We're going to take a deep dive into modern Mormon schisms, from the ones dating to Joseph Smith's death to modern ones. Last time we did an overview of the Succession Crisis. This time we'll learn how modern groups descend from older groups including Cutlerites, Hedrickites, Strangites, Brighamites, and Josephites. It's an amazing conversation you don't want to miss. Check it out!

https://youtu.be/1p81oduHUwA

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Following the death of Joseph Smith, a succession crisis enveloped the Church. Several vied for leadership. While most people recognize Brigham Young and Joseph Smith III, there were several other leaders like Alpheus Cutler, Granville Hedrick, James Strang, and others who led movements still leading congregations today. Not only that, but others have broken off from these leaders, creating new churches numbering in the hundreds of “Mormon” congregations. John Hamer will discuss the reasons for schisms, and how these schisms continue through the present day. Check out our conversation...

https://youtu.be/jt4J5uYghtM

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Christmas Bonus! I accidentally cut out a short segment about an LDS Cricket team in Pakistan, as well as LDS Armenian artists, and some artifacts from the School of the Prophets. So here's a bonus episode with Dr Casey Griffiths discussing International Mormons in 50 More Relics of the Restoration! Check out our conversation!

https://youtu.be/dxwJVagX-qU

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Joseph Merrill was an apostle who died in the 1950s. He advocated strongly that science & faith need not be in conflict. A former VP of the U of Utah, he advocated for theological training for LDS Seminary teachers, and he was the person who hired the first seminary teacher. Thomas Yates was the first seminary teacher in an experiment that became a staple of LDS education of high school students. Joseph Merrill was not only the science apostle, but was the first person to conceive of released-time seminary in the Granite Stake on the west wide of Salt Lake County. Dr Casey Griffiths shares more of Joseph Merrill's life and his leadership over the LDS Institute of Religion. Check out our conversation...

https://youtu.be/Mbb95VgpRX8

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I'm excited to have Dr Casey Griffiths back on the show. He's a Church History professor at BYU and we're going to talk about 2 of his newest books, 50 Relics of the Restoration & Truth Seeker. He's the incoming JWHA president, and we'll talk about several relics from other restoration groups, including James Strang's sceptre, and a cricket team called the Islamabad Moronis! We'll also discuss a science apostle, Joseph Merrill. Merrill advocated for theological training for LDS seminary teachers, and believed science showed the existence of God. Check out our conversation...

https://youtu.be/boV2k--Tyno

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We're continuing our conversation with Dr Trevan Hatch, a Jewish studies scholar at BYU. We'll dive deeper into Jesus relationship with the Pharisees. Dr Hatch says Jesus & the Pharisees were friendly with each other, and that the Gospel of Matthew made them enemies. Are Gospels historical? Is calling someone pharisaical anti-Semitic? We'll also dive into the story of Barabbas? Was his first name Jesus? What else can we find out about that event? Check out our conversation....

https://youtu.be/X1U5d9Uqnw0

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0:00 Pharisees were Friends (not enemies) of Jesus

1:52:11 How Matthew Made Pharisees the Enemy

1:59:46 Why "Pharisee" is anti-Semetic

2:11:39 When were Gospel Written?

2:16:42 Barabbas

2:27:20 Are Gospels Historical?

2:44:22 When Christians Separated from Judaism

2:49:42 BYU Reaction

2:51:00 Learning of the Jews

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I’m excited to have Dr. Trevan Hatch on the show. He’s a Jewish Studies scholar! Trevan works at the Harold B Lee Library and teaches New Testament classes at BYU. We’re going to cover historicity of the Gospels. What are common misconceptions of the Christmas story? Did Jesus ask Judas and Peter to betray and deny him? Are the Gospels historically reliable? I think Dr. Hatch’s answers will surprise you as we take a deep dive into the Gospels and the life of Jesus. Check out our conversation...

https://youtu.be/YEONxX75WKU

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transcript to follow

0:00 Meet Dr. Trevan Hatch/New Testament History

8:20 Who was "Stranger in Jerusalem" Written for?

13:58 How Tall Were Goliath & Jesus?

19:13 What Do We Get Wrong with Christmas Story?

31:05 Are Gospels Historically Reliable?

34:33 Is Judas Death Reliable?

37:59 Did Jesus Ask Judas to Betray Him?

53:45 Why did Peter Deny Jesus?

59:24 Was James (not Peter) 1st Christian Leader?

1:17:20 Why Jews Wouldn't Eat with Gentiles

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We're continuing our conversation with David Hocking, author of LDS Annotated Scriptures. This time we're going to focus on his amazing scriptures with the Book of Enoch and Book of Jasher. We'll learn more about why David felt it was important for LDS audiences to see these books which are considered scripture in other Christian groups. We'll also see his amazing work on the Book of Isaiah, including both JST and Book of Mormon differences. Finally, we'll talk about his latest book, the Joseph Smith Translation of the New Testament. David has done some amazing things with it. You won't want to miss our conversation. Check it out....

https://youtu.be/-oGXd3cWvUs

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Book of Jasher Part 2

Interview

GT  00:32  All right, so we've gone through the Book of Mormon. Is there anything else on the Book of Jasher that you wanted to add on that, or have we covered that pretty well?

 

David  00:38  Well, yeah. The Book of Jasher has something that's very fascinating to me, that I've never had anybody explain to me, why we have the office of Seventy in the priesthood. How did that come about? You don't read it--you read a little passage in the New Testament, "And he sent out 70."

 

GT  00:55  Right.

 

David  00:55  "And they came back with a report." And then you also...

 

GT  00:59  And there's the Septuagint, which means 70.

 

David  01:01  Yeah, you have 70 people that put it together. But what is this term Seventy? And we have the office of Seventy. So, I think that the Book of Jasher may have, at least, a taste of what, perhaps, could be the derivation of the office of Seventy. And it goes back to Joseph, and it goes back to the Tower of Babel. So, in the Book of Jasher, the Tower of Babel has confounding of the language. But Jasher has it as the Lord sent 70 angels to confound their language. So, there's going to be the original 70 new languages, versus the Adamic language. So, now, that's an interesting number, 70. The other thing that's interesting about those 70 angels, in the Book of Enoch, they give you the names of those 70 angels. So, that's interesting, as well. So, 70 is important.

 

David  02:00  So, the next thing you read in the Book of Jasher, you go through, now you're getting the story of Joseph. He's the Hebrew that's been sold as a slave. He's in a prison. And now he's interpreting dreams. The prisoners love what he's interpreting. Now, the pharaoh wants his dream [interpreted.] But the people say, "You can't talk to this Hebrew, unless he knows the 70 languages of the kingdom." So, symbolically, everything in the scriptures has symbolism to it. Now, what is the symbolism? The symbolism is, in the nighttime, an angel comes to him and teaches him the 70 languages. The next day, he ascends to the pharaoh on 70 steps. He talks a language on each step, and he finally gets to where the Pharaoh is. And he now is second in command. So now you have a Hebrew from the house of Israel, in a Gentile nation. And what is his purpose? It is to save that nation and the house of Israel. And he is the emollient to that nation. And he is an example to that nation.

 

David  03:15  And what is the office of Seventy? What is their calling? It is to take the gospel to the Gentiles. So, for me, the office of Seventy may refer to that story, based on the 70--now there's more than 70 languages today. But that's the derivation of it. And I also further project that imagery or that symbolism when Peter says,

Have you ever wanted to get more resources for the Book of Mormon? David Hocking has put together an amazing resource, the Annotated Book of Mormon. We're going to dive deep into his edition. It's a beautiful book, with not only gold leaf, but he has the words of Jesus in red, similar to those red letter Bibles. I was surprised to learn the LDS Church hates red lettering! David will tell us more about his dealing with Church leaders over this edition. Check out our conversation...

https://youtu.be/K6osuaogbT0

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Originally scheduled for a museum in England, the COVID pandemic changed things. Ship Captain Phillip Beale had the Phoenicia ship cut into pieces. Half of Lehi's ship was returned to England, while the other half was sent to Iowa for reassembly. The problem was, there were no instructions on how to re-assemble the ship!  Enter Mike Stahlman. He's a bit of a modern-day Nephi as he has to rebuild a replica Phoenicia ship as it would have appeared when Philip Beale sailed it from the Middle East to Florida. Mike tells more about a real-life 3-dimensional puzzle. Check out our conversation....

https://youtu.be/xWTXmeJ6aak

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Meet Mike Stahlman

Interview

GT  00:16  Welcome to Gospel Tangents. I'm excited to have one of the best engineers on the Phoenicia ship. Could you go ahead and tell us who you are and where you're from?

 

Mike  00:48  My name is Mike Stahlman. I'm originally from Pennsylvania. I lived there for 33 years, and then I gathered to the Center Place in Independence, where I've lived for the last 33 years.

 

GT  01:02  So, you've been both places. I'm trying to find out. Is your background LDS or Community of Christ? It sounds like you've been in both of the major cities there.

 

Mike  01:13  Well, I was actually raised Catholic. And I had my conversion experience where I met our Lord and Savior when I was 20 years old, at which point, I joined what was then known as the RLDS [Church], and I have an absolutely unshakable belief and faith in the Book of Mormon. And the RLDS for all intents and purposes no longer exists. I am a member of what is known as an Independent Restoration Branch, who are former members of RLDS, who did not want to go along with the direction that the now Community of Christ decided to go.

 

GT  01:58  Okay. I don't know if you know, Patrick McKay. Do you know, Patrick?

 

Mike  02:02  Yes, I do.

 

GT  02:03  Patrick, I just interviewed him. He's going to be on here next week. He's an apostle with the JCRB. Would you be considered part of the Joint Conference of Restoration Branches?

 

Mike  02:13  No, actually, the groups that are part of the movement that I'm in are simply congregations that were ruled out of order by the RLDS and basically kicked out of their buildings. So, those groups bought their own buildings, and have remained as independent congregations until now. The JCRB, some of those congregations banded together to form the JCRB, but quite a few didn't. So, I frequent the ones that didn't.

 

GT  02:52  Okay.

 

Mike  02:53  I've got nothing against them. And I'll attend our services and I'm friends with many of them. There's no animosity. It's just that, scripturally, I didn't feel I could go that way.

 

GT  03:07  Okay. So, does your branch have a specific name?

 

Mike  03:12  There are several that my wife and I attend. The one we've been going to lately is known as the South Crysler Restoration Branch, because their church had originally been on South Crysler Street in Independence, but their new building--once they were kicked out and had to get a new building, it's now on Salisbury Street. So, it's a little confusing, the name South Crysler, but you're not on Crysler Street.