Martin Tanner's Religion Today

The focus of Jesus and God is usually on their identical abilities, personalities and purposes. But in this episode, Martin Tanner points out the differences between God and Jesus about the Atonement, whether Jesus resurrected himself, God resurrected Jesus, or the Spirit resurrected Jesus. Also, New Testament verses say God only knows when the Second Coming will happen, no one else, not even Jesu...

Is the United States Constitution hanging by a thread? Where did that idea come from? How will the members of the Church, or Elders of Israel, help save the U.S. Constitution? In this 250th USA Anniversary podcast, host Martin Tanner answers these and other questions.

Martin describes the Apostle Paul's physical appearance, his voice, and exactly what the "thorn in the flesh" was, as mentioned in 2 Corinthians 12:7.

Your host, Martin Tanner, gives examples of Signs of the Times before the Second Coming of Jesus that have definitely been fulfilled. Then he gives examples of Signs of the Times that will still take many years to be fulfilled. 

Martin Tanner explains the similarities, differences, and overlap between the Spirit of God, Light of Christ, Holy Spirit and Holy Ghost. He describes Joseph Smith's final sermon in June 1844 in which Joseph Smith said the Holy Ghost is a person, who will have the opportunity to be born and acquire a body.

Emanuel Swedenborg, born in 1688, died 1772, taught that God is a man, those who go to Perdition do so because they denied the truth, there are three degrees of glory in heaven, consecration is practiced in heaven, etc. Did Joseph Smith, born in 1805, borrow from Swedenborg? Martin Tanner explains why Joseph Smith did not borrow from Swedenborg and why there is some overlap in their teachings.

Isaiah was born circa 740 BC and died circa 681 BC. Lehi left Jerusalem about 600 BC a few years before it was conquered by Babylon. Martin Tanner explains how Isaiah Chapters 40-66, which talks about Jerusalem being conquered, the Jews exiled and their return, could have been written in Isaiah since those events happened after Isaiah died. Also, since Lehi left Jerusalem in 600 BC, before the eve...

From the Bible, Apocrypha, Doctrine and Covenants, and Book of Abraham, Martin describes the belief of some Jews and Protestants, all Latter-day Saints, but not by Catholics, in a pre-existence or pre-earth life, of humans, animals, plants and all other life.

Martin Tanner shares the story of a prayer answered in a dramatic way, originally told to him by his friend Lloyd Poleman.

Martin describes human progress in the interior of the Salt Lake Temple, from creation at the lower level (the Telestial kingdom), through the middle level (the Terrestrial kingdom), to the highest level (Celestial kingdom), and through the veil into heaven. Martin describes the symbolism of the exterior of the Salt Lake Temple including its six towers (symbols of the Aaronic and Melchizedek Pries...

Martin quotes Old Testament and New Testament verses which are inconsistent with the Trinitarian theory of God, believed by most of Christianity. The Trinitarian concept was first concocted in 325 AD at the Council of Nicea to keep the Christian Church from fracturing.  Eventually, Christianity fractured anyway, and the Trinitarian theory introduced false doctrine.

Martin interviews Professor Muhlestein about the Book of Abraham, where it came from, errors of critics' about it, common misconceptions, and the evidence that it is a genuine translation of ancient scripture. The discussion concludes with several facts in the Book of Abraham, unknown in Joseph Smith's day, now proven to be true.

Learn how a little known letter from Clement of Alexandra describes a "Secret Gospel of Mark" written by John Mark, the author of the Gospel of Mark, in which Jesus gives Lazarus, after risen from the dead, something like the Temple Endowment.

Martin explains why Joseph's coat "ketonet" "passim" was a garment with markings, not one of many colors. Learn about a rare book in the Oxford University library that describes how Joseph's wife Asenath, converted from her Egyptian Religion to the Jewish Faith and received a garment priesthood garment and a veil. 

Martin Tanner describes the overlap of the Jewish Passover, Christian Resurrection Sunday, Easter, and The Resurrection. He provides details about the Jewish and Christian beliefs in resurrection.  He gives examples of resurrection from the books of Matthew and Hebrews, as well as modern day examples from the Joseph Smith History and Ezekiel's famous resurrection experience in 1908 or 1909.   

Host Martin Tanner explains the details of the famous King Follett Discourse, including how it got its name, the great teachings in it, including how ex-nihilo (out-of-nothing) creation is false doctrine. How the human mind, spirit or intelligence was not created, it has always existed. One of the greatest teachings of the King Follett discourse is that we are resurrected just as we die, then we g...

Host Martin Tanner explains that the phrase, "As man is now, God once was, as God is now, man may be" is not an idea limited to Latter-day Saint belief. The Orthodox Church teaches and emphasises it. It is the doctrine of the Catholic Church, even if little known and rarely taught. Martin explains precisely what "deification" means and how this doctrine and teaching is found in scriptures, early C...

Martin Tanner explains the difference between monotheism (belief in one God) which is neither Jewish nor Christian, and monolotry (worship of only one God) which is Jewish and Christian. Martin gives examples from the scriptures which demonstrate early Jewish and first-century belief in a divine council in Heaven, comprised of deity, which meets and makes decisions. The divine council, under the d...

It is often claimed that the Spaniards brought the first horses to the Americas after the ice age. Yet there is considerable evidence horses existed in the Americas well after the ice age, and before the arrival of the Spanish. In this episode, Martin Tanner provides a few examples of the evidence.

Martin Tanner explains the misconceptions and lies told about Joseph Smith's 1826 trial. It was not a trial at all. It was a preliminary hearing. Anti-Mormon critic Wesley P. Walters stole the 1826 hearing documents from the court. A lawsuit was filed against Walters, and a court order was issued required him to return the documents, but all he returned was a docket of costs and a list of witnesse...

Host Martin Tanner explains when the Dead Sea Scrolls were written. He explains there are 900 documents: one-third secular, one-third Old Testament books, and one-third religious books not found in the Bible. Since the Dead Sea Scrolls predate any other Old Testament manuscripts by over 1,000 years, they are useful for seeing how accurately the Bible has been reproduced over time. Hear details abo...

Host Martin Tanner explains that the concept of the "Trinity" is not found in the Bible. The idea that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are of one undivided substance is not found anywhere in the Bible. The only verse in the Bible which seems to support the idea of the Trinity is 1 John 5:7.  But as Martin explains, 1 John 5:7 is not a genuine Bible verse. A scribe mistakenly first added it in the...

Martin Tanner provides references to the sources supporting the authenticity of the Tower of Babel account in Genesis 11:1-9, from the Book of Jubilees, the Historian Flavius Josephus, and the Sibylline Books of ancient Rome. The location of the actual ruins of the Tower of Babel, which was named "Etemenanki" when it was built, have been found, 56 miles south of Baghdad, Iraq. It was a Ziggurat, o...

Genesis 1:26 and 5:3 are explained to demonstrate humans look like the Gods - men and women, and have the qualities and traits of the Gods, including the ability to reason, all of the human emotions, and God-like intellect in embryo. Next, we examine evidence for the Garden of Eden location in the Middle East versus in Missouri. 

Critics use a "red hearing" (untrue fact) to try to discredit the Book of Abraham. Critics say we have the papyri from which the Book of Abraham text was translated, which is factually incorrect. Egyptologists have translated it and it is not the Book of Abraham. The true facts are that we do have 11 papri fragments recovered from the New York Metropolican Museum of Art, which Egyptologists have t...