"A sourdough breadcrumb trail led me right out of Mormonism and straight into the arms of the Bread of Life! It’s the hardest thing I've ever done, and it is without a doubt worth it. Take the time, do the research, and ask the questions. The truth will hold up to criticism. God wants our hard questions, and He is good and faithful, provides ample evidence, and doesn't expect blind faith. He knows everything we're struggling with, and when we truly surrender to Him, He changes everything." In this episode, Bryan interviews Audrianna as they unpack her journey out of Mormonism and into a relationship with the Jesus of the Bible. --The Unveiling Mormonism podcast pulls back the curtain on Mormon history, culture and doctrine. Join us for new episodes every Monday. Find resources to talk about these episodes at pursueGOD.org/mormonism.Help others go "full circle" as a follower of Jesus through our 12-week Pursuit series.Click here to learn more about how to use these resources at home, with a small group, or in a one-on-one discipleship relationship.Got questions or want to leave a note? Email us at podcast@pursueGOD.org.Donate Now--
What is the difference between knowing about Jesus and actually being saved by Him? In this comprehensive episode of the PursueGOD Truth Podcast, Pastor Bryan tackles the single most defining question of human existence: What is saving faith? Many sincere people confuse historical awareness and intellectual agreement with true spiritual rebirth, remaining on the "sinking ship" of self-sovereignty despite knowing about the "lifeboat" of Christ. Moving through core biblical principles, this single-host deep dive dismantles religious myths, explores the primal motivation of God's love, unpacks the true heart of repentance, highlights the power of public confession, and celebrates the radical gift of pure grace—proving that no past is too dark and no faith is too fragile for God’s saving power.--The PursueGOD Truth podcast is the “easy button” for making disciples – whether you’re looking for resources to lead a family devotional, a small group at church, or a one-on-one mentoring relationship. Join us for new episodes every Tuesday and Friday. Find resources to talk about these episodes at pursueGOD.org.Help others go "full circle" as a follower of Jesus through our 12-week Pursuit series.Click here to learn more about how to use these resources at home, with a small group, or in a one-on-one discipleship relationship.Got questions or want to leave a note? Email us at podcast@pursueGOD.org.Donate Now--Key TakeawaysMental Assent is NOT Saving Faith: Agreeing that Jesus existed or died on a cross doesn't save you; you must move from intellectual agreement to active, personal trust.God’s Love is the Primal Motivation: Salvation originates in God’s unprompted love , not in human performance or transactional religious rituals.Repentance is a Mind Shift (Metanoia): Biblical repentance is not merely feeling guilty or regretful; it is a complete $180 degree turn away from self-sovereignty toward God.Confession Means Agreement (Homologeō): Declaring "Jesus is Lord" means saying the same thing God says about Jesus and yielding absolute allegiance to Him over every worldly power.Salvation is 100% Grace (Charis): Because humanity is spiritually dead in sin, salvation cannot be earned or partially paid for; it is an unmerited gift received through faith alone.Object Over Intensity: The safety of your salvation rests on the solid rock of Jesus—the object of your faith—not the emotional strength or intellectual perfection of your belief.
Kacy grew up in a 98% LDS community in Idaho, was baptized at eight, attended BYU-Idaho, married in the temple, and checked nearly every box of a faithful LDS life. But during COVID, questions about church leadership eventually pushed her to start searching for answers outside of Mormonism. As she began reading the Bible for herself, she wrestled with the Trinity, grace, and the identity of Jesus—and slowly realized that the Jesus she was discovering in Scripture was different from the one she had always known. --The Unveiling Mormonism podcast pulls back the curtain on Mormon history, culture and doctrine. Join us for new episodes every Monday. Find resources to talk about these episodes at pursueGOD.org/mormonism.Help others go "full circle" as a follower of Jesus through our 12-week Pursuit series.Click here to learn more about how to use these resources at home, with a small group, or in a one-on-one discipleship relationship.Got questions or want to leave a note? Email us at podcast@pursueGOD.org.Donate Now--
Note: Much of the content in this podcast can be found in show participant Ross Anderson’s book Understanding the Book of MormonThe Book of Mormon claims to be an ancient scripture that tells the story of God’s people in the American continent. It was engraved on gold plates and translated by Joseph Smith through the “gift and power of God.” In fact, Smith claimed that “the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book” (History of the Church, 4:461). LDS missionaries seek converts by urging them to read BoM and pray about its divine authenticity.Anachronism Anachronism = events or objects that appear out of the proper time period in which one would expect themSynagoguesAlma 16:13 = Nephite evangelists preached repentance in synagogues, “which were built after the manner of the Jews”Nephites were descended from Jews → were Jewish (according to story)But synagogues were not developed in Judaism until 400 years after Nephites left JerusalemHow could the writer have know HOW the Jews built their synagogues?Plants / AnimalsMosiah 9:9 “And we began to till the ground, yea, even with all manner of seeds: with seeds of corn and of wheat and of barley.”Wheat and barley were brought to America by EuropeansSheep / goats / cattle / swine → introduced to America by EuropeansEconomy → use of money (coinage) vs. barter18th Century IdeasSince its publication, observers have noted that BoM contains many parallels to 19th c. American lifeAlexander Campbell: JS wrote into the BoM “every error and almost every truth discussed in New York for the last ten years”BoM decides all the great theological / social controversies of the ageReflects 19th c. theological & political themesOffers guidance on democracy, socialism, capitalism, various Protestant controversies like infant baptism, Calvinism, miracles, the fall of humankind, call to ministry, Unitarianism, etcSermons by Nephite prophets echo closely the form & language of 19th c. evangelistsConversion experiences described in BoM are similar to spiritual awakenings commonly reported in American revival movement of early 1800sWhy are the contents of an ancient work so closely tied to the concerns of one American generation?Literary SourcesA View of the Hebrews (1823) by Ethan Smith (Read it here)Argued that Native Americans descended from lost 10 tribes of IsraelThis was a pretty common view in early 1800sBoM shares several thematic elementsExtensive quotations from IsaiahThe New World peopled from the Old World by long sea voyageA religious motive for that migrationMigrants divided into civilized and uncivilized groups with long wars between themEventual destruction of the civilized by the uncivilizedAssumption that Native Americans are descended from these Israelite peopleRecord a change of government from monarchy to republicSuggest the gospel was preached in ancient AmericaIt is unknown whether JS had access to a copy of View of the HebrewsBut even if BoM was not directly inspired by it, the ideas expressed in it were common and popular in 19th century America; reflected in dozens of booksHistory of the American Indians (1775) by James AdairSpecific words and phrases describing Indian fortifications - same in bothMany other parallelsThe Wonders of Nature (1825) by Josiah PriestSimilarity in several passages → a pure coincidence?The Golden Pot (1827 eng trans), by ETA HoffmanSeveral alleged similarities in this story compared to the story of how the BoM / gold plates came forthBible AnachronismsAspects of how the BoM interacts with the Bible → don’t reflect JS’s timesKJV language = KJV translated in 1611, 210+ years before BoMEnglish had changed quite a bit → compare reading American lit from that timeLast of the Mohicans / The Scarlet Letter / Legend of Sleepy HollowBut BoM is written in full-on KJV styleKJV the predominant translation → extremely wide circulationIt was how Scripture soundedWhy would BoM not reflect the common language of JS’s time?If not a conscious attempt to make it sound like ScriptureBoM contains verbal parallels to the 1611 preface to KJVWords / phrases in the preface, but not in the KJV text of BibleWhich, of course, ancient writers would not have had access toBoM has a timeline → approx dates when events took placeAlma 12-13 (dates) draws heavily on the book of HebrewsA variety of BoM’s theological statements draw from / depend on interpretations already present in the NTProphecies from 1-2 Nephi (600-5454 BC) about coming of Jesus Christ use language recorded in NTReads more like a Xian doc vs a Jewish docIn a sense, these BoM prophecies know too much detail about Messiah - far more than OT prophetsSuggests an author familiar with the fulfillment of the prophecies after the factBoM version of Sermon on MountSome changes are made: no ref to PhariseesBut many issues in BoM version that presuppose 1st-century Jewish cultural / religious contextGoing 2 miles when forced to go 1The “jot and tittle” of Scripture“Dogs” as a metaphor for GentilesEtc.Does the Bible have the same issues?The evidence of the Dead Sea Scrolls gives strong evidence of the reliability of the BibleSee: “What Are the Dead Seas Scrolls?”--The Unveiling Mormonism podcast pulls back the curtain on Mormon history, culture and doctrine. Join us for new episodes every Monday. Find resources to talk about these episodes at pursueGOD.org/mormonism.Help others go "full circle" as a follower of Jesus through our 12-week Pursuit series.Click here to learn more about how to use these resources at home, with a small group, or in a one-on-one discipleship relationship.Got questions or want to leave a note? Email us at podcast@pursueGOD.org.Donate Now--
Note: Much of the content in this podcast can be found in show participant Ross Anderson’s book Understanding the Book of MormonThe Book of Mormon claims to be an ancient scripture that tells the story of God’s people in the American continent.LDS challenge: “Either the Book of Mormon is what the Prophet Joseph said it is, or this Church and its founder are false, a deception from the first instance onward…Joseph must be accepted either as a prophet of God or else as a charlatan of the first order…” (Jeffrey R. Holland, “Christ and the New Covenant,” quoted in Ensign, September 2002, 14)To accept BoM is to accept JS as a prophet, and everything that he stands for.The Book of Mormon claims can be / should be tested. 1 Thess 5:21 “Test everything that is said. Hold on to what is good.”ArchaeologyBoM claims to be an ancient record of American continentFeaturing great cities, people at warArchaeology has failed to unearth any concrete evidence for BoMInscriptional evidence → names carved into stone monumentsExample: Sennacherib / Assyrians = names of Israel’s kingsNo BoM name every foundMaterial remains → walls / foundations of ancient citiesPlenty of ancient cities in America, but none that can be linked to BoMExample: BoM describes its people using gold, silver, iron, brass, copperThe mining, smelting, and casting of metal ores requires special tools / complex processes which leave traces in the archaeological recordScholars generally agree: metallurgy not introduced into America until several centuries after the BoM story endsAnimals → BoM mentions many different kinds of animals: cattle, sheep, goats, horsesNone have been found in any archaeological setting dating to BoM timesUnlike deer, jaguar, peccary, tapir, other native speciesThe horse have never been found depicted in any of 1000s of sample of artNew world archaeology is still a young sciencePerhaps some day some artifact or inscription will be found to validate the BoMBut so far, best LDS apologists can do = create aura of plausibility based on vague similaritiesBy contrast, archaeology has repeatedly demonstrated the reliability of Bible: historically / geographicallyUse of metals as describe in Bible can be verified at many sitesA person can visit the actual cities where Bible describes Jesus or Paul travellingBritish Museum (London)Massive stone panels from ancient Ninevah → cities in Bible are recorded thereEvidence for the reliability of the Bible: “Three Reasons to Trust the Bible”DNATraditional LDS understanding - based on BoM story → native Americans are descended from ancient Jews who left Jerusalem for America around 600 BCThis is what JS taught → the most straightforward way to read the BoM textMainstream science → all native Americans are of Asian originSupported by extensive DNA sampling of American Indian populationsMany current LDS scholars claim that most NA’s are of Asian descentWhile a small subset are of Semitic origin, descended from LehiIdea is = Nephite & Lamanite civilizations described in BoM made up a very small % of total population of New World during BoM timesLDS Church has acknowledged the challenges1981 BoM: identifies Lamanites as “the principle ancestors of the American Indians”2006 BoM: Lamanites “are among the ancestors of the American Indians”If BoM peoples were not alone in the Americas, it’s very surprising that BoM never mentions these large populations of other peopleIn fact, no references to other peoples or nations, no accounts of Nephites evangelizing pagans, no polemics vs polytheism, idolatry, etc.LDS Church Gospel Topics Essay: Book of Mormon and DNA StudiesBible PlagiarismBoM contains extensive material in common with the BibleFirst type of shared content = simple repetition or direct quotationIncluding frequent phrases such as “it came to pass” and “verily, verily I say unto you”Second type = interpretive changes to a biblical text2 Nephi 2:18 expands on the biblical account of Eve’s temptation (Gen 3:4-5)Third type = structural parallels to the BibleIncludes literary forms, common motifs, character types, etcConversion of Alma (Mos 27) has many features in common with Paul’s conversion (Acts 9)Point: in many cases, Nephite writers mimic wording from the NTA doc to which they would have had no access.All of this shared content raises the Q: does common material come from independent sources?Or did JS simply copy from the Bible?Case 1 = the Sermon on the MountJesus appears in BoM - apparently in 40 days after resurrection prior to ascensionHis public address in 3 Nephi 12-14 contains much in common with Matt 5-7Case 2 = BoM contains more than 19 complete chapters in common w/IsaiahLehi’s people carried a copy of OT scriptures with them → source of quoted materialSeveral lines of evidence suggest JS derived the Isaiah passages directly from KJV rather than an ancient sourceExample: biblical scholarship has advanced since KJV translationMany passages that were obscure in KJV in JS time are now more clearBut some of the misunderstandings found in the KJV are also found in BoMSuggests a direct relationship between KJV / BoMWould not have been present in BoM’s quotes of Isaiah if the Isaiah text had originated in Lehi’s time, as the story claimsHow would translation problems from KJV find their way into BoM?The extensive content shared between KJV & BoM - and the nature of the parallels - creates strong impression that BoM was produced AFTER the KJVOf course, LDS apologists have answers for all of these objectionsThe question is whether their answers are credibleFor loyal Mormons, the answers are convincing because they already have an existing commitment to the BoMOthers, without that grid, are not convinced that BoM passes the test--The Unveiling Mormonism podcast pulls back the curtain on Mormon history, culture and doctrine. Join us for new episodes every Monday. Find resources to talk about these episodes at pursueGOD.org/mormonism.Help others go "full circle" as a follower of Jesus through our 12-week Pursuit series.Click here to learn more about how to use these resources at home, with a small group, or in a one-on-one discipleship relationship.Got questions or want to leave a note? Email us at podcast@pursueGOD.org.Donate Now--