Gospel Tangents Podcast

John C Bennett made allegations of non-ceremonial spiritual wifery. Did that happen? Was there a revelation for Joseph Smith to marry Fanny Alger? Does the 1835 Declaration on Marriage reference polygamy? We'll talk about the early scandals in Nauvoo. Check out our conversation with Clair Barrus about his chapter in Secret Covenants... https://youtu.be/EnGXIZozaug Don’t miss our other conversations with Clair: https://gospeltangents.com/people/clair-barrus/   Copyright © 2024 Gospel Tangents All Rights Reserved Except for book reviews, no content may be reproduced without written permission transcript to follow Copyright © 2024 Gospel Tangents All Rights Reserved

D&C 132 intro states that portions of the polygamy revelations were know to Joseph Smith as early as 1831. What possible evidence is there for that? I was surprised when Clair Barrus found evidence as early as 1829! Check out our conversation with Clair Barrus about his chapter in Secret Covenants... https://youtu.be/bfrgAgjZTDM Don’t miss our other conversations with Clair: https://gospeltangents.com/people/clair-barrus/   Copyright © 2024 Gospel Tangents All Rights Reserved Except for book reviews, no content may be reproduced without written permission transcript to follow Copyright © 2024 Gospel Tangents All Rights Reserved

Mary Clift was the 3rd sister to become a wife of Theodore Turley. Mary Ann Clements explains the unusual marraige. Check out our conversation with Mary Ann about her chapter in Secret Covenants... https://youtu.be/x2tecLiEY08 Don’t miss our other conversations with Mary Ann: https://gospeltangents.com/people/mary-ann-clements/   Copyright © 2024 Gospel Tangents All Rights Reserved Except for book reviews, no content may be reproduced without written permission transcript to follow Copyright © 2024 Gospel Tangents All Rights Reserved

Why did 3 Clift sisters marry Theodore Turley? Mary Ann Clements tells us more! Eliza never lived with Theodore. Was it a sham marriage, or just to fulfill spiritual polygamy? Check out our conversation with Mary Ann about her chapter in Secret Covenants...   https://youtu.be/ngP_Gb4W-vg Don’t miss our other conversations with Mary Ann: https://gospeltangents.com/people/mary-ann-clements/   Copyright © 2024 Gospel Tangents All Rights Reserved Except for book reviews, no content may be reproduced without written permission transcript to follow Copyright © 2024 Gospel Tangents All Rights Reserved

Was Sarah Clift in an affair or a surrogate motherhood arrangement in England in the 1830s? Mary Ann Clements is an amazing historian. She's written a chapter in "Secret Covenants," edited by Cheryl Bruno. We'll dive into the story of Theodore Turley and the 3 sisters he married. We'll find out more. Check out our conversation... https://youtu.be/zXDoK31TFSg Don’t miss our other conversations with Mary Ann: https://gospeltangents.com/people/mary-ann-clements/   Copyright © 2024 Gospel Tangents All Rights Reserved Except for book reviews, no content may be reproduced without written permission transcript to follow Copyright © 2024 Gospel Tangents All Rights Reserved

Cheryl Bruno is the editor of "Secret Covenants: New Insights into Early Mormon Polygamy." She has come up with some surprises to the polygamy narrative we've all been taught. Check out our conversation.... https://youtu.be/-C8dTYD0I7o Don’t miss our other conversations with Cheryl: https://gospeltangents.com/people/cheryl-bruno/   Copyright © 2024 Gospel Tangents All Rights Reserved Except for book reviews, no content may be reproduced without written permission transcript to follow Copyright © 2024 Gospel Tangents All Rights Reserved

Dr Val Larsen concludes this conversation with a discussion of theosis in the Book of Mormon. We'll also discuss his upcoming projects. Check out our conversation... https://youtu.be/2JKPnqMIDlc Don’t miss our other conversations with Val: https://gospeltangents.com/people/val-larsen/ Copyright © 2023 Gospel Tangents All Rights Reserved Except for book reviews, no content may be reproduced without written permission Theosis Val  00:29  Now I'm going to go on to a shorter description now of probably what is the most explicit theosis story in the scriptures. Let's finish with a final, and in many respects, the best example of theosis in the Book of Mormon, the second Nephi, the second person named Nephi. The discussion here is shorter. It's all pretty explicit. This Nephi provides the clearest example of theosis in scripture. He becomes the chief judge at the death of his father, Helaman. In that purely human role, he's not a success. Almost all the Nephite lands are lost during his judgeship, and then only half of what's lost is regained. He's the main politician. He's the head of state. Few politicians could survive as a leader in the wake of a military collapse of that magnitude. Unsurprisingly, this second Nephi loses his position as Chief Judge. The text blames the people for this loss. Val  01:28  The Book of Mormon is, among many other things, a sympathetic history of Alma family rule. I've got a whole theory about that, that the Book of Mormon is a handbook, a governance handbook for the Alma family that got repurposed at the very end. I'm going to have that written up at some point. But one of the things it does is it never frames the Alma family as doing anything wrong. I mean it does initially, when they deviate from Christ, and it shows that's the key part of the handbook: Don't ever turn away from Christ. It doesn't matter how much talent, success you have, you're a disaster unless you have Christ. That actually illuminates the book a lot to think of it that way. Anyway, even though the Book of Mormon is letting Nephi off the hook here, the people wouldn't have. You don't get to lose half your country, as head of state. It's very unlikely that his resignation was voluntary. The other political party, we see them take over. "You lost half our country. All right, goodbye." No longer the Chief Judge, Nephi takes it upon himself to preach the Word of God all the remainder of his days. We get the great story about Nephi and Lehi in the same prison where Abinadi was imprisoned, having experiences like Abinadi that are described in words that echo Abinadi's story. Nephi and Lehi are transformed into beings of light, like Abinadi was, and all the people they have ministered to become members of the Divine Council. If listeners want to know the details, they can read them in a 2023 Interpreter article that Newell and I wrote, "Theosis in the Book of Mormon." GT  03:18  Not Newell Bringhurst. Val  03:20  What's that? GT  03:20  Not Newell Bringhurst. Val  03:22  Newell Wright and I. GT  03:22  Okay. Val  03:23  Yes, my co-author. So let's move on to the apotheosis of Nephi, who is given all God's power to move within and affect the world. The predicate for this conferral of power is the alignment of Nephi's mind with the mind of God. God speaks to Nephi using the same words Lamoni used when he equated his wife with divine beings, "Blessed art thou." That's what he says to his wife after he comes up and he has that vision. So here's the quote, "Blessed art thou Nephi for those things which thou has done, for I have beheld how thou hast with unwearingness declared the word. And now because thou has done this with such unwearingness, behold, I will bless thee forever and I will make thee mighty in word and deed and faith and works, yea, even that all things shall be done unto thee according to thy word. For Thou shalt not ask that which is contrary to my will. Behold, I am God.

Does Excommunication work? It seems to have shut down both the Ordain Women movement and the Feminist Movement in 1993. What can people learn from these episodes to effect change in the LDS Church? Dr Margaret Toscano discusses lessons learned. Check out our conversation... https://youtu.be/8PydVPNg9jI Don’t miss our other conversations about the Sept Six: https://gospeltangents.com/mormon_history/sept-six/ transcript to follow Copyright © 2024 Gospel Tangents All Rights Reserved Except for book reviews, no content may be reproduced without written permission transcript to follow Copyright © 2024 Gospel Tangents All Rights Reserved

Let's Talk about the Sept 6. We'll turn back the clock to 1993 and discuss the events that led up to the excommunication of 6 intellectuals in the LDS Church. Dr Margaret Toscano takes us through the important events of the Sept 6. Check out our conversation... https://youtu.be/qvjTdAs5uhU Don’t miss our other conversations about the Sept Six: https://gospeltangents.com/mormon_history/sept-six/ transcript to follow Copyright © 2024 Gospel Tangents All Rights Reserved Except for book reviews, no content may be reproduced without written permission transcript to follow Copyright © 2024 Gospel Tangents All Rights Reserved

Dr Margaret Toscano gives a review of "The Sept 6 & the Struggle for the Soul of Mormonism by Dr Sara Patterson. We'll learn what Margaret likes and doesn't like about the book. Check out our conversation... https://youtu.be/_ZgwEjJuzB8 Don’t miss our other conversations about the Sept Six: https://gospeltangents.com/mormon_history/sept-six/ transcript to follow Copyright © 2024 Gospel Tangents All Rights Reserved Except for book reviews, no content may be reproduced without written permission transcript to follow Copyright © 2024 Gospel Tangents All Rights Reserved