth Bailey

Rescuing Truth from Familiarity (Luke 15. 11-24)

Gospel Code: Novel Claims About Jesus, Mary Magdalene, and Da Vinci by Ben Witherington III

The Bible vs. Bart Ehrman (Jason Wallace)

Fabricating Jesus: How Modern Scholars Distort the Gospels by Craig Evans

How God Became Jesus: The Real Origins of Belief in Jesus' Divine Nature by Craig Evans, Michael Bird, Simon Gathercole, Chris Tilling, and Charles Hill

The Modern Search for the Real Jesus: An Introductory Survey of the Historical Roots of Gospel Criticism by Robert Strimple

Greg Bahnsen v. Gordon Stein

Ideas Have Consequences by Richard Weaver

The Consequences of Ideas: Understanding the Concepts that Shaped Our World by R.C. Sproul