Outer Brightness: From Mormon to Jesus

In this episode, Matthew the Nuclear Calvinist and the Apostate Paul deal the dirt, and talk about your friend and our friend, Herman. Who’s Herman? Hermeneutics: The Art and Science of Biblical Interpretation. How should we read and understand the Bible. If a passage is difficult to understand, what are the steps to unpacking the author's intent? We tackle these questions and more in this episode...

In this episode, the scions of light wrap up conversation on a topic that an LDS missionary listener named Jeremy asked them to discuss. The doctrine of creation, and whether God created ex materia (from existing materials) or ex nihilo (from nothing), is a key point of departure between Mormonism and Christianity. Here we discuss how it affects other doctrines and practices and dig into some of t...

In this episode, the scions of light tackle a topic that an LDS missionary listener named Jeremy asked them to discuss. The doctrine of creation, and whether God created ex materia (from existing materials) or ex nihilo (from nothing), is a key point of departure between Mormonism and Christianity. Here we discuss how it affects other doctrines and practices. You can read Paul Copan's (Christian)...

In this episode, Michael and Paul welcome Rich Hoyer to the program. Rich is a pastor of a church in the Louisville, Kentucky area. He’s also heavily involved in apologetics, planning and hosting the annual Reveal Conference, which brings Christian apologists to the Louisville and Indianapolis areas. Rich dropped by to share his thoughts on why Christian apologetics is important. Check out Rich's...

In this episode, we bring you part two of an interview we conducted with Fred Anson. Fred is the driving force behind Beggar’s Bread, a Christian blog where Beggars share the bread that they’ve so freely and graciously received. Before Fred converted to Christianity in the 1970’s he was an atheist. Early in his life as a Christian, he became enmeshed in a high-demand, Christian cult called the She...

In this episode and the next, we bring you an interview we conducted with Fred Anson. Fred is the driving force behind Beggar’s Bread, a Christian blog where Beggars share the bread that they’ve so freely and graciously received. Before Fred converted to Christianity in the 1970’s he was an atheist. Early in his life as a Christian, he became enmeshed in a high-demand, Christian cult called the Sh...

In this episode, two of the scions of light (Briana and Matthew) interview Matt Wilder of Adam's Road Ministry. Matt composes beautiful original piano pieces and adds to them spoken word readings from Scripture. Adam's Road Piano is one of his creative outlets. He visited Outer Brightness to discuss his journey from Mormon to Jesus and what he's currently doing with the Adam's Road Ministry. We ho...

In this episode, two of the scions of light (Michael and Paul) interview Micah Wilder of Adam's Road Ministry . Micah's book Passport to Heaven will be released on June 1, 2021. He dropped by Outer Brightness to talk about his story, his ministry and his book. We hope you enjoy this interview.

In this episode, the scions of light look back on the series of episodes they've done on the LDS Articles of Faith. They each share and discuss some of their favorite moments from that series.

In this bonus episode, the scions of light announce the addition of Bri the Christ-Warrior Princess to the Outer Brightness. They also look back on Year 1 of the podcast and share some of their favorite moments that made it into episodes, as well as some that didn't. Finally, they share some exciting news about current developments related to distribution.

In this episode, two of the scions (Matthew & Paul) get together to discuss the 13th LDS Article of Faith and discuss the question: "What about morality?"

The scions of light continue and wrap up their discussion of LDS Article of Faith #10 related to the gathering of Israel. Last episode they talked about some LDS folk doctrines related to the lost 10 tribes. Listen to this episode to find out if our intrepid podcasters can locate the money quote from Joseph Smith about a literal changing of blood to make one a descendant of Abraham.

The scions of light have discuss LDS Article of Faith #10 related to the gathering of Israel. They discuss some of the unique LDS teachings and folk doctrines surrounding this topic and juxtapose those ideas with what they now believe as Christians about the gathering of Israel.

The scions of light discuss an article by Michael titled "The Vicarious Atonement: A Proclamation to Latter-day Saints." Read the article here: https://fromwatertowine.org/the-vicarious-atonement-a-proclamation-to-latter-day-saints/

The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is the most important event in human history. Romans, chapter 1, verse 4 states that Jesus was “declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.” In other words, the Resurrection was God’s powerful declaration of Jesus as His Son. As we celebrate Resurrection day today, our topic is the Resurrection. W...

In this episode, the sons of light continue their discussion of the Gifts of the Spirit. They tackle questions about whether the gifts were evident in Old Testament believers, what the gifts are, if there are different categories of gifts, and whether or not the gifts (all of them) continue. We hope you enjoy this conversation!

In this episode the sons of light discuss the Gifts of the Spirit. They kick off by sharing their experiences as Mormons, the continuationist position that the LDS Church takes, and they begin to discuss the biblical data regarding spiritual gifts.

How do Christians balance their worship of God in spirit and in truth? That is the topic that the sons of light take up this week. They discuss questions surrounding this topic and share how their understanding has grown through their journeys. Hang around to the end because they discuss the way James 1:5 is used in Joseph Smith’s first vision account and by Latter-day Saints as well as other ques...

Matthew and Paul recap the Book of Abraham debate Paul had with LDS Apologist Brett Dennis. They discuss feedback provided by Jeremy Howard, Robert Boylan, and a listener named Richard, who recommended a YouTube video by another LDS apologist, Paul Gregersen. Matthew and Paul take time to respond to Gregersen's overall argument. We hope you enjoy this bonus episode.

LDS Apologist Brett Dennis joined Outer Brightness for a formal debate with Paul. The topic was "Is the Book of Abraham Ancient Scripture?"

In this episode the sons of light discuss the ninth LDS article of faith and the concept of continuing revelation. This topic has a lot to unpack, branching out into topics related to additional scripture and canon and modern day prophets and apostles. We hope you enjoy this discussion.

The sons of light are joined by Darren Colwel and Ben Hyink. Both are church planting pastors at Covenant Grace Church in Syracuse, Utah. They joined us to discuss Covenant Theology. We think our conversation will be helpful to Latter-day Saints or post-Latter-day Saints seeking to understand the Bible and theology more fully. You can find out more information about Covenant Grace Church at: https...

This episode wraps the discussion the sons of light had on priesthood. Here they cover questions around placing oneself under the authority of local church leaders, whether or not they have more confidence without the LDS priesthood, what they would say to a Latter-day Saint who claims that exclusive LDS priesthood authority is necessary for ordinances to be effectual, and finally, they dig into s...

The sons of light continue their discussion of the LDS and Christian views of priesthood. The questions this time cover topics of worthiness, the perception that Latter-day Saints have that Christians lack authority, local church leadership in the churches Paul, Matthew, and Michael attend, and trusting church leadership after Mormonism.

The sons of light begin a discussion of the LDS view of priesthood. Here they tackle questions about their experiences in the LDS Church with priesthood, what it meant to them and their families, as well as the LDS Church hierarchy. Trigger Warning: The last twenty minutes or so of this episode contain discussion of sensitive topics. We’ll let you know when you bow out should you so desire.