Outer Brightness: From Mormon to Jesus

This week, we bring you the first of two Christmas episodes. This one is a reading of a Christmas essay that I (Paul) wrote for my fmaily when I was near the end of my time in the LDS Church. I thought that it would be interesting for me and you (our listeners) to revisit it. In the essay, I reference Jimmy Stewart's masterful acting in Mr. Krueger's Christmas. If you haven't seen that movie, chec...

This episode, we welcomed Daniel Ortner on the program. Daniel has a very interesting story. He was raised in an ethnically Jewish family and converted to Mormonism. In 2023, he began attending a Christian church with his wife and ended up leaving the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for faith in Christ alone. Daniel is passionate about the Epistle to the Galatians. He joined us to talk...

In this episode, we welcome Jonathan Stoddard to Outer Brightness: From Mormon to Jesus. Pastor Jon ministers at Jordan Valley Church (Presbyterian Church in America) in West Jordan Utah where I (The Apostate Paul) grew up. He has written a very helpful and accessible book titled, Choosing a Church: A Biblical and Practical Guide aimed at helping those, particularly of an LDS background in navigat...

This week we bring you another special guest episode. Kyle Beshears is a pastor in the Mobile, Alabama area and a scholar of Christianity. In his scholarly work, Kyle engages with the broader Latter Day Saint Restoration Movement, and in particular with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day [no hyphen, capital ‘D’] Saints, or the branch of the LDS Movement that followed James J. Strang after th...

This week we're publishing a crossover episode. Several coauthors of the book, Responding to the Mormon Missionary Message: Confident Conversations with Mormon Missionaries (and other Latter0day Saints) appeared on Steve Pynakker's Mormon Book Reviews YouTube program. Represented here are Corey Miller, president and CEO of Ratio Christi ( ratiochristi.org ), Ross Anderson, pastor at Alpine Church...

In this episode, Matthew the Nuclear Calvinist and I continue our discussion from last week regarding feed back we received to our Apostles Creed episode.

In this episode, Matthew the Nuclear Calvinist and The Apostate Paul share a conversation they originally had in March of 2022. After discussing an LDS Church sign in that was posted in Arizona, they begin a discussion of the "harrowing of hell" clause in the Apostle's Creed. Latter-day Saint teaching is that between Jesus' death and resurrection, he visited "spirit prison" to begin a program of m...

In this episode, Matthew and I revisit an old criticism of the LDS Faith. Namely, that Latter-day Saints worship Joseph Smith. We tackle it by comparing and contrasting with a similar critique that Protestants sometimes make about Roman Catholics with regards to their veneration of Mary. Thus, the Joseph & Mary Chain, a play on the name of the Scottish Rock band, The Jesus & Mary Chain. We...

In this episode we respond to some listener feedback that we received to our Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God episodes (#s 98 & 99). Go give those a listen if you haven't already. A Latter-day Saint listener named David wrote in to challenge and interact with some of the things we said in that episode and with Jonathan Edwards' sermon. We take the time to respond to David's eamil here.

In this episode, Paul spoke with Rich Hoyer, Senior Minister at Calvary Christian Church in Sellersburg, Indiana. This is Rich's second appearance on Outer Brightness. He joined us previously on Episode 70, "The Importance of Christian Apologetics." Rich wrote a book titled So You Think You Understand Christianity?: Teaching Christianity to a Culture That's Saturated With Misconceptions . Paul and...

In this episode, Matthew and I continue our conversation of LDS beliefs regarding the omnipresence of God. In this part, we discuss various LDS views of God's omnipresence, the impact of God's omnipresence on practical (lived) theology, and some the Bible passages that touch on God's being present everywhere.

In this episode we welcome Ross Anderson to Outer Brightness. Ross joined us to discuss his chapter in our book, Responding to the Mormon Missionary Message. Ross was born in Utah and was raised LDS. After leaving Mormonism as a young adult, he earned a Master of Divinity degree and a Doctor of Ministry degree. Anderson has served as a church planter and pastor in Utah for four decades. He taught...

When I [the Apostate Paul] was an Mormon missionary in Hungary, teaching people who were investigating the LDS Church, I memorized the missionary discussions that I would share with them. In describing LDS beliefs about God, I would say, “Isten tökéletes. Ő mindentudó és mindenható.” Translated into English, that means, “God is perfect. He is all-knowing (omniscient) and all-powerful (omnipotent)....

Matthew the Nuclear Calvinist sat down with Michael a.k.a. The ex-Mormon Apologist to chat with him about his article, "Understanding Grace, Misunderstanding Mormonism: A Critique of Brad Wilcox's 'His Grace is Sufficient'." Michael's article can be found on fromwatertowine.org here: Understanding Grace, Misunderstanding Mormonism: A Critique of Brad Wilcox's "His Grace is Sufficient" Brad Wilcox'...

In this episode, Matthew and I discuss the role of the church in interpreting Scripture. Is there a magesterium that holds unique authority to interpret the Bible? How does this question relate to Mormonism?

Hi fireflies! Matthew and I have finally returned. In this episode we talk about a book project that we both worked on, providing chapters to the book Responding to the Mormon Missionary Message: Confident Conversations with Mormon Missionaries (and Other Latter-day Saints). The book is published by Aneko Press and is out now, available direct from the publisher or from Amazon. Order "Responding t...

In this episode, we welcome a listener, Sarah Bateman to Outer Brightness. She recently shared with us that she has listened to about 2,400 minutes of the podcast. She joined us to talk share her experiences meeting with LDS missionaries and sharing the good news with them. She also posed some questions to us to get our insights as former LDS missionaries into how best to reach those young men and...

“Lions, and tigers, and bears. Oh my!” Textus Receptus, and Modern Critical Text, and Comma Johanneum. Oh my! The Apostate Paul, here. No sooner had I began attending a Christian church back in 2010, and declared myself an “ex-Mormon Christian” online did Latter-day Saints begin to challenge my belief in the Bible as the reliable Word of God. I quickly learned of critical Biblical scholars like Ba...

In this episode, we welcome Sandra Tanner to the podcast. She joined us earlier this year to discuss her transition from Mormonism to Christianity. Many who go through an LDS faith crisis end up jettisoning Christianity and religion altogether. We asked Sandra to talk about why she kept Christianity after deconstructing Mormonism.  It was a pleasure to have Sandra on Outer Brightness, and to have...

Hey Fireflies! Long time no post. Big apologies. In this episode, Matthew and I give an update on what's been going on in our busy lives and talk about the relaunch of Outer Brightness: From Mormon to Jesus. We're glad to be back, and hope to hear from you soon!

Do Latter-day Saints hate the creeds of historic Christianity? Do they have their own creed? What about the Apostles’ Creed, which historian Philip Schaff has called the “creed of creeds”? Justin S. Holcomb in his book Know the Creeds and Councils has written, “Perhaps more than any other profession of faith, the Apostles’ Creed has expressed the essentials of Christianity in a way that Christians...

In this episode, Matthew the Nuclear Calvinist and the Apostate Paul comment on a debate (?) held on November 13, 2021 between the three amigos of the YouTube channel, Midnight Mormons, and Radio Free Mormon. The video has been posted to the Heart of the Matter, the Midnight Mormons, and the Mormon Discussion, Inc. podcast channels and, to date, has racked up 43K views. The pre-debate drama was am...

This episode we finish our discussion of the LDS Gospel Topics Essay, "Mother in Heaven." Matthew the Nuclear Calvinist kicks off the episode with a question about why the doctrine of a Mother in Heaven is considered authoritative doctrine when the direct support for it amounts to hearsay that Joseph Smith taught it along with the fact that it made it into an LDS Hymn. He notes that the doctrine t...

This is our 100th episode, and we have a special treat for you fireflies! Michael dropped by Outer Brightness to discuss the LDS Gospel Topics Essay on the LDS doctrine of a Mother in Heaven. In this first part of the conversation, they discuss how they viewed thsi doctrine when they were LDS and whether or not they felt an affinity for the doctrine. Finally, they discuss each of the passages from...

This episode, we kicked off our “Things Mormons Hate” series, in which Matthew the Nuclear Calvinist and the Apostate Paul discuss Jonathan Edwards’ important sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” There are two parts to our discussion. In this second part, we discuss our thoughts about Edwards’ sermon and include a reading of the sermon. We hope you enjoy this conversation and presentati...