Analyzing Mormonism

In Mormonism there is a common narrative that it took Joseph Smith "sixty-five working days" to dictate the Book of Mormon, but does this paint an accurate picture of the creation of the book? What if by presenting just two sources, the timeline could be extended? What if it was extended by over ten years? By using Lucy Mack Smith's history as well as Joseph Smith's 1832 history, we get a more acc...

Joseph Fielding Smith taught us that Joseph Smith no longer used the Urim and Thummim after the organization of the Church and that it was taken back to heaven. However, in a source from Jane Manning James, we hear of a different story. ___________________ Welcome to Analyzing Mormonism! My aim is to help teach accurate Church history and to help my listeners become, in many ways, Mormon historian...

Captain William Kidd (or Robert Kidd) was a Scottish privateer. He was likely born in Dundee and later settled in New York City. But 1690, Kidd had become a highly successful privateer, commissioned to protect English interests in North America and the West Indies. In 1695, Kidd received a royal commission to hunt down pirates and enemy French ships in the Indian Ocean. Later, England turned again...

We are here with certified sex therapist Natasha Helfer to talk about masturbation! Join us as we talk a little bit about the Mormon mindsets and myths around masturbation as well as the health benefits for it and more! ___________________ Welcome to Analyzing Mormonism! Our aim is to help teach accurate Church history and to help our listeners become, in many ways, Mormon historians.  Help us con...

Here with the Unpacking Mormonism Podcast, Julia and America go over the evolution and changes of the Mormon Temple Ceremonies.   ___________________   Welcome to Analyzing Mormonism! Our aim is to help teach accurate Church history and to help our listeners become, in many ways, Mormon historians.    Help us continue to deliver quality content by coming a donor today One-time or recurring donatio...

Join with America and Julia as they discuss the Equal Rights Amendment with Kelly Whited Jones of Utah's ERA Coalition. Utah ERA Coalition Website https://utahera.org/ Utah ERA Coalition - Facebook   / utaheracoalition   National ERA Coalition https://www.eracoalition.org/ Generation Ratify https://www.generationratify.org/ NOTE: We are aware of the audio complications in this episode and we apolo...

The Family: A Proclamation to the World was published in 1995. Join with America and Julia as they discuss the background of the document and it's contents. To full proclamation can be seen here: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/s... ___________________   Welcome to Analyzing Mormonism! Our aim is to help teach accurate Church history and to help our listeners become, in many ways, Mormon histo...

Join with Julia as she reads the 1980 booklet released by the Church titled "The Church and the Proposed Equal Rights Amendment: A Moral Issue." The booklet can be found here: https://archive.org/details/the-church-2/page/n1/mode/2up   ___________________   Welcome to Analyzing Mormonism! Our aim is to help teach accurate Church history and to help our listeners become, in many ways, Mormon histor...

While the Relief Society started in 1842, it ended in 1844, and did not start up again for twenty years. The Relief Society once stood for women's rights and women's education, while maintaining their own autonomous structure -earning their own money, storing their own grain, writing their own periodicals, etc., little by little the leaders of the Church chipped away at the structure until it beca...

The Equal Rights Amendment was written in 1923 by Alice Paul. It is only twenty-four words long and has still to this day NOT been ratified. The Amendment reads: “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.” Despite the support from leading Mormon women in the early days of the church, the church is very much against the...

On October 31, 2023, a lawsuit was filed against the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by Daniel Chappel, Masen Christensen and John Oaks. U. S. News summarized it this way: "They claim the three of them combined have donated about $350,000 to the church over the past decade. Their lawsuit seeks class-action certification, potentially involving millions of church members, and an independ...

Join with us as we discuss the origin and history of the angel Moroni. Was he an old man? A hiker? A toad? Wade through the historical documents with us and find out!

During some of Joseph Smith's treasure digs, it was reported that an animal had to be sacrificed as part of the rituals to help ward off spirits, etc. What are the sources for this? What types of animals did the Smith's sacrifice?

Let's talk about Don Bradley's "New Discoveries" on what Joseph Smith's motives were when he started polygamy (at least in Nauvoo). And then let's debunk them. Julia and Carah from NuanceHoe discuss polygamy and all its downfalls through Don Bradley's argument as presented in his recent FAIR conference as well as on Ward Radio. The evidence shows that Joseph Smith was not as reluctant to participa...

During episode 41 of Analyzing Mormonism podcast, Julia and America read and discuss the letters exchanged between Lowry Nelson and the LDS church back in 1947, shortly after WWII, regarding racism in the church. Lowry Nelson was a professor of sociology and taught at BYU into the 1970s. He's our newest hero! Please follow and support us on Patreon!

Did the early Mormon prophets adhere to the Word of Wisdom? No. Although the revelation was given in 1833, it would be another 88 years before the church made it a prerequisite for temple attendance.  This episode is also available on our YouTube channel. We're trying something new and we will be uploading our new epsiodes as videos.  If you would like to see more research like this, please like a...

A couple of weeks ago we visited Nauvoo as a family. This episode goes over our experience there and we discuss a few stories of the early Nauvoo saints. 

Years before the revelation on polygamy was given, Joseph Smith Jr. was taking plural wives. Join Jenn Kamp, America and I as we discuss wives 11-15 of the Mormon prophet, Joseph Smith. Today we will go over: Elizabeth Durfee Sarah Cleveland Eliza R. Snow Delcena Johnson Sarah Ann Whitney To see the video for this episode please visit  Our Truth Be Told on Youtube.

Today America and I read the emails between my old stake president involving my excommunication from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  Also, we have started a publishing company called Edina Publishers, in which we will not only publish queer affirming literature, but we will also publish out-of-print Mormon books. If there are any that you want to see published that are in the pub...

Years before the revelation on polygamy was given, Joseph Smith Jr. was taking plural wives. Join Jenn Kamp, America and I as we discuss wives 6-10 of the Mormon prophet, Joseph Smith. Today we will go over: Agnes Coolbrith Sylvia Sessions Mary Elizabeth Rollins Patty Bartlett Sessions Marinda Nancy Johnson To see the video for this episode please visit  Our Truth Be Told on Youtube.

Years before the revelation on polygamy was given, Joseph Smith Jr. was taking plural wives. Join Jenn Kamp, America and I as we discuss the first five wives of the Mormon prophet, Joseph Smith. Today we will go over: Fanny Alger Lucinda Pendleton Louisa Beaman Zina Huntington Presendia Huntington To see the video for this episode please visit Our Truth Be Told on Youtube.

America and I give commentary to the Church's Gospel Topics Essay titled: "Plural Marriage in Kirtland and Nauvoo."

Join us as America reads the essay published on the Church's website under the topic: "Plural Marriage."

Today I am sharing an essay by Dan Vogel titled: "The Locations of Joseph Smith's Early Treasure Quests" published in Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, Vol 27 No. 3 (1994): 197–231. Dialogue has given me permission to share this essay and if you'd like to see the written version, please visit their website: dialoguejournal.com  Despite popular belief among the members of The Church of Jesus C...

Last month, Jenn Kamp and I got together and did an episode on her podcast Our Truth Be Told, about Heavenly Mother. Join with us as we discuss current teachings, past teachings and the doctrine and theology of our Mother in Heaven! To view the sources for this episode, please view the episode on Our Truth Be Told's Youtube channel where you can see the slides. I hope you enjoy!