Show description: In this episode, we talk with Joseph M. Spencer, author of The Anatomy of Book of Mormon Theology, Volumes One and Two. We discuss how this project emerged, highlight some of the essays in the collection, and talk about the development of Book of Mormon studies over the past two decades as well as where Joseph sees the field going…

Show description: In this episode, we talk with Trevan Hatch and Leonard Greenspoon, co-editors of The Learning of the Jews: What Latter-day Saints Can Learn from Jewish Religious Experience. We discuss how this project emerged, some of the voices and topics discussed, and how this anthology makes a unique contribution to Latter-day Saint and Jewis…

Show description: In this episode, we talk with Blake T. Oster about Exploring Mormon Thought, Vol 4: God's Plan to Heal Evil. We begin by giving an overview of the first three volumes in the Exploring Mormon Thought series, then move into the fourth volume, discussing the problem of evil. Blake gives us an overview of the problem, solutions propos…

Show description: In this episode, we talk with Samantha Richardson, co-editor of Miracles Among the Rubble, by Carol R. Gray. Samantha is the second of Carol Gray’s seven children and accompanied he rmother on her first humanitarian aid trips to Bosnia in 1992–93. We discuss Samantha's personal experiences and memories of her humanitarian convoys …

Show description: In this Kofford Lecture Series livestream event, we will be talking with Richard G. Moore about Oliver H. Olney, a little-known figure in Mormon history. Despite his falling out from the Church, and subsequent excommunication, Oliver remained part of the Nauvoo community, writing down the events he witnessed and publishing booklet…

Show description: Michael Austin, author of Re-Reading Job: Understanding the Ancient World's Greatest Poem, discusses common misperceptions about the story of Job, how it fits into the Persian poetry tradition, what the story was trying to teach, and how we can relate the story to our modern times. Michael Austin is the author of several books inc…

Show description: In this episode, we chat with Richard G. Moore, editor of The Writings of Oliver H. Olney: April 1842 to February 1843—Nauvoo, Illinois. We discuss this lesser-known figure in Mormon history and what makes him important to the Nauvoo era, his falling out with church leadership, his own reports of visions and revelations, and some …

Show description: Neylan McBaine discusses progress towards greater visibility and voice for women in the LDS Church since the publication of Women at Church in 2014, the effects of the pandemic and "house church" on women, and recent research published by BYU regarding women's voices in predominantly male group settings. Neylan McBaine, a life-lon…

Show description: Part 4 of our lecture series with Charles R. Harrell, author of This is My Doctrine: The Development of Mormon Theology. In this final installment, we discuss the developing theology of premortal existence within Mormonism examining early Christian and Second Great Awakening thought and Joseph Smith's teachings of spirit creation …

Show description: Part 3 of our lecture series with Charles R. Harrell, author of This is My Doctrine: The Development of Mormon Theology. In this installment, we discuss the developing theology of Godhead within Mormonism examining shifts through Joseph Smith's scriptural output as well as later developments in Utah under Brigham Young. Part 1 - W…

Show description: Part 2 of our lecture series with Charles R. Harrell, author of This is My Doctrine: The Development of Mormon Theology. In this installment, we discuss Joseph Smith's theology of restoration, examine the use of restoration in the Old and New Testaments, and compare how restoration was understood among evangelical, Universalist, a…

Show description: Coming to you via Facebook Live! We are pleased to bring you a lecture series with Charles R. Harrell, author of This is My Doctrine: The Development of Mormon Theology. In this four-part live series, we'll be discussing the nature of doctrine as well as Joseph Smith's theology of restoration, the Godhead, and premortal existence.…

Show description: In this episode, we chat with Joseph M. Spencer about his newest book, 1st Nephi: A Brief Theological Introduction (Maxwell Institute) and how this new work ties into his previous work on Nephi's use of Isaiah: The Vision of All: Twenty-five Lectures on Isaiah in Nephi's Record. We then switch gears and analyze a few passages in I…

Show description: We are pleased to bring you part five of our five-part conversation with Brant Gardner about the Book of Mormon. In this final episode, we discuss the purpose of the Book of Mormon. Topics discussed in this series include anthropology, Joseph Smith's translation process, authorship of the Book of Mormon, historicity and anachronis…

Show description: We are pleased to bring you part four of a five-part conversation with Brant Gardner about the Book of Mormon. In this episode, we discuss geographic models for the Book of Mormon. Topics discussed in this series include anthropology, Joseph Smith's translation process, authorship of the Book of Mormon, historicity and anachronism…

Show description: In this episode, we are pleased to bring you part three of a five-part conversation with Brant Gardner about the Book of Mormon. Topics discussed in this series include the organization of the small and large plates, Joseph Smith's translation process, authorship of the Book of Mormon, historicity and anachronisms, archaeology, ge…

Show description: In this episode, we are pleased to bring you part two of a five-part conversation with Brant Gardner about the Book of Mormon. Topics discussed in this series include the organization of the small and large plates, Joseph Smith's translation process, authorship of the Book of Mormon, historicity and anachronisms, archaeology, geog…

Show description: In this episode, we are pleased to bring you the first part of a five-part conversation with Brant Gardner about the Book of Mormon. Topics discussed in this series include the organization of the small and large plates, Joseph Smith's translation process, authorship of the Book of Mormon, historicity and anachronisms, archaeology…

Show description: In this episode, we bring you a recording of a live author event with Don Bradley at Writ & Vision rare books and gallery in Provo, UT. Don discusses his new book, The Lost 116 Pages: Reconstructing the Book of Mormon's Missing Stories. He discusses his background, faith journey, research into the missing pages, and how piecing to…

Show description: In this highly anticipated work, author Don Bradley presents over a decade of historical and scriptural research to not only tell the story of the lost pages but to reconstruct many of the detailed stories written on them. In this interview, Don Bradley discusses his methodology for reconstructing the missing stories as well as pr…

Show description: For devotees of Christian scripture, the suggestion that the New Testament contains anti-Semitic rhetoric is challenging. After all, how could the New Testament, largely written by Jewish authors about the Jewish Messiah contain any trace of disdain towards its own people? However, centuries of Christian hatred towards Jews demons…

In this episode of the Greg Kofford Books Authorcast, we chat with David B. Ostler about his book, Bridges: Ministering to Those Who Question. We discuss his personal story and what led him to write this topic as well the larger trends of disaffection and disaffiliation from religion in Western society and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day S…

In this episode of the Greg Kofford Books AuthorCast, we chat with Gordon Shepherd and Gary Shepherd about their latest book, Jan Shipps: A Social and Intellectual Portrait. We discuss their background and what led them to write about Jan Shipps as well as Jan's importance in the field of Mormon Studies, particularly as a role model for female scho…

On this episode, we chat with James McLachlan, co-editor of Element: The Journal for the Society of Mormon Philosophy and Theology (SMPT). We discuss James's background, give a basic primer on a few schools of thought within philosophy and their relationship to Mormonism. We also discuss the origins of SMPT, the most recent issue of Element, and th…

On this episode, we chat with Melvin C. Johnson, author of Life and Times of John Pierce Hawley: A Mormon Ulysses of the American West. We discuss Hawley's following Lyman Wight to the Mormon colony in TX, his conversion to Brigham Young's LDS Church in Utah, accusations of John's involvement with the massacre at Mountain Meadows, John's eventual s…

On this episode, we chat with Talana S. Hooper, author of Lot Smith: Mormon Pioneer and American Frontiersman. “This is a fascinating book worthy of a truly fascinating nineteenth-century frontiersman.” — Gene A. Sessions, editor of Mormon Thunder: A Documentary History of Jedediah Morgan Grant Lot Smith: Mormon Pioneer and American Frontiersman By…

On this episode, we chat with Laura Rutter Strickling, author of On Fire in Baltimore: Black Mormon Women and Conversion in a Raging City. On Fire in Baltimore: Black Mormon Women and Conversion in a Raging City By Laura Rutter Strickling $20.95 paperback $34.95 hardcover 197 pages Free sample preview Q&A with the author Download Subscribe in Pocke…

Episode 103: The Expanded Canon Hosted by Brian Whitney On this episode, editors Blair Van Dyke, Brian Birch, and Boyd Petersen discuss the development of the Mormon Studies program at Utah Valley University, their annual conferences, the new UVU Comparative Mormon Studies series with Greg Kofford Books, as well as the contributors and topics in th…

Episode 102: Interview with Charles Randall Paul Hosted by Brian Whitney In this episode, Charles Randall Paul discusses his forthcoming book, Converting the Saints: A Study of Religious Rivalry in America, as well as the interfaith organization he founded, the Foundation for Religious Diplomacy, and offers a few suggestions for dealing with religi…

Episode 101: Interview with Blake Ostler Hosted by Brian Whitney Blake T. Ostler is an independent scholar residing in Salt Lake City, Utah,and the author of the multi-volume Exploring Mormon Thought series. Volume 1: The Attributes of God has recently been re-issued in paperback. In this interview, Blake discusses his background, the series, some …