Mormon Theories

Devon DowDell joins me on the Mormon Theories podcast to discuss the South American model for Book of Mormon geography. Devon's father, the late Del DowDell, devoted the last years of his life to studying this fascinating theory. Del wrote several books and around 4,000 blog posts on the subject. Devon talks about his dad's model, how it fits the evidence, conforms to the words of

Most historians you ask will tell you that Joseph Smith was definitely a polygamist, and that the practice started with him. But there is a growing resistance to those claims. Did Joseph actually practice polygamy? Mark Curtis had the same question, and his search led him to the primary source documents about Joseph's alleged polygamy. He found that some accounts appear decades aft

Modern scientists claim that dinosaurs went extinct some 65 million years ago after an asteroid impact. Jeremy Michel has done research which may suggest otherwise. His theory about dinosaurs being a younger creation draws on scriptures from the Bible and the Book of Mormon, legends of dragons, ancient art depicting dinosaur-like creatures, modern testimonials and pictures, and cur

Ed Goble's views on the Book of Abraham are different than those of the mainstream LDS apologists. Despite Egyptologists not finding the text of the Book of Abraham anywhere on the extant papyri, Ed has found numerous examples of Joseph Smith getting things right in his translations of the Kirtland Egyptian Papers. It seems that an inspired Joseph was somehow correctly pairing word

Jeff Roundy’s YouTube channel, Latter-day Saints' Q&A, has helped countless people navigate their faith journeys and find answers to their questions. In this episode of Mormon Theories, we talk about if the Messiah ben Joseph is Joseph Smith, if Heavenly Mother is real, if Joseph Smith’s prophecies were fulfilled, if evidence for the Book of Mormon has been found, and many

Following the death of Joseph Smith, the Church was fractured into several pieces. Today those have grown into many branches of the Restoration, and they all believe in the Book of Mormon. Patrick McKay Sr. is devoted to working on healing the breach and bringing all of the Restoration groups together. His work highlights the miracles and manifestations of the power of God among th

The scriptures, including the Restoration scriptures, prophesy of an end-time servant that will come in the last days, set in order the house of God, gather Israel, and redeem Zion. Dustin Grady is an expert on this topic, and he believes that this servant is none other than Joseph Smith himself. Despite his death in 1844, Joseph might return in the flesh to accomplish all of those

Gabe Ariciu has a pretty awesome job. He helps people heal and get better for a living. He's a chiropractor and a functional medicine doctor, and he knows a lot about what humans need to thrive. In this episode, he shares some of his knowledge of nutrition, his ideas about the Word of Wisdom, and his thoughts on evolution. Can evolution have a place within Mormonism? He gives some

Did the Book of Mormon take place in South America? My guest Owen Ira Terry thinks so, and he lays out some of the evidence in this episode. An angel revealed South America as Lehi's landing site to Frederick G. Williams. Jacob said that they were living on "an isle of the sea" (2 Nephi 10:20), and the South American Model actually allows for this. Interesting candidate sites for t

Lance Weaver has some of the coolest theories out there, on just about every topic: Periodic inconsistencies in radiocarbon dating might be confusing archeologists. The Book of Mormon might not have started or ended when we think it did. The one true church is spiritual, and universalism seems to be what's taught in the scriptures of Mormonism. Eternal progression might include som