Latter-day Saints hold a variety of views about how the Book of Mormon was translated, often shaped by personal belief, historical study, and spiritual interpretation.

The most traditional view is that Joseph Smith translated the record directly by the “gift and power of God,” using tools such as the Urim and Thummim. Others emphasize accounts describing Joseph placing a seer stone in a hat and receiving the text spiritually rather than through a direct linguistic process.

Some members see the translation as a largely miraculous or revelatory experience, while others adopt a more nuanced approach, viewing it as a mix of divine inspiration and Joseph’s own language, culture, and understanding.

These perspectives reflect the broad range of ways modern Latter-day Saints reconcile faith, history, and the mystery surrounding the book’s origins.

Mormonish is joined by Ganesh Cherian to get to the root of it all!

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In recent years, many observers have noted a quiet shift within Mormon communities: a decline in strictly orthodox adherence and a rise in what some call “cultural Mormons.”

While orthodox members continue to ground their identity in traditional doctrine and practice, growing numbers of people maintain a connection to Mormon heritage, values, and community without fully embracing institutional expectations or literal belief.

This shift reflects broader social trends—such as increased access to information, changing family dynamics, and evolving views on identity—that allow individuals to reinterpret their relationship with faith.

The result is a more diverse spectrum of Mormon experience, where cultural belonging and personal spirituality often coexist alongside, or apart from, orthodox belief.

Mormonish is joined by Unoriginal Jim to unpack all the nuance of orthodox v. cultural Mormons!

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The new movie Truth & Treason (released October 17, 2025) brings to life the courageous story of Helmuth Hübener, a 16-year-old Latter-day Saint in Nazi Germany who used a secret shortwave radio and a typewriter to distribute anti-Hitler pamphlets. The movie doesn't deal with Hübener's excommunication from the LDS church for his activities and eventual posthumous reinstatement into the LDS church.

This part of the story was covered in a previously adapted play called Huebener by Thomas Rogers, which was performed at BYU and dramatizes how Helmuth and his friends risked everything to speak truth under a repressive regime and faced excommunication and death.

Mormonish is joined by Rob Lauer who shares his insights about the play and the current movie.

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On this special Halloween episode of Mormonish Podcast, Rebecca and Landon are joined by Dr. John Lundwall to discuss the custom of taking of heads in ancient cultures and the correlation, if any to The Book of Mormon.

Dr. Lundwall has clearly demonstrated in previous episodes the predominant cultures that existed before, during, and after the stories in The Book of Mormon took place. These cultures and cultural practices including taking of heads seem to be entirely unmentioned in the LDS founding scripture. Or are they?

This episode was originally aired on November 1, 2024

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#mormonish #lds #mormon #exmormon #postmormon #religion #news, #ldschurch #comeuntochrist #churchofjesuschrist #churchofjesuschristoflatterdaysaints #byu #byui #josephsmith #comefollowme #polygamy #bookofmormon #becauseofhim #hearhim #ldstemple

The Covenant Path narrative has become a major way to track the milestone that members of the LDS must reach or attain to fully participate in the LDS church. A new app lets multiple people from the ward and mission watch and track stats on new converts as they attend meetings, get temple recommends, pay tithing, etc. It also identifies friends in the ward who can step in to encourage the new member to move forward on The Covenant Path if they aren't making progress.

What are the potential ramifications of sharing personal data like this? And who exactly can see this data? Mormonish is joined again by Suspicious Might and Unoriginal Jim to explore this new app.

(This is the new episode we tried to air last week but due to a tech glitch (ok, my fault) we accidentally aired a previous episode with the same guests on a similar topic. Thanks for understanding!)

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#mormonish #lds #mormon #exmormon #postmormon #religion #news, #ldschurch #comeuntochrist #churchofjesuschrist #churchofjesuschristoflatterdaysaints #byu #byui #josephsmith #comefollowme #polygamy #bookofmormon #becauseofhim #hearhim #ldstemple

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Does the LDS church still make the claim that they are the "one true church?" Or has that rhetoric taken a backseat as they move to be more closely aligned with mainstream Christianity? What do faithful LDS think about this claim and how do they explain it when other people pray and get a confirmation that a religion other than Mormonism is true.

Rebecca and Landon delve into the "one true church" claim and explore the conversion experiences of other religions that sound an awful lot like a conversion to Mormonism.

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The LDS church makes a big effort to find people who are on the membership roles that are not attending the congregation where their membership records are.

Ward, clerks and other auxiliary leaders are tasked with finding the whereabouts of these wayward members and either moving their membership records to their new location or sending the records to sort of a dead letter file in Salt Lake.

Just what lengths will the LDS church go to find you? Special guest Suspicious Might brings the receipts as we go through information on the various real methods the LDS church uses to track people down.

This episode was originally aired on September 2, 2025.

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Have you noticed the overwhelming number of ads for the LDS church lately? Ads that don't indicate they are from the LDS church up front? There's a reason for this. In this episode, Mormonish Podcast is joined by Dr. Glen Randy Bell to explore the similarities between and MLM and the LDS church.

The LDS Church uses advertising tactics similar to those seen in multi-level marketing (MLM) by promoting an idealized lifestyle and emphasizing personal transformation and community belonging.

Its ads often showcase happy families, clean living, and emotional fulfillment—selling a vision rather than a doctrine. Like MLMs, the Church leverages personal stories and testimonials to create emotional appeal and social proof, subtly encouraging viewers to “join the fold” for personal and spiritual rewards.

This approach prioritizes connection over theology, drawing people in through relatable, aspirational messaging rather than direct religious instruction.

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Religious trauma occurs when a person’s religious experiences cause deep emotional, psychological, or spiritual harm. It can stem from controlling or fear-based beliefs, strict religious environments, or experiences of shame and rejection tied to faith.

This kind of trauma often affects how people see themselves, others, and even the world around them—leaving lasting wounds that take time, compassion, and understanding to heal.

Mormonish is joined by religious trauma coaches Bill Reel and Teresa Hobbs to explore systems in place to move beyond religious trauma to a healthier life.

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The Truth About Missionary Ad Campaigns