Evangelical Steven Pynakker interviews Josh Gehly an Evangelist in the Church of Jesus Christ. In this fascinating conversation topics cover include a brief history of the Church, the Prophet Seer and Revelator William Bickerton, a discussion of the Churches October General Conference, and the remarkable story of hymn writer Arlene Buffington. In the second half our discussion turns to Josh using the apologetic techniques of William Lane Craig, Gary Habermas, Michael Licona, and N.T. Wright to plausibly prove the historicity of the coming forth of the Book of Mormon! In the conclusion the conversation moves in a more spiritual direction.

Link to Church Website

Link to Josh's Podcast

In part 2 of his conversation with Don Bradley evangelical and former Atheist Steven Pynakker and Don discuss a unique faith walk. Don became an Atheist after reading many of the works of the "New Atheists" and dealing with a faith crisis. Don discusses dealing with a family tragedy, studying the mathematical probabilities of the nonexistence of God, the impact that Jerald and Sandra Tanner had on him, encountering the Baha'i faith, embracing Christianity, and returning to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints due to the research for his book "The Lost 116 Pages". Special thanks to Rick Bennett of Gospel Tangents for filming and editing this video. Also, a shout-out to Greg Kofford Books for helping promote this channel!

Link to purchase Don's book

Evangelical Steven Pynakker interviews former librarian at a Utah based university and book club founder Rebecca Gleason (aka Bibliotheca). In this episode we discuss Rebecca's faith journey, experiencing anxiety during Temple and Church attendance, researching Church history as a librarian, getting yelled at by a General Authority, accused of being a polygamist in the Temple, attending other churches, meeting "Elder" Joel Osteen, John Dehlin, starting a Christian praise karaoke group, singing in a Black Gospel choir, and starting "The Good Book Club".

Here is a link to the book club on Facebook

Evangelical Steven Pynakker has an in person conversation with scholar Don Bradley author of "The Lost 116 Pages: Reconstructing the Book of Mormon's Missing Stories". We discuss the process of recovering and reconstructing the missing stories of the BOM. What message did God write on the temple wall for Aminadi to translate? Did devout Quaker Lucy Harris really destroy the manuscript? And were Nauvoo era Temple practices in the missing pages? This is part 1 of our conversation. Part 2 is an intimate conversation of Don's faith journey from Atheism back to Mormonism. That episode will debut on Oct. 15th. Special thanks to Rick Bennett of Gospel Tangents for filming and editing these episodes!

Link to purchase his book

Evangelical Steven Pynakker speaks with Spanky Ward Film Maker of "The Santa Box" and author of the book "Charlies Long Journey". In this episode we discuss his upcoming talk at the Latter-day Saints Publishing and Media Association Conference, his involvement in the film industry, filming with Chuck Liddell and Dolph Lundgren, becoming a children's book author, and his faith's influence in his professional career.

Link to purchase Charlies Long Journey

Link to register for the LDSPMA

In part two of our conversation, Evangelical Steven Pynakker is joined once again by writer and psychology undergrad Nathan Smith. Having discussed some of the general mental health issues our respective religious communities face, we now turn to finding potential solutions to these issues in scripture, psychology, and spiritual practices. We conclude a conversation with a brief discussion of the response our first interview on Nathan’s mission experiences has received and the importance of sharing uncommon or even uncomfortable stories.

To watch part one of our two-part conversation, click here

Nothing in this episode of Mormon Book Reviews should be taken as medical advice or as a replacement for working with a licensed and certified mental health professional. If you would like to find a therapist, psychiatrist, treatment center, or support group in your area, click here

Evangelical Steven Pynakker has Mark Staker back on the reveal the pollen study results of Tunbridge Farm. Mark is the Master Curator in the Historic Sites Division of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and co-author of "Joseph and Lucy Smith's Tunbridge Farm: An Archaeology and Landscape Study. I want to thank him so much for coming back on to my program to reveal the results here first.

Link to purchase his book

Evangelical Steven Pynakker interviews Brent Ashworth. Many people were introduced to Brent via the Netflix series "Murder Among the Mormons". Before the documentary was released he was a very well known figure in the field of document collecting. In this episode we discuss some of his favorite documents in his collection, how his faith sustained him during the Hoffman affair and the tragic death of his son, and his unique friendship with Glen Beck.

Link to purchase his Show and Tell book

Evangelical Steven Pynakker has a conversation with KC Kern. In this episode we discuss a concept of the Atonement only found in the Book of Mormon. Topics covered include taking upon the name of Christ, the condescension of the Son via taking upon the image of man , a Yin and Yang view of the Atonement, what may have happened in the Garden of Gethsemane, the shedding of blood in both the Garden and the Cross, how Exaltation may be understood in this framework, and what it was like for KC to be the first the "flesh out" these concepts. This hypothesis was first presented in his paper titled "The Name of Christ: Nominal Appropriation, Reciprocity, and Atonement in the Book of Mormon". I want to give a shoutout to Nathan Smith for doing some background research for this interview and to KC who did some awesome last minute editing!

Link to the lost Mormon Cave episode on Gospel Tangents

Evangelical Steven Pynakker interviews Jonathan Edward Neville author of "Infinite Goodness: Joseph Smith, Jonathan Edwards and the Book of Mormon". There is much more to the man who gave us America's most famous sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God". In this groundbreaking work Jonathan reveals that what many in the LDS Church think about Edwards is inaccurate. In the interview we discuss how Joseph may have started reading Edwards work when he was around the age of six. Neville demonstrates that the Book of Mormon is heavily reliant on Edwards. As a translator Joseph would have been influenced by the environment he was in. This study shows that many of the non-Biblical phrases in the BOM can be directly connected to the writings and sermons of Jonathan Edwards. The author also reveals that Edwards may have played a pivotal role in preparing America and the world for Restoration.

Link to purchase