In this episode, we welcome Dr. Philip Barlow to discuss his book Mormons and the Bible: The Place of the Latter-day Saints in American Religion. We start with diving into founding Prophet Joseph Smith’s relationship to and with the KJV Bible, and how we see it’s place in his prophetic project. From D&C 3 to the Book of Mormon to the “Inspired Translation” of the (KJV) Bible – how should we view Joseph Smith’s view of the authority of the Bible within the broader American context in which he lived? How does Moses 1:39 fundamentally shift the theological project and the goal of the religious life? Continuing the story, Dr. Barlow takes us into the broad unity and diversity in approaching the Bible by important figures such as President Brigham Young, Elders Orson Pratt and Joseph Fielding Smith, as well as B. H. Roberts and an important BYU educator William Chamberlin. How did this spectrum of development and engagement connect to the larger picture of higher criticism of the Bible and its introduction into more of the mainstream of American life? Moreover, why did the King James Version of the Bible become the semi-official and then official Bible in English for the LDS Church? We also get the opportunity to ask Dr. Barlow about his thoughts of the recent policy change regarding Bible translations for Latter-day Saints, and how that continues the story of the book.

Book: Mormons and the Bible: The Place of the Latter-day Saints in American Religion

Also, check out: “New Guidance on Bible Translations for Latter-day Saints” (December 16, 2025) -“First Presidency Statement on the King James Translation of the Bible” (August 1992 Ensign)

Other resources by Dr. Barlow:

“To Mend a Fractured Reality: Joseph Smith’s Project”

New Historical Atlas of Religion in America

D&C 3; JSH-1; Moses 1; Abraham 4; JST John; JST Romans

Why the King James Version by Elder J. Reuben Clark

President Brigham Young: JD 14.226-227

President John Taylor: JD 1.25

Elder Orson Pratt: JD 7:23ff, 14.257-260, 15.247-249, 16.218, 17.269

Elder George A. Smith: JD 12.264

Joseph Fielding Smith: A Mormon Theologian by Matthew Bowman

- Seek Ye Earnestly; Man: His Origin and Destiny by President Joseph Fielding Smith

Harold B. Lee: Life and Thought, 1899-1973 by Newell Bringhurst

Bruce R. McConkie: Apostle and Polemicist, 1915-1985 by Devery Anderson (and here)

- “Joseph Smith Translation: The Doctrinal Restoration” by Elder Bruce R. McConkie

Conflict in the Quorum by Gary Bergera

The Next Mormons by Jana Reiss

Other resources:

WCF chapter 1

The Works of Benjamin B. Warfield, Volume 1: Revelation and Inspiration (also here)

The Pauline Eschatology; Biblical Theology by Geerhardus Vos

Christianity and Liberalism by J. Gresham Machen (also here and here)

In The Beginning: The Story of the King James Bible and How It Changed a Nation, a Language, and a Culture by Alister McGrath

The King James Debate: A Plea for Realism by D.A. Carson

The King James Only Controversy by James White

Scribes and Scripture by John Meade and Peter Gurry

Biblical Words and Their Meaning; God, Language and Scripture by Moises Silva