Standard of Truth

In this episode, we answer some missionary emails relating to the First Vision, Joseph’s early persecution, and Joseph’s experiences attending other churches. There is also a healthy discussion about frocks. Standard of Truth Tour dates for the summer of 2025: Missouri/Nauvoo – June 22nd through June 28th Palmyra/Kirtland – August 3rd through August 9th Sign up for our free monthly email: ⁠  https...

We start the podcast with a discussion of General Authorities conference talks that focus on adultery. For the prize of a $50 Olive Garden gift card, we play everyone’s favorite game “Fun With Adultery” where Gerrit has to guess which decades adultery was a larger focus and which prophets and apostles spoke about the topic the most. Gerrit lost and Richard retained the $50 gift card for use in a f...

We start with an email we received from a Catholic in Quebec and a new litner from France that we met on our recent Church history tour. In this episode we discuss the following quote from Joseph Smith "If a man commit adultery, he cannot receive the celestial kingdom of God. Even if he is saved in any kingdom, it cannot be the celestial kingdom."  We discuss where this quote comes from, the conte...

It has been 180 since the prophet Joseph Smith was murdered in Carthage Jail. In this bonus episode, Gerrit discusses the martyrdom and shares his feelings about the Prophet Joseph Smith.

As Gerrit and Richard return from several weeks of Church history tours there is much to discuss. Because of this, we wanted to provide a full Rex’s Elders Quorum President Warning that we begin our discussion of the Sword of Laban 42 minutes and 18 seconds into the episode. In this episode, we talk about our exploits on our recent Standard of Truth Tour. Have you ever wondered what it means to ou...

This episode was recorded in front of a live studio audience on the banks of the Mississippi River in Keokuk, Iowa. In this episode, we answer questions from the litners that are on the Standard of Truth Tour in Missouri and Illinois. Question: An LDS press was destroyed in Independence, but it was a big deal when the City of Nauvoo destroyed the Nauvoo Expositor. Other than LDS bias why was it di...

From the shadow of the Hill Cumorah, we bring you questions and answer recordings in front of a live Standard of Truth Tour audience. Below are the questions that led the discussion for this episode: Who was Joseph Smith going to have as his vice-presidential running mate? How frequently did Church members gather for a “sacrament” meeting from 1830 to the end of the Nauvoo period? What is the Moun...

In this episode, we discuss whether or not God created the Dodge Dart. Marcion also had a question about whether or not the God of the Old Testament was the same as Jesus. His heretical arguments lead to the formation of the accepted Christian canon. ⁠Subscribe to our free monthly email -  ⁠⁠https://standardoftruthpodcast.substack.com/⁠⁠ Please visit our website at  ⁠⁠www.standardoftruth.com⁠⁠ If...

As it is the season when many missionaries receive their callings, we want to help provide additional resources for mission prep. In this episode, we replay a premium episode from Joseph Smith and the Restoration that discusses the Nicene Creed. We inch ever closer to Joseph Smith and the Restoration by leaping from the 2nd century A.D. to the early 4th century A.D. We discuss the Arian Controvers...

If you love the anti-Mormon book Mormonism Unvailed boy, do we have an episode for you. In this episode, Gerrit reads from Mormonism Unvailed where definitive statement after definitive statement is given by friends and family of Solomon Spaulding saying how the Book of Mormon was taken word for word from Spaulding’s manuscript called “Manuscript Found”. Unfortunately for all of Spaulding’s lying...

In a premium episode several weeks ago Gerrit may or may have gone on a rant about Doctor Philastus Hurlbut and Solomon Spaulding and we wanted to play a section of that rant. So In this episode, Gerrit provides additional context to Hurlbut and the Solomon Spaulding Manuscript. Gerrit also talks about the Restoration Proclamation that was read during General Conference in April 2020. Sign up for...

We continue our discussion of Eliza Gibbs and the trials she suffered in Nauvoo, Iowa, and Utah. Despite her difficulty, she remained faithful. Gerrit shares a letter to Eliza from Wilford Woodruff to comfort her and share with her the laws that govern angels and spirits that depart this life.   Sign up for our free monthly email: ⁠  ⁠https://standardoftruthpodcast.substack.com⁠ We had a couple of...

We begin this episode, like most episodes, with a discussion of the faith crisis of a 19th-century 20-year-old woman with consumption (tuberculosis). She has a miraculous experience and seven years later is introduced to the gospel. She believes the message immediately and despite the opposition she faced by her family she joins the Church.  Images mentioned on the podcast:  ⁠https://drive.google....

In this episode, Gerrit discusses D&C 128 and the identity of the Angel Raphael. We start with what we know from modern revelation and then bring in the Apocrypha. We talk about the Book of Tobit, written by Tobit, where Raphael is discussed but his identity is not disclosed. Gerrit also discusses the Book of Jude and the Book of Enoch. The Book of Enoch is not in the Apocrypha but was mention...

Gerrit shares some of his thoughts about the responses to several talks during General Conference. He compares the responses of General Conference to the responses to “The Vision”. We read a letter from Joseph Smith discussing the response to “The Vision”. We also had a very kind anonymous donor offer to pay for the Standard of Truth Tour for six people. We are calling it the Dirk Moss Scholarship...

In this episode, Richard starts by thanking all the kind listeners who donated money to help 118 people in Peru travel to the Arequipa Temple. We discuss a listener’s question about Joseph Smith telling the missionaries in Cincinnati to wash the dust of that wicked city off their feet. Gerrit talks about the likely origin of that story and provides additional context. We also discuss the keys give...

On Thursday we released an episode that sounded like it was recorded in Gerrit’s bathroom in a cave. We fixed the audio and explained how you can access it. We also give our thoughts from the 194th Annual General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Spoiler Alert, we liked it. Sign up for our free monthly email: ⁠ https://standardoftruthpodcast.substack.com The Kirtland t...

We had a corrupted audio file that made the episode sound terrible. We have fixed the audio quality, however, the terrible content remains. We apologize for the inconvenience. We begin the episode with how a person can resolve concerns they may have with Church history. Gerrit begins by sharing several statements from Martin Harris as he witnesses of the Gold Plates. He also shares a testimony of...

In this episode, we really wanted everyone in attendance to feel comfortable, so we discussed politics and polygamy. We learned the history of political parties in Utah, and we talked about the insanity of Idaho’s Anti-Mormon Constitution that disenfranchised Mormons regardless of whether or not they practiced polygamy. We also learned that Richard is not capacitated to pronounce the word “anarchi...

Like every sitcom in the 1980s, this episode was recorded in front of a live studio audience. We cannot even begin to thank all the amazing people who attended the event. People came from all over the country and we cannot properly articulate how much fun we had. Many listeners to the show brought friends and significant others who do not listen and have never listened. These people brought to the...

We finally get back to the Witnesses of the Book of Mormon. Sure, we first spend a little time talking about the Book of Abraham and the characters copied from the gold plates, but then we jump right into the Whitmer family being baptized. After much “teasing” by Martin, Oliver, and David Joseph Smith goes to the Lord and receives D&C 17 as a revelation. The Angel Moroni shows the gold plates...

In this bonus episode, we replay sections of a previous episode from season 3 where we discuss the origin of the Hosanna Shout and the dedication of the Kirtland Temple.

In this episode, we discuss the historic purchase of the Kirtland Temple and other Nauvoo properties. Gerrit provides additional insight into the properties that the Church has acquired.  Map of Nauvoo:  ⁠https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/bc-jsp/content/jsp/images/content/library/pdf/D10_Nauvoo-Plat.pdf⁠ For details about our live studio audience recording on Saturday, March 16th please sign up fo...

In this bonus episode, we discuss additional details of our live event on Saturday, March 16th at 6:00 PM in Orem.  Space is limited so if you would like to purchase tickets to attend the event please click on the link below to sign up for the free monthly newsletter: ⁠https://standardoftruthpodcast.substack.com/⁠

In this episode, we begin the podcast by talking about the pseudepigraphal nature of some of the books of the New Testament and the problem with the process academics use for identifying pseudepigraphal records. We also talk about the importance of modern-day revelation in understanding the scriptures. A litner talks about their frustration with politics making their way into their Sunday experien...