Welcome to the MormonNewsRoundup where Dives ruminates on the great and spacious Beehive!

BYU professor Kerry Muhlestein has produced a series of videos defending Joseph Smith’s claim that he translated the Book of Abraham from ancient Egyptian papyri.

But how well does that defense actually hold up?

In this video, we fact-check Muhlestein’s arguments and assumptions against the historical record, the surviving papyri, and the available Egyptological evidence. We’ll also examine what other Egyptologists have said about the arguments being used to defend Joseph Smith’s translation.

Does Muhlestein have a compelling case—or are we watching an elaborate attempt to rescue a translation that simply doesn’t match the evidence?

You decide.

🎥 Original video:

https://youtu.be/_KLa8HYsfpM?is=fRPAyb7RG-p4zunw

#BookOfAbraham #JosephSmith #Mormonism #KerryMuhlestein #Egyptology #ExMormon

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The Mormon News Roundup is NOT affilated with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

What happens when loyalty to a religious institution becomes more important than telling the truth?

In this dark historical explainer, we examine the controversial concept historian D. Michael Quinn described as “theocratic ethics”—the idea that deception could be morally justified when used to protect what believers considered a higher religious purpose.

Drawing from the source material, we explore allegations and historical controversies surrounding early Mormonism, including:

• Joseph Smith's evolving accounts of the First Vision

• The changing story surrounding Moroni, Nephi, and the translation of the Book of Mormon

• Joseph Smith's secret plural marriages, including polyandrous relationships

• The coded language allegedly used to conceal plural marriage

• The 1835 public denial of polygamy versus the private practice

• The 1890 Manifesto and the controversy over post-Manifesto plural marriages

• The Reed Smoot Senate hearings of 1903–1907

• Joseph F. Smith's testimony before Congress

• Claims of perjury and institutional loyalty during the hearings

• The development of modern teachings emphasizing unquestioning loyalty to prophetic authority

• The controversial treatment of historians and members who challenge sanitized versions of Mormon history

The central question is unsettling:

What happens to truth when an institution convinces its leaders that protecting the institution is itself a higher moral obligation?

This video presents the source's interpretation of these events and the historical arguments surrounding them. The goal isn't simply to provide another list of shocking facts, but to examine the underlying psychology: when does religious loyalty become a justification for deception?

Keep questioning. Keep investigating. And keep looking beyond the official story.

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The Mormon News Roundup is NOT affilated with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

I’m attempting a WORLD RECORD livestream focused exclusively on Gordon B. Hinckley, the 15th president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints!

🔥 Five straight hours of Gordon B. Hinckley

🎥 Interviews, news appearances, press conferences, and Mormon history

⏳ An absolutely ridiculous deep dive into the life, legacy, and public image of one of Mormonism’s most recognizable leaders.

Can we make history? Can I survive five hours of nonstop Gordon B. Hinckley? And has anyone ever attempted anything this absurdly specific?

JOIN ME LIVE! Bring your questions, your popcorn, and your favorite Hinckley moments. Let’s see how far we can take this thing!

📺 Subscribe, show up in the live chat, and help spread the word!

As always, no unhallowed hand can stop the Mormon News Roundup from progressing!

#GordonBHinckley #MormonNewsRoundup #LDS #MormonHistory #WorldRecord

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Architecture of Ab*se is a powerful investigative series by Alyssa Grenfell and attorney Tim Kosnoff examining s*xual violence, institutional protection, and the systems surrounding abuse within the LDS Church.

This isn’t simply a story about one bad individual. It’s an examination of what can happen when an enormous institution has lawyers, money, reputation, hierarchy, and powerful incentives to protect itself.

The series explores survivors, perpetrators, LDS Church policies, the abuse help line, legal strategy, institutional responses, and the culture of secrecy and deception that can surround allegations of ab*se.

Warning: Some of the material discussed in this video is difficult to hear.

The complete first season consists of seven parts. If you don’t have time to watch the entire series, I’ve condensed all seven episodes into roughly 15 minutes, highlighting some of the most important and disturbing material.

The entire series is absolutely worth watching, and I highly recommend it.

#LDS #Mormon #Mormonism #ArchitectureOfAbuse #AlyssaGrenfell #TimKosnoff #SexualAbuse #InstitutionalAbuse #ExMormon #MormonChurch

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Mormon News Roundup is not affiliated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Elisha Lee has an incredibly powerful Instagram channel where she openly talks about losing her faith and leaving The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

In this highlight video, I’m sharing my top 10 favorite reels from Elisha Lee, featuring her honesty, humor, and insights about life after leaving a high-demand religion.

Elisha and her husband also run the YouTube channel Faith Unraveled, where they spill the tea on faith, Mormonism, and their journey. Elisha doesn’t post there as often these days, but there’s still plenty worth checking out.

🎥 Original Faith Unraveled YouTube Channel:
Faith Unraveled on YouTube

👉 Please like, subscribe, and check out Faith Unraveled!

If you’re interested in ex-Mormon stories, deconstruction, and life after leaving the LDS Church, you’re definitely going to enjoy this one.

#ExMormon #ExLDS #Mormonism #FaithDeconstruction #ElishaLee #FaithUnraveled

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Mormon News Roundup is not affiliated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Does Mormonism have a fat-shaming problem?

Join the show! https://streamyard.com/e8aumpp5ni

In this live call-in episode, Dives takes a critical look at fat shaming, body image, and weight culture in Mormonism—and then finally watches the Fat Fighters movie to see what it has to say about the subject.

We’ll talk about the way Mormon culture can treat body size, health, appearance, discipline, self-control, and personal worth—and whether these attitudes cross the line from encouraging healthy choices into shame and judgment.

And this isn't just a commentary show—YOU can join the conversation.

📞 LIVE CALL-IN SHOW: Join the link and talk directly with your host, Dives, about anything Mormonism-related.

Have a question?
Want to tell your story?
Disagree with me?
Have something about Mormonism you've always wanted to discuss?

Come on the show and let's talk about it.

Mormonism. Fat shaming. Body image. Church culture. Faith crises. Mormon history. Anything goes.

No unhallowed hand can stop the Mormon News Roundup from progressing!

#Mormonism #LDS #FatShaming #Mormon #MormonNewsRoundup #FatFighters #ExMormon #FaithCrisis #LiveCallIn

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Mormon News Roundup is not affiliated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

General Conference is over. The inspirational music has faded, the talks have been clipped into TikToks, and the faithful have been told once again that everything went exactly according to plan.

So… let’s talk about what actually happened.

Join Dives for the October 2026 Mormon News Roundup General Conference Post-Mortem, where we take a critical, skeptical, and occasionally sarcastic look at the biggest moments, strangest claims, memorable talks, doctrinal developments, and unanswered questions coming out of General Conference.

We'll discuss the messages that stood out, the moments that deserve a second look, and what this conference tells us about where the LDS Church is headed.

Bring your questions, your hot takes, your conference notes—and your metaphorical barf bag.

No unhallowed hand can stop the Mormon News Roundup from progressing!

#MormonNewsRoundup #LDS #GeneralConference #Mormonism #ExMormon #LDSChurch #October2026

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Mormon News Roundup is not affiliated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

What happens when ancient manuscript evidence is compared directly with Mormon claims about biblical corruption?

In this episode, we investigate one of the most fascinating questions in Mormon history: Was the Bible actually corrupted—and did Joseph Smith restore what was lost?

We’ll examine the claims of early Mormon leaders like Orson Pratt, the famous 130,000 textual variations argument, the Mormon identification of the “great and abominable church,” and the archaeological evidence that emerged with the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Then we turn to the New Testament, looking at early papyrus discoveries, the John Rylands Fragment, Papyrus Bodmer II, Codex Vaticanus, and the enormous manuscript tradition behind the New Testament.

Finally, we examine Joseph Smith’s Inspired Version of the Bible: how it was produced, what was changed, the controversial additions to the Old Testament, the treatment of 1 John 5:7, and the fascinating physical evidence left behind in the revision manuscripts.

If ancient manuscripts preserve biblical passages that Mormon scripture claims were deleted, what does that mean for the idea of a divinely inspired restoration?

And perhaps the biggest question of all:

When historical evidence and theological revision point in different directions, where do we draw the line between inspiration and imagination?

Sources and historical claims discussed in this video are presented for critical examination and discussion.

If you enjoy Mormon history, biblical scholarship, archaeology, textual criticism, and deep dives into LDS historical claims, subscribe and keep questioning, keep learning.

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Should I finally remove my name from the records of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints?

By the end of this video, I’ll tell you the decision I’ve made—for now—and explain why it’s not nearly as straightforward as you might think.

Believe it or not, I’m still technically a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I was blessed as an infant, baptized at eight years old, and confirmed a member of the church.

I remember my baptism remarkably well. I was baptized by my older brother, who was sixteen at the time. Ironically, he later came out as gay and had his own name removed from the church’s records.

I’m also at least a sixth-generation Latter-day Saint through my father’s side. My family has deep roots in Mormon history, including ancestors who devoted their lives to the church. I recently visited my great-grandparents’ graves in Salt Lake City, and that connection to my family history is one of the reasons this decision is more complicated than it might seem.

Today, I no longer believe the church’s truth claims. I rarely attend Sunday meetings, and I host a podcast and YouTube channel devoted to examining Mormon history, doctrine, and leadership. I openly criticize many of the church’s teachings and policies.

So why am I still on the membership rolls?

The LDS Church continues to count people like me as members unless we formally resign. That raises an obvious question: if I no longer believe, should I still allow myself to be counted?

There are good arguments for removing my name. There are also surprisingly personal reasons for keeping it there.

Resignation is also not something I take lightly. Once your records are removed, returning to the church generally requires rebaptism. And part of me wonders whether I would rather leave on my own terms—or simply wait and see whether the church eventually decides to remove me itself.

I even have a strange part of me that almost wants the church to hold a membership council. If that happened, I would welcome the opportunity to explain directly to church leaders why I no longer believe.

Of course, leadership changes. A bishop who doesn't care about my public criticism today might be replaced by someone who sees things very differently tomorrow.

So where do I stand?

For now, I have no plans to remove my records.

But I also recognize that the church could eventually make that decision for me.

Should I remove my name? Should I stay on the records? Or should I simply wait and see what happens?

Let me know what you think in the comments. This is one of the biggest personal decisions I’ve wrestled with, and I genuinely want to hear your perspective.

Thanks for watching.

#Mormon #ExMormon #LDS #Mormonism #LDSChurch #LeavingMormonism

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Did Oliver Cowdery really receive a supernatural “gift of Aaron” from God—or was the original revelation referring to a divining rod?

In April 1829, while serving as Joseph Smith’s scribe during the translation of the Book of Mormon, Oliver Cowdery sought the ability to translate. The resulting revelation, now found in Doctrine and Covenants 8, describes Cowdery’s mysterious “gift of Aaron” and says he would “hold it in his hands.”

But there’s an important detail that largely disappears from the modern version of the scripture.

An earlier version of the revelation, published in the Book of Commandments, described Cowdery’s gift as the “gift of working with the rod” and referred to a “rod of nature” that could work in his hands.

So what happened to the rod?

In this video, we examine the historical evidence surrounding Oliver Cowdery, divining rods, treasure hunting, Joseph Smith’s seer stones, and the changes made to the revelation when it was incorporated into the Doctrine and Covenants.

We’ll look at:

• The original “gift of working with the rod” wording
• The later change to “gift of Aaron”
• Oliver Cowdery’s documented use of a divining rod
• The LDS Church’s explanations of the “gift of Aaron”
• Joseph Smith’s involvement with treasure seeking and folk magic
• Historical statements from Mormon historians and Church sources
• The claim that Oliver’s rod was a legitimate “sacred instrument”
• Whether the changes represent clarification—or an attempt to distance Mormonism from its folk-magic origins
• What this tells us about the world in which early Mormonism developed

The question isn’t simply whether Oliver Cowdery owned a stick. The bigger question is what Joseph Smith and his earliest followers actually believed these objects could do—and how that history was later presented to modern Latter-day Saints.

Based on historical material discussed by MormonThink, LDS publications, the Joseph Smith Papers, BYU Studies, and other historical sources.

Topics: Mormon history, Joseph Smith, Oliver Cowdery, Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, Book of Commandments, Rod of Aaron, divining rods, folk magic, treasure hunting, seer stones, Mormon apologetics, LDS history, ex-Mormon

#Mormonism #JosephSmith #OliverCowdery #LDS #MormonHistory #BookOfMormon #ExMormon #DoctrineAndCovenants #ChurchHistory

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Mormon News Roundup is not affiliated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.