During Mitt Romney’s 2012 campaign for president BYU professor Randy Bott made headlines in a Washington Post article discussing racial teachings. It turns out that the LDS Church’s silence on racial issues contributed to a
Mormonism is unique in the fact that there is racism in Mormon scriptures. These scriptures have been used to enforce the priesthood and temple ban on black members. Dr. Newell Bringhurst and Dr. Matt Harris
We’re moving on to a critique of the Race and Priesthood essay on the LDS Church website. What are the strengths and weaknesses? Is it a definitive repudiation of racism? Dr. Matt Harris & Dr.
One of the thorniest issues in the LDS Church is justifying the past practice of polygamy. In fact, there are 3 Gospel Topics essays devoted to the topic. Dr. Newell Bringhurst and Dr. Matt Harris
The LDS Church began publishing the LDS Gospel topics essays in 2013, but are they hidden or public? Many church members don’t know about them. Why is that? Dr. Matt Harris & Dr. Newell Bringhurst
In 2013, the LDS Church sent Elder Marlin Jensen and Richard Turley to Sweden to answer tough questions about church history. This was a pivotal moment in addressing faith crisis, and led to the Church
John D. Lee was convicted in the second trial for his role in the Mountain Meadows Massacre. Will describes what he believes was a deal between prosecutors and the LDS Church. Will: Anyway, Sumner Howard,
If you’d like to check out this episode, please sign up for my newsletter. It’s completely free. Go to GospelTangents.com/newsletter to find out how the apostles reacted to these protests against BYU. Matt: President Kimball said in
In the early 1970s, BYU opened up a brand-new law school. I was surprised to learn that the American Bar Association considered not accrediting the university due to the racial ban in the Church. Dr.
Dr. Matthew Harris’ focus is on religion and the law, church, and state and Mormon Studies. He received a BA and MA in history from Brigham Young University and an MPhil and Ph.D. in history from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University. Dr. Harris has appeared on Gospel Tangents many times and is the author of many books and articles. He won the Vera Jean and J. Talmage Jones Award from the Mormon History Association in 2014. His work has been featured on C-SPAN.
