Mormon Book Reviews Podcast

Evangelical Steven Pynakker interviews Josh Gehly an Evangelist in the Church of Jesus Christ. In this fascinating conversation topics cover include a brief history of the Church, the Prophet Seer and Revelator William Bickerton, a discussion of the Churches October General Conference, and the remarkable story of hymn writer Arlene Buffington. In the second half our discussion turns to Josh using...

In part 2 of his conversation with Don Bradley evangelical and former Atheist Steven Pynakker and Don discuss a unique faith walk. Don became an Atheist after reading many of the works of the "New Atheists" and dealing with a faith crisis. Don discusses dealing with a family tragedy, studying the mathematical probabilities of the nonexistence of God, the impact that Jerald and Sandra Tanner had on...

Evangelical Steven Pynakker interviews former librarian at a Utah based university and book club founder Rebecca Gleason (aka Bibliotheca). In this episode we discuss Rebecca's faith journey, experiencing anxiety during Temple and Church attendance, researching Church history as a librarian, getting yelled at by a General Authority, accused of being a polygamist in the Temple, attending other chur...

Evangelical Steven Pynakker has an in person conversation with scholar Don Bradley author of "The Lost 116 Pages: Reconstructing the Book of Mormon's Missing Stories". We discuss the process of recovering and reconstructing the missing stories of the BOM. What message did God write on the temple wall for Aminadi to translate? Did devout Quaker Lucy Harris really destroy the manuscript? And were Na...

Evangelical Steven Pynakker speaks with Spanky Ward Film Maker of "The Santa Box" and author of the book "Charlies Long Journey". In this episode we discuss his upcoming talk at the Latter-day Saints Publishing and Media Association Conference, his involvement in the film industry, filming with Chuck Liddell and Dolph Lundgren, becoming a children's book author, and his faith's influence in his pr...

In part two of our conversation, Evangelical Steven Pynakker is joined once again by writer and psychology undergrad Nathan Smith. Having discussed some of the general mental health issues our respective religious communities face, we now turn to finding potential solutions to these issues in scripture, psychology, and spiritual practices. We conclude a conversation with a brief discussion of the...

Evangelical Steven Pynakker has Mark Staker back on the reveal the pollen study results of Tunbridge Farm. Mark is the Master Curator in the Historic Sites Division of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and co-author of "Joseph and Lucy Smith's Tunbridge Farm: An Archaeology and Landscape Study. I want to thank him so much for coming back on to my program to reveal the results here fi...

Evangelical Steven Pynakker interviews Brent Ashworth. Many people were introduced to Brent via the Netflix series "Murder Among the Mormons". Before the documentary was released he was a very well known figure in the field of document collecting. In this episode we discuss some of his favorite documents in his collection, how his faith sustained him during the Hoffman affair and the tragic death...

Evangelical Steven Pynakker has a conversation with KC Kern. In this episode we discuss a concept of the Atonement only found in the Book of Mormon. Topics covered include taking upon the name of Christ, the condescension of the Son via taking upon the image of man , a Yin and Yang view of the Atonement, what may have happened in the Garden of Gethsemane, the shedding of blood in both the Garden a...

Evangelical Steven Pynakker interviews Jonathan Edward Neville author of "Infinite Goodness: Joseph Smith, Jonathan Edwards and the Book of Mormon". There is much more to the man who gave us America's most famous sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God". In this groundbreaking work Jonathan reveals that what many in the LDS Church think about Edwards is inaccurate. In the interview we discuss...

Evangelical Steven Pynakker interviews Taylor Drake author of "Joseph in the Gap: The Hidden History That Explains Mormonism's Past, Present and Future". When Taylor's son brought up to him some concerns about Mormon history, he decided to delve into it to find some answers. This book is a result Taylor's effort to understand some little known aspects of LDS history. In this interview we discuss t...

Evangelical Steven Pynakker interviews Bible and Book of Mormon scholar Colby Townsend. In this in depth conversation Colby discusses the latest developments in Biblical scholarship, the Q hypothesis, the KJV's influence on the BOM, the Late War, the Book of Abraham, the JST, the "Isaiah Problem" in the BOM, Adam Clarke's Commentary, the Book of Enoch, a discovery about a footnote citation in a wo...

Evangelical Steven Pynakker interviews Chris Jensen son of former BYU athletic director Clayne Jensen and author of "Obscure Mormon Doctrine: Uncommon Beliefs of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints". Chris has studied Mormon doctrine for many years. He found he had a lot of downtime during the Covid Crisis, so he used it to write the book. As a result he created this unique study that...

* Note to more sensitive viewers, topics like masturbation, suicidal ideation, and strong language are alluded to in this discussion. Evangelical Steven Pynakker has a conversation with Katie Langston a soon to be ordained minister in the Lutheran Church and author of "Sealed: An Unexpected Journey into the Heart of Grace". In this episode topics like body shame, suicidal thoughts, scrupulosity, f...

Evangelical Steven Pynakker interviews Mark Elwood creator of the graphic novel "Glass Looker: The Collected Tales of Joseph Smith". In this episode Mark discusses with Steven the creative process of producing this work as well as all the research he has done. Mark does a wonderful job of weaving tales and folklore about the treasure digging years of young Joseph with the known historical narrativ...

Evangelical Steven Pynakker interviews Casey Griffiths author of "Truth Seeker: The Life of Joseph F. Merrill Scientist, Educator, and Apostle". In this in depth conversation Dr. Griffiths discusses Merrill's childhood, heading "out East" for an education, his important role at the University of Utah, his political career, becoming the head of the Church education system, becoming an Apostle, serv...

Join Steven Pynakker as he has a conversation with a fellow Evangelical Charismatic. In this episode we talk about Glen's Huguenot heritage, his being a direct descendent of Apostle Marriner Merrill, his ministry of "standing in the gap", and the remarkable night at a Missouri hotel room where God lead Glen to pray for healing and reconciliation regarding the Haun's Mill Massacre. After filming I...

It is a real pleasure to have on one of the most important figures in Mormonism of the 20th and 21st centuries. The great-great granddaughter of Brigham Young, Sandra Tanner and her late husband Jerald were trailblazers in the field of Mormon research and scholarship. In this interview we cover her wonderful reception at this years Mormon History Association Conference, their involvement in Paulin...

In a special joint production of the Restoration Table and Mormon Book Reviews, co-hosts Tony Fieldson and Steven Pynakker sit down and have civil conversation about the Restoration and Evangelicalism. In the first half Steven interviews Tony about his evangelical past, becoming a Latter-day Saint, moving in a more progressive direction in his faith, and starting the Restoration Table. In the seco...

Evangelical Steven Pynakker interviews writer and former teenaged apologist for FairMormon (now called FAIR LDS) Nathan Smith. In this episode we discuss his growing up in a faithful household in Texas, having a faith crisis at age 16, becoming a volunteer apologist for FAIR, suffering spiritual abuse while on his mission, and his embracing Eastern religious meditation techniques to heal from his...

Evangelical Steven Pynakker interviews Rebecca Janzen author of "Liminal Sovereignty: Mennonites and Mormons in Mexican Culture". This episode is kind of an introduction for many of my viewers to Rebecca and her fascinating work. It is part of my "up and comer's" Thursday summer interview series. In the program Rebecca details the struggles Mennonites and Mormons have had with the Mexican governme...

Evangelical Steven Pynakker interviews Mark Staker co-author of "Joseph and Lucy Smith's Tunbridge Farm: An Archaeology and Landscape Study". In this episode we discuss Mark and co-author Donald Enders archaeological expedition of Tunbridge Farm. Joseph and Lucy Smith cleared and farmed the land from 1791-1805. This episode is a bit a of a prelude to an upcoming show in which Mark will reveal the...

Steven Pynakker interviews fellow Evangelicals Paul Nurnberg and Matthew Eklund. They are the hosts of the Podcast "Outer Brightness". Both were faithful LDS and they served successful overseas missions. I like their podcast because it is both an outreach to members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and a forum for open, civil dialogue. This is a bit of a prelude to the 2 part int...

Evangelical Steven Pynakker has a "late night" conversation with Daniel Stone who is the author of "William Bickerton: Forgotten Latter Day Prophet". He is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ. It is a Restorationist Pentecostal church, and is also referred to as the "Church of Alma". In this very comprehensive conversation, we take a deep dive into William Bickerton and the Church he founded. T...

In this fairly wide ranging conversation, Jaxon Washburn and Steven Pynakker have a productive dialogue between one another. Jaxon was raised in a faithful LDS household until his mother became a "Non-Denominational" Christian when he was 12. After that, he would attend both an Evangelical church and his LDS ward. He was exposed to the Protestant concept of Grace, and that would later influence hi...