Gospel Tangents Podcast

Polygamy skeptics love to trumpet Joseph Smith's public polygamy denials. Was Joseph part of a conspiracy to keep polygamy secret? We'll talk about contemporary sources, the Happiness Letter, & Joseph's alleged narcissistic personality disorder with Dr Jesse James, a research psychologist. Check out our conversation... https://youtu.be/YeeB6cA2AVg Don’t miss our other conversations about atonement: https://gospeltangents.com/people/jesse-james/ transcript to follow Copyright © 2025 Gospel Tangents All Rights Reserved Except for book reviews, no content may be reproduced without written permission   transcript to follow Copyright © 2025 Gospel Tangents All Rights Reserved

Are there religious & theological motivations for conspiracy theories? Research psychologist Dr Jesse James says yes! We'll give into polygamy skeptics claims, flat earth, forgeries, & the Dunning-Kruger effect. Check out our conversation... https://youtu.be/OrUWY1rqQxI Don’t miss our other conversations about atonement: https://gospeltangents.com/people/jesse-james/ transcript to follow Copyright © 2025 Gospel Tangents All Rights Reserved Except for book reviews, no content may be reproduced without written permission   transcript to follow Copyright © 2025 Gospel Tangents All Rights Reserved

What is the appeal of conspiracy theories? Dr Jesse James discusses the psychological patterns, trust-breaking experiences, & personality types of conspiracy theorists. Check out our conversation... https://youtu.be/ZEOPTLzsvZo Don’t miss our other conversations about atonement: https://gospeltangents.com/people/jesse-james/ transcript to follow Copyright © 2025 Gospel Tangents All Rights Reserved - Except for book reviews, no content may be reproduced without written permission   transcript to follow Copyright © 2025 Gospel Tangents All Rights Reserved All Rights Reserved - Except for book reviews, no content may be reproduced without written permission

What's the difference between a valid conspiracy & a conspiracy theory? Dr Jesse James is a research psychologist and we'll talk about why people get hooked on conspiracy theories. We'll take a deep dive into the traditional polygamy narratives and the Brigham Young Conspiracy Theory, giving an overall narrative for each. Check out our conversation... https://youtu.be/jnx6H8Fw9l4 Don’t miss our other conversations about atonement: https://gospeltangents.com/people/jesse-james/ transcript to follow Copyright © 2025 Gospel Tangents All Rights Reserved Except for book reviews, no content may be reproduced without written permission 0:00 Valid Conspiracy vs Conspiracy Theory 11:06 How Psychologists View Conspiracy Theories 21:38 Coming From Neutrality 24:21 Traditional Polygamy Narrative 29:21 Conspiracy Narrative 45:34 Not Assigning Motives transcript to follow Copyright © 2025 Gospel Tangents All Rights Reserved

What's the role of grace in atonement of Christ? Dr Deidre Green & Dr Eric Huntsman will weigh in. Check out our conversation... https://youtu.be/XmmPPgNaJes Don’t miss our other conversations about atonement: https://gospeltangents.com/lds_theology/atonement/ Copyright © 2024 Gospel Tangents All Rights Reserved Except for book reviews, no content may be reproduced without written permission Role of Grace in Atonement GT  00:36  Since I mentioned Willie Grills being a Lutheran pastor, of course, the subject of grace and works has to come up, especially with a Mormon talking to a Lutheran. How does grace and works fit in with the atonement? Eric  00:58  Do you want me to start with that, Deirdre? (Chuckling) This is a whole other conversation, We're going to have to do a lot of Paul and late Pauline stuff. I think it's actually a false dichotomy, number one. I mean, we're basing ourselves on a sequence of arguments in Galatians, Romans and then Ephesians. And then we're using a proof text in James, when James probably didn't have Paul in front of him. So when James says, "Faith without works is dead," he's not responding to Paul. GT  01:24  Thomas Wayment told me he was pushing back on that, on the grace, on too much grace. Eric  01:30  In the context of James chapter two, the works there, are works of charity. He's saying that if someone is naked or hungry, you need to put clothes on him and feed him. So, that's the first thing I would say. But one of the great things we're talking about the changes, in the trajectory of the way we've described the Book of Mormon over the years, when I was growing up, and Rick, you and I might be closer in age than the Deidre is to us. But, we never talked about grace in the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, really. We didn't. And we started talking about it when President Benson started making us read the Book of Mormon so much. Right? Because you couldn't get away from what the Book of Mormon was teaching about grace. Back to that earlier idea, we teach to our distinctives, we understood that there's a reason for ordinances and there's a reason for obedience. And so that seems like works to us. And we felt like, at least, some Protestants, particularly evangelical Protestants, born again Protestants are emphasizing grace too much. So we shy away from the grace and we emphasize the works. Eric  02:30  But when we actually got in the Book of Mormon, if grace is what Jesus does for us, that we can't do for ourselves, it's a gift. That's what it means in Greek, or as Elder Bednar explains it from a Book of Mormon perspective, it's the strength and enabling power of the atonement. I mean, that's the connection with this topic, it's the power of the atonement. The most you can come up with--I mean, I know Elder McConkie had a rubric for it. I mean, he had the pure grace, which is the resurrection. And then he had conditional grace, which made all of us just bristle, which is you have to have faith, repentance and baptism to be forgiven for sin. But the Roman Catholics gave me a model for ordinances, which was helpful, since a lot of times--I mean, we have different kinds of works. Are we talking about ordinances as works or are we talking about good deeds as works. Let's make it ordinances for a while. For the Roman Catholics, their sacraments are conduits of grace. It's the way God has prepared for the grace of Jesus to flow into us. Well, that's exactly what we think ordinances are. You put yourself in a position to receive the grace of Christ. In terms of good works, doing good deeds, I mean, if you don't do them, I guess it's a sin of omission. So, you have to repent of that. But any number of good deeds, taking casseroles to people when there's been a funeral or mowing the lawn or doing your ministering, none of that compensates for sin. So, works as good deeds never take the place of grace. But if we're looking at works as the necessity to conform to ordinances,

The Mormon doctrine of Heavenly Mother is one of the most controversial doctrines in all of Christianity. But fundamentalist Mormons think God is a polygamist. We'll talk about heavenly mothers with Tom Bennett of Centennial Park. Check out our conversation... https://youtu.be/l-2RVcjapDg Don’t miss our other episodes about Centennial Park! https://gospeltangents.com/denominations/centennial-park/ Copyright © 2025 Gospel Tangents All Rights Reserved Except for book reviews, no content may be reproduced without written permission. transcript to follow Copyright © 2025 Gospel Tangents All Rights Reserved Except for book reviews, no content may be reproduced without written permission.

Many Fundamentalist Mormons don't like to discuss racism because their beliefs don't allow black members to join or hold priesthood. We'll tackle this sticky topic with Tom Bennett, a member of Centennial Park. Check out our conversation... https://youtu.be/Bi_BKXsSoh8 Don’t miss our other episodes about Centennial Park! https://gospeltangents.com/denominations/centennial-park/ Copyright © 2025 Gospel Tangents All Rights Reserved Except for book reviews, no content may be reproduced without written permission. transcript to follow Copyright © 2025 Gospel Tangents All Rights Reserved Except for book reviews, no content may be reproduced without written permission.

Why do women choose polygamy? Centennial Park actually expects women to pop the marriage question for either monogamist or polygamist families. Tom Bennett tells more. Check out our conversation... https://youtu.be/K32NxGwptG4 Don’t miss our other episodes about Centennial Park! https://gospeltangents.com/denominations/centennial-park/ Copyright © 2025 Gospel Tangents All Rights Reserved Except for book reviews, no content may be reproduced without written permission. transcript to follow Copyright © 2025 Gospel Tangents All Rights Reserved polygamy polygamy Except for book reviews, no content may be reproduced without written permission.

Do fundamenalist Mormons believe the LDS Church is the "one true church?" We'll discuss whether his group believes the LDS Church is the "one true church." In 1890, LDS President Wilford Woodruff issued "The Manifesto" indicating the Church would no longer practice polygamy. Was John Taylor also given a manifesto before his 1886 revelation proclaiming polygamy as an eternal principle? Tom Bennett of Centennial Park, a Mormon fundamentalist group, says yes. Check out our conversation... https://youtu.be/eXomgcAPZPk Don’t miss our other episodes about Centennial Park! https://gospeltangents.com/denominations/centennial-park/ Copyright © 2025 Gospel Tangents All Rights Reserved Except for book reviews, no content may be reproduced without written permission. transcript to follow Copyright © 2025 Gospel Tangents All Rights Reserved Except for book reviews, no content may be reproduced without written permission.

Tom Bennett is a recent convert to the Mormon fundamentalist group called Centennial Park that practices polygamy. We'll discuss his conversion to Protestantism to LDS and to Centennial Park. What attracted him to Mormon fundamentalism? We'll discuss his Protestant conversion, LDS conversion & mission, faith crisis and spiritual reawakening in Centennial Park. We'll dive into Centennial Park history & doctrine. Check out our conversation... https://youtu.be/fFe1S6ZIYuc Don’t miss our other episodes about Centennial Park! https://gospeltangents.com/denominations/centennial-park/ Copyright © 2025 Gospel Tangents All Rights Reserved Except for book reviews, no content may be reproduced without written permission. transcript to follow Copyright © 2025 Gospel Tangents All Rights Reserved Except for book reviews, no content may be reproduced without written permission. polygamy polygamy