Mormon Book Reviews Podcast

On a groundbreaking episode of Mormon Book Reviews, Denver Snuffer joins Steven Pynakker to discuss a variety of topics. Denver describes his childhood in which his Baptist grandmother had a major influence on his early religious development. He talks about how many evangelicals had an impact on him including Billy Graham and Hal Lindsay, author of "The Late Great Planet Earth". The conversation t...

I am very excited to welcome back Paul DeBarthe, lead Archaeologist of the Joseph Smith Historic Site in Nauvoo, to Mormon Book Reviews. Did you know every year there is an archaeological dig of Mormon sites in Nauvoo that you can volunteer for? Did you know that the 2nd location for the the Times & Seasons may have been housed in a pre-Mormon structure? This years expedition aims to provide t...

Mormon Fundamentalist Benjamin Shaffer, who is also a Freemason, returns to Mormon Book Reviews to give his perspective of the Hulu series "Under the Banner of Heaven". On this special Aftershow which covers episode 5 titled "One Mighty and Strong" Benjamin gives his unique insights of the series. Did you know that Benjamin has participated in the "original" and "modern" Mormon Temple Endowment ce...

My good friend Anthropologist Dr. Thomas Murphy returns to Mormon Book Reviews to discuss some stories he's never told publicly about growing up in an abusive LDS household. When the new limited Hulu series "Under the Banner of Heaven" was released, it caused Thomas to reflect on his childhood. There are many similar events that take place in the book and series that he experienced as well. This h...

From Heaven's Gate, to Sandy Hook, to the WTC, to the OJ Simpson Trial, to Auschwitz Dr. Randy Bell has seen the face of evil at all of these places. How is he able to have a Faith in God? On the latest episode of Mormon Book Reviews I am excited to welcome to the program Randy Bell. Born and raised LDS, Randy had a faith crisis after reading the Gospel Topics Essays. In this interview we discuss...

On a special episode of Mormon Book Reviews I am excited to be joined by Kristine Haglund of the Mormon History Association. On June 2-5 the 57th Annual Conference of the Mormon History Association will be held in Logan Utah at Utah State University. This years theme is "Landscape, Art, and Religion: The Intermountain West and the World". This is a special "exclusive" preview of this years confere...

On the latest Under the Banner of Heaven Aftershow, here on Mormon Book Reviews, we are excited to have on Jim Bennett! Jim doesn't pull any punches as he breaks down the series so far. After reading one of his reviews of an episode, I thought it would be great to have Jim on to give his perspective. Was this limited series a missed opportunity? Jim seems to think so. I also want to thank Rebecca...

On the latest episode of Mormon Book Reviews I am excited to welcome onto my program the one and only Radio Free Mormon! I don't need to say much about this episode other than it is totally awesome. Thanks RFM for coming on, I really appreciate it. PayPal Patreon Channel Merch Store Link for RFM's podcast

On a special episode of Mormon Book Reviews I am very excited to have KC Kern on to announce the launch of a new and improved online resource for the Book of Mormon! KC has spent 15 years developing a state-of-the-art website that allows the user to study and explore the Book of Mormon in new and unique ways. I am also excited to have on Cory Howell who is a Methodist Director of Music Ministries...

On the latest installment of Mormon Book Reviews Rebecca Bibliotheca returns to discuss the latest episode of the series Under the Banner of Heaven. The series seems to have found some footing in this episode titled "Surrender". I asked Rebecca to come back on when I realized that this would be the part of the series that would feature the Temple ceremony. Rebecca has had some very unusual temple...

On the latest episode of Mormon Book Reviews Matthew Gill of the Restored Branch of Jesus Christ returns to discuss contents of his scripture the "Book of Jeraneck". This is a purported history of the people who built Stonehenge. The story has similar parallels to the events described in the Book of Mormon, including some interactions with the Jaradites! I've been fascinated with the Book of Jeran...

On another special Tueday segment of Mormon Book Reviews, I welcome back Benjamin Lee author of the book "Pride and Paradox: Exploring Christlike Humility and the Struggle to Defeat Pride". Benjamin is about to graduate from Harvard Law School and is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. As part of the conversation we discuss the influence the works of Christian author C.S....

On a very special episode of Mormon Book Reviews, I am very excited to welcome on Chris Bench of Benchmark Books. Many people first heard of Curt Bench and his bookstore from watching "Murder Among the Mormons" on Netflix which dealt with the Mark Hofmann forgeries and murders. This past year Curt passed away. In our conversation we talk about the legacy of his father. This is one of the first tim...

On a special episode of Mormon Book Reviews a new limited series is introduced. I thought that It might be interesting to do an aftershow after every episode of "Under the Banner of Heaven" . I'm going to try to have a different guest host every week. Look for it to be released this weekend. I also give an update on the aftermath of my appearance on Mormon Stories. I am still amazed at the overwhe...

On the latest episode of Mormon Book Reviews, Jonathan Neville returns to talk about a very important volume of books that contain the writings and sermons of Jonathan Edwards that young Joseph Smith may of had access to. Jonathan found information in these volumes that was not available to the public online. We also discuss the important role that the writings of Jonathan Edwards played in the tr...

On the latest episode of Mormon Book Reviews, I am excited to introduce a new Evangelical YouTuber Pastor Jeff McCullough! Jeff just recently started a channel called "Hello Saints". It is a channel geared toward fostering dialogue between Evangalicals and the Restoration. Jeff reached out to me via a recommendation by John Dehlin. After a couple of conversations we both realized we shared very si...

On the latest episode of Mormon Book Reviews, Matthew Gill of the Restored Branch of Jesus Christ discusses his discovery and translation, using the Urim and Thummim, of two sets of ancient engraved metal plates. This would become known as the "Book of Jeraneck", the written history of the builders of Stonehenge. Mathew was raised in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He tells of his...

On the latest episode of Mormon Book Reviews, Steven Pynakker welcomes to the program Benjamin Lee author of the book "Pride & Paradox: Exploring Christlike Humility and the Struggle to Defeat Pride". Benjamin is about to graduate from Harvard Law School. A couple of years ago, Benjamin was reading the Bible and he came across the verse "Lord is it I?". This caused him to ponder how prideful h...

On the latest episode of Mormon Book Reviews, Steven Pynakker has a conversation with a fellow Evangelical who is currently attending Brigham Young University! Leah Marett felt called by God to attend BYU when she was a senior in high school. Although she had her parents support, many in her faith community were quite perplexed to say the least. Leah's story is truly remarkable and compelling. She...

On the latest episode of Mormon Book Reviews, Steven Pynakker discusses the book "The History of Warsaw Illinois: Including the Mormon Period" by Brian Stutzman. This is the first comprehensive history of Warsaw that has ever been written. Brian does a fantastic job detailing it's history and it helps provide the context for Warsaw's relationship with Nauvoo and the Church. In the Mormon period th...

A previous guest Rebecca Bibliotheca returns to Mormon Book Reviews to co-host with me an "Under the Banner of Heaven Aftershow"! We talk about the first 2 episodes in the series "When God Was Love" and "Rightful Place". Rebecca gives great insights into growing up in an LDS household during this time period. We discuss how accurate the potrayal of Mormon culture is expressed on the program. Rebec...

On the latest episode of Mormon Book Reviews, Jonathan Neville returns to give a report about this past weekend's Book of Mormon Evidence Conference hosted by Rod Meldrum. He references talks given by the likes of Tim Ballard and Wayne May. Jonathan also provides a brief synopsis of his response to the recent Salt Lake Tribune article about the "Heartlander Movement " and white nationalism that he...

On the latest episode of Mormon Book Reviews, John Hamer returns to discuss the 1844-1860 period of Church history. This was a very tumultous time in which many there were many claimants to succeed Joseph Smith. We discuss James Strang, William Bickerton and Joseph Smith III among others. The Mormon Reformation is discussed as well as the beginning of the formation of what would become the RLDS. I...

On the latest episode of Mormon Book Reviews, the book "An Insider's View of Mormon Origins" by Grant Palmer is discussed by Evangelical Steven Pynakker. Grant was a well regarded CES instructor who would get disfellowshipped for publishing the book. It was a groundbreaking work when it first came out and for many it was the first time they were exposed to the stone in the hat translation narrativ...

On the latest episode of Mormon Book Reviews Brent Ashworth returns to "Show & Tell". In this segment we discuss how Brent was able to acquire the "lost" publisher's manuscript of "Jesus the Christ" by James E. Talmage. The importance of this influential book is discussed, why it was written in the Temple, how it is used by Latter-day Saints to establish the birth of Christ on April 6th, the M...