Road to Helen Mar Kimball

Michelle Stone was supposed to be writing about Sarah Ann Whitney when she stumbled onto the patriarchal blessing of Helen Mar Kimball. Every time she sat down to work on Sarah Ann, she says, she felt something like a stupor of thought, and she took it as a sign to stop. So she went back to Sarah Ann’s blessing, written on unusual pink-bordered paper.

The only other known document on that kind of paper is a poem Helen wrote to her mother, and that trail led Michelle to Helen’s ow...

Emma Smith Polygamy Puzzle

Michelle Stone didn’t expect one episode about Emma Smith to change her mind, but her deep dive into the Emma Smith polygamy sources did exactly that. In Part 1, Michelle explained how the Book of Mormon convinced her that polygamy was not God’s higher law. Her 132 Problems channel began there, with the scriptures. But scripture questions lead to history questions: what was happening when a revelation was given, and how reliable is the William Clayton affidavit? (Michelle and Cheryl Bruno wrote a paper on that affidavit for the Journal of Mormon Polygamy.) Then...

Book of Mormon Polygamy?

When Michelle Stone finally studied the Book of Mormon polygamy passages for herself, she was shocked by what she found. Michelle grew up believing plural marriage was God’s higher law, and now she calls the Book of Mormon “by far, far and away, the most anti-polygamy book of scriptures in the entire canon.” She is back on Gospel Tangents, three years after she first joined me to talk about her mother’s cousin, Mark Hofmann, and this time we start with her own story.

https://youtu.be/ZXqZ2mNuj5Y

Do...

Is Eve our Heavenly Mother? Tom Bennett of Centennial Park explains fundamentalist views on Heavenly Mothers, women and priesthood, and the second anointing. Check out our conversation…

https://youtu.be/Pj8S6jzmCWo

Don’t miss our other episodes about Centennial Park! https://gospeltangents.com/denominations/centennial-park/

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Heavenly Mothers

Mormon fundamentalists believe God has more than one wife. In our final conversation, Tom Bennett of Cente...

Is Eve our Heavenly Mother? Tom Bennett of Centennial Park explains fundamentalist views on Heavenly Mothers, women and priesthood, and the second anointing. Check out our conversation…

https://youtu.be/Pj8S6jzmCWo

Don’t miss our other episodes about Centennial Park! https://gospeltangents.com/denominations/centennial-park/

Copyright © 2025

Gospel Tangents

All Rights Reserved

Except for book reviews, no content may be reproduced without written permission.

Heavenly Mothers

Mormon fundamentalists believe God has more than one wife. In our final conversation, Tom Bennett of Cente...

Is there a hidden temple theology in the Book of Mormon temple theology waiting beneath the 1830 text? That question, sparked by my friend Boyd in an online forum, turned into a three-part answer, and this is the final installment. While preparing, an AI tool handed me a word I had to look up: palimpsest, a manuscript scraped clean and written over, where the earlier text still shows through faintly. It turned out to be the perfect frame for the debate.

https://youtu.be/b2hHdOXPDRA

Temple Theology in the Book of Mormon

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This Greg Prince interview is a throwback to 2017, and for the first time the entire conversation is available in one piece. On September 27, 2017, historian Greg Prince was in Salt Lake City to deliver the Sterling McMurrin Lecture at the Salt Lake City Public Library, and before his talk he sat down with me for a long and candid conversation. We originally released it in seven parts.

Don’t miss our other conversations with Greg: https://gospeltangents.com/people/greg-prince

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Full Greg Prince Interview

Raising Kids in Polygamy

Raising kids in polygamy comes with a hard truth: many children raised in plural families walk away as adults. Some join the LDS Church, some leave religion altogether. So what do plural families hope for their own kids? In the final part of my interview with Joshua, Charlotte and Melissa Erickson of Lehi, Utah, we talk about their hopes for their children, a new fundamentalist fellowship Joshua leads, and why so many fundamentalists still won’t talk to outsiders.

https://youtu.be/Ur4R3vtJSvo

Don’t miss our othe...

Dallin Oaks BYU: Why Mark Skousen Was Called into His Office

Dallin Oaks BYU was a formidable figure, and economist Mark Skousen remembers what happened when a controversial student newspaper editorial brought him face-to-face with the university president.

In the final installment of our four-part Gospel Tangents interview, Mark shares some remarkable stories from his years at Brigham Young University, including a confrontation with Dallin H. Oaks, his experiences in student journalism, and his unlikely home teaching partnership with historian Richard Bushman.

It’s a fascinating glimpse into BYU history, academic freedom, and th...

Was Joseph Smith a socialist? Economist Mark Skousen was surprised—and more than a little irritated—when he discovered that a BYU economics professor had classified the founder of Mormonism as a utopian socialist. But when I challenged Mark about Joseph Smith’s economic teachings, his answer was more complicated than a simple yes or no.

https://youtu.be/J9AVMBliFvo

Don’t miss our other conversations with Mark Skousen: https://gospeltangents.com/people/mark-skousen

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In Part 3 of our four-part Gospel Tangents i...

Was Eisenhower Soviet agent? That extraordinary accusation came from John Birch Society founder Robert Welch, who believed President Dwight D. Eisenhower was secretly serving Communist interests. But economist Mark Skousen, nephew of the famous conservative author W. Cleon Skousen, thinks the accusation was outrageous.

https://youtu.be/5Hol7hUZExc

Don’t miss our other conversations with Mark Skousen: https://gospeltangents.com/people/mark-skousen

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Gospel Tangents

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Mark explains why he rejected the John Birch Society’s allegations, where he disagreed with his uncle, and how a...

“Are you the famous Skousen?” Do they mean Cleon Skousen or Mark Skousen? Economist Mark Skousen has heard that question in nearly every ward he’s ever moved into. Usually the person means his uncle, W. Cleon Skousen, the FBI veteran, Salt Lake City police chief and best-selling author of The Naked Communist. When I first saw Mark at the John Whitmer Historical Association meetings, I had the same thought. Put a pair of glasses on him and the resemblance is striking. In Part 1 of my conversation with Mark, we talk about growing up a Skousen, and about his early years...

Were Joseph and Hyrum's skulls switched (misidentified) in 1928? Patrick Bishop answers this mystery! https://youtu.be/ZVoXwDdNbVk Don’t miss our other conversations with Patrick: https://gospeltangents.com/people/patrick-bishop/ Copyright © 2026 Gospel Tangents All Rights Reserved Most of us assume the death mask is the closest thing we have to Joseph Smith's real face. Just open the eyes, the thinking goes, and there he is. Patrick Bishop thought so too, until 25 years of research changed his mind. In Part 2 of our conversation, the producer of Brother Joseph Again makes a bold claim: the true gold standard for Joseph's likeness isn't the...

Is this tiny locket the only known Joseph Smith photo? Patrick Bishop, producer of Brother Joseph Again, explains the forensic science behind it.

Community of Christ apostles have undergone one of the biggest leadership shakeups in years. With a new prophet-president and major changes among the church’s top leadership, six vacancies opened in the Council of Twelve. Some apostles retired, while others moved into different leadership positions—and six new apostles stepped into the vacancies. https://youtu.be/y5lKYsFEcnw With a new prophet-president and major changes among the church’s top leadership, six vacancies opened in the Council of Twelve Apostles. Some apostles retired, while others moved into the First Presidency, Presiding Bishopric, and other leadership positions. That meant bringing six new pe...

When a Temple Isn't a Building at All/Virtual Temples What if you could do a virtual temples at home? Not every branch of the Restoration wanted a temple, and the groups covered in this closing conversation show just how far the idea could stretch — from outright rejection to a virtual temple. https://youtu.be/PEd9KOTjY8U Don’t miss our other conversations with John: https://gospeltangents.com/people/john-hamer/ Copyright © 2026 Gospel Tangents All Rights Reserved Bickertonites: No Interest at All The Bickertonites are the clearest case of a group opting out of the temple tradition entirely. The church trace...

James Strang is one of the strangest turns in Restoration history, including being crowned as a Mormon King. Historian John Hamer opens part four of this series by explaining just how unexpected his rise was. https://youtu.be/eUVN58NugEg Don’t miss our other conversations with John: https://gospeltangents.com/people/john-hamer/ Copyright © 2026 Gospel Tangents All Rights Reserved Almost as soon as Joseph Smith died, and right after Sidney Rigdon's own short-lived church fizzled out, Strang emerged as an incredibly successful rival to Brigham Young. Strang gathered a following at Voree, Wisconsin, and John traces how his church took shap...

What happened to the Nauvoo Endowment after Joseph Smith's death? What happens to a temple idea when a group won't follow Brigham Young west? In this third conversation of the series, historian John Hamer and host Rick Bennett follow two small groups that carried the Nauvoo endowment in their own directions: one that kept it alive in a room above a church, and one that took it to Texas. https://youtu.be/M-I9WmPsu7w Don’t miss our other conversations with John: https://gospeltangents.com/people/john-hamer/ Copyright © 2026 Gospel Tangents All Rights Reserved Cutlerite Version of Nauvoo Endowment John sta...

We're moving beyond LDS Temples and looking at Fundamentalist Mormon temples. Nauvoo gave Latter-day Saints a temple built around Old Testament ordinances, and then the pioneers left it behind. In this second conversation of the series, historian John Hamer and host Rick Bennett follow that inheritance west to Utah, where an Endowment House filled the gap until a real temple could be finished, and then to the more surprising places it landed: the temples of Mormon fundamentalist groups, including a pyramid in the Utah desert. https://youtu.be/BGKMtxTGSQQ John explains that the Endowment House, built on Temple Square, was...

Where did Joseph Smith get the idea of temples? It sounds like a simple question, but historian John Hamer's answer stretches from the Bible to a domed assembly hall in Independence, Missouri, and includes a temple that was called for by revelation, designed by an architect, and never built. In this first conversation of his return to Gospel Tangents, John, a Community of Christ Seventy and co-editor of Scattering of the Saints: Schism Within Mormonism, walks me through the building blocks. https://youtu.be/1r98tnUC5Q4 Don’t miss our other conversations with John: https://gospeltangents.com/people/john-hamer/ Co...

Brigham didn't dissolve Relief Society! That's what Katie Rich's recent article on Brigham Young & the Relief Society claimed. It goes against the historical consensus and won an award at the Mormon History Association. She will explain her reasons here. We'll also discuss how Exponent II accepts multiple positions on controversial issues. Is it hard to keep disparate opinions together? https://youtu.be/5xqbPUh1Djo Check out this playlist for more info on this topic! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGUWDGlv87I&list=PLLhI8GMw9sJ4VKeJi6eTv4OMaRZiZnA0h In this concluding episode, we discuss the personal impact of...

Over the past three segments, Dr. Thomas Murphy, author of Unsettling Scripture: Iroquois and the Book of Mormon, has walked us through his research connecting Haudenosaunee history to the origins of the Book of Mormon — from the Dartmouth/Moor's Charity School connection, to the prophet Handsome Lake, to overlooked ties between Native nations and the Revolutionary War era. But all of it has been building toward one question we haven't asked him directly yet: can the Book of Mormon be both fiction and scripture at the same time? https://youtu.be/0j-GMPVf1_o Thomas Murphy's Answer! In our final segment, Mur...

Are there echoes of Book of Mormon & Revolutionary War? When we talk about the relationship between early Mormonism and Native American communities, the conversation usually runs in one direction: how indigenous traditions may have influenced Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. But in this segment of our conversation with Dr. Thomas Murphy, author of Unsettling Scripture: Iroquois and the Book of Mormon, we explore something far less discussed — how Haudenosaunee communities weren't just absorbing outside religious ideas, they were producing scriptural traditions of their own. https://youtu.be/5H7qSRgK5lc At the center of this discussion is the Se...

Did Native Americans use seer stones? What if the roots of the Book of Mormon's narrative trace back not just to revelation, but to a classroom? Book of Mormon Ties to Darmouth? In this second part of our conversation with anthropologist Dr. Thomas Murphy, we explore a detail of Smith family history that rarely gets discussed: Hyrum Smith's education at Dartmouth's Moor's Indian Charity School, where he studied alongside Haudenosaunee students. It's a small historical fact with potentially large implications for how we understand the origins of the Book of Mormon. https://youtu.be/9nNErpiSeb8 Don’t miss our other co...

Can rigorous DNA research and religious scripture coexist? Years ago, Murphy's groundbreaking DNA research directly challenged traditional Book of Mormon claims about Native American origins. It was a stance that put him at odds with his own stake president and nearly cost him his membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. For many in the Mormon studies world, Murphy's name has been synonymous with that controversy ever since. Now, Murphy returns to Gospel Tangents with something new: his first full-length book, Unsettling Scripture: Iroquois and the Book of Mormon. And this time, the conversation isn't just about DN...

David Nielsen passed away a couple of weeks ago when he fell off a ladder. His death was a very sad surprise. He leaves behind 3 wives, a wonderful family, and a shocked and saddened community of friends. We're remembering him in this video. He served as an apostle for the Nielsen-Naylor Group. In this 2025 interview, he gives an introduction to this Mormon fundamentalist group. https://youtu.be/vaglaO6_lFk David Nielsen David Nielsen was an apostle for his church. CHAPTERS 0:00 FLDS Splits 7:35 One Man Rule 21:03 Changing Succession 24:37 Council of Friends/High Council 30:05 More than One True Church/Priesthood 32:34 Young Men...

In this engaging temple Q&A session, host Rick Bennett fields questions from a Community of Christ group following a presentation on restoration temples inside and outside the LDS Church. The discussion spans a wide range of captivating topics in Mormon history, theology, and architecture: https://youtu.be/vn7odpxo7Kc Don’t miss our other conversations on temples: https://gospeltangents.com/mormon_history/lds-temples/ Copyright © 2026 Gospel Tangents All Rights Reserved What you will discover in this presentation: Temple Q&A: Mormon Pentecostalism & Speaking in Tongues The group discusses how early Latter-day Saints in Kirtland rolled on the ground like "holy...

We're taking a deep dive into Virtual, Vodou, and Fundy Temples. It's a fascinating look at secret and highly controversial world of divergent temples and modern groups of the Restoration. Following the assassination of Joseph Smith, the temple liturgy fractured like a prism, scattering the sacred rites of the Restoration in vastly different directions. https://youtu.be/L6vQWsbxxaE Don’t miss our other conversations on temples: https://gospeltangents.com/mormon_history/lds-temples/ Copyright © 2026 Gospel Tangents All Rights Reserved What you will discover in this presentation: Lost Rites of Mormonism: Discover early temple ordinances that the mainstream LDS Church left behi...

What happened to the Latter Day Saint movement after it fractured? We discuss the fascination history on RLDS & Bickertonite views about temples. While Brigham Young led his followers West to build physical temples in Utah, multiple restoration branches took a completely different path—formally rejecting Nauvoo theology, secret endowments, and polygamy https://youtu.be/-tjIZUJcOqo Don’t miss our other conversations on temples: https://gospeltangents.com/mormon_history/lds-temples/ Copyright © 2026 Gospel Tangents All Rights Reserved We dive into the fascinating, competitive, and highly diverse world of non-LDS temples. Discover how the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (now Co...

Many people think there aren't non-LDS temples, but that's not true. When Joseph Smith was assassinated in 1844, the restoration did not just fracture geographically—it shattered the unified theology of the temple. While the LDS Church went on to build a massive global network of private temples, several other branches of the restoration developed highly unique, surprising, and divergent temple traditions of their own. https://youtu.be/AiIf0-7mOIE Don't miss our other conversations on temples: https://gospeltangents.com/mormon_history/lds-temples/ In this presentation to the Book of Mormon Perspectives Forum, Gospel Tangents host Rick Bennett explores the fa...

Back in 2017, I sat down with Anne Wilde, one of the foremost experts on modern-day polygamy. While I like to call her the First Lady of Fundamentalism, she has lived an incredibly unique life as an Independent Fundamentalist. For 33 years, Anne lived as the secret second wife of Ogden Kraut, a prolific fundamentalist author whose 65 books she personally helped write and edit. From the secret history of Mormon schisms to her own spiritual journey, you won't want to miss this fascinating conversation! https://youtu.be/LH2zMt27kxM Don’t miss our other conversations Shannon: https://gospeltangents.com/people/shannon-flynn Cop...

Shannon Flynn was a former close associate of the notorious Mormon forger and bomber, Mark Hofmann. Recorded before Flynn’s 2021 passing, this conversation provides a chilling, up-close look at Hofmann's methods, his personality, and the desperate unraveling that led to two murders. We'll get up close and personal and discuss this crazy chapter of Mormon History. https://youtu.be/9QcITtuSxLo Don’t miss our other conversations Shannon: https://gospeltangents.com/people/shannon-flynn Copyright © 2026 Gospel Tangents All Rights Reserved Check out a transcript of the interview on Amazon. Mark Hofmann's Beginnings The Origins of a Forger (Early Life & Coins): Hofmann’s life of...

A key figure who accelerated the historical crisis for both the Tanners (who left the group in 1962) and Pauline’s church was Wes Walters, a Presbyterian minister from Marissa, Illinois. Walters was asked to write an article on Mormons for Christianity Today. His detailed research focused on testing Joseph Smith’s claims against tangible historical records, particularly those surrounding the First Vision. Walters reasoned that while you couldn't prove whether Smith spoke to God, you could prove whether he was standing in a given place on a given day. https://youtu.be/ifGZ-3IrGPQ Don’t miss our other conversations with S...

Was Hugh Nibley wrong? Is global capitalism compatible with a Zion society? And when is a Latter-day Saint actually justified in defying a corrupt, oppressive government? https://youtu.be/IWZgHZT5Q9w Don’t miss our other conversations Nathan: https://gospeltangents.com/people/nathan-oman Copyright © 2026 Gospel Tangents All Rights Reserved Hugh Nibley was wrong? First, Professor Oman challenges the popular anti-capitalist teachings of the legendary LDS scholar Hugh Nibley. While Nibley viewed commerce as being driven primarily by greed and pride, Oman argues for the 18th-century ideal of doux commerce ("sweet commerce"). He explains how the necessity of trade actually forc...

Have you wondered what's behind the energy in the polygamy revisionist movement? Are these the same as RLDS polygamy arguments? Back in 2010, Newell Bringhurst wrote a chapter in "Persistence of Polygamy" on the evolution of RLDS thinking on Joseph Smith's polygamy, how it got forgotten, and recycled among a new generation of LDS members who weren't aware of the previous history. https://youtu.be/wD-ZHracUnA Are the modern arguments that Joseph Smith was a strict monogamist actually new? In this deep dive, we explore the "layered archive" of historical claims surrounding Joseph Smith’s polygamy, revealing that many of today’s "p...

What do you do when your personal conscience clashes with official LDS Church positions? Why did the LDS Church transition from the fiery, anti-communist speeches of Ezra Taft Benson in the 1960s to the strict political neutrality we see today? https://youtu.be/cDExXX00Y0o Oman is the author of 2 volumes of Law and the Restoration Volume 1 and Volume 2, from Greg Kofford Books. Don’t miss our other conversations Nathan: https://gospeltangents.com/people/nathan-oman Copyright © 2026 Gospel Tangents All Rights Reserved In this episode of Gospel Tangents, I sat down with Nathan Oman, law professor and author of Law and...

What case helped end polygamy in the LDS Church? What do a 19th-century Mormon polygamist, reality TV star Kody Brown, and the Native American religious use of peyote all have in common? https://youtu.be/r32GTYt0N5g Don’t miss our other conversations Nathan: https://gospeltangents.com/people/nathan-oman Copyright © 2026 Gospel Tangents All Rights Reserved How Did LDS Church end polygamy? In this fascinating episode of Gospel Tangents, host Rick Bennett sits down with Nathan Oman, law professor and author of Law and the Restoration, to unpack one of the most consequential Supreme Court cases in American history: the...

Why was Joseph Smith killed? Did early Mormons try to start their own independent country? And did you know 19th-century Mormon bishops literally served as civil judges? In this episode of Gospel Tangents, host Rick Bennett sits down with Nathan Oman, law professor and author of Law and the Restoration, to uncover some of the most explosive and fascinating legal history of the Latter-day Saints. We dive deep into the unique world of 19th-century Mormon church courts, where bishops bypassed the traditional secular systems to build a harmonious Zion. Discover how these bishops handled financial disputes, strictly enforcing contracts for...

Some call new LDS Prophet Dallin Oaks a prophet, seer, and litigator. We'll see what Nathan Oman thinks of Dallin Oaks. Nathan is a legal historian at William and Mary University. He discusses how law has affected Latter-day Saints over the past 2 centuries. We'll discuss Dallin Oaks perspectives on Joseph Smith's martyrdom and polygamy up to modern polygamy cases, politics, and LGBT issues. Oman is the author of 2 volumes of Law and the Restoration Volume 1 and Volume 2, from Greg Kofford Books. Check out our conversation... https://youtu.be/FcHDLy8_PRI Don’t miss our other conversations Nathan: https://gospeltangents.com/pe...

Priesthood Restoration, Priesthood Restriction, and Revelation June was the month of the priesthood restoration, priesthood restriction, and revelation in LDS Church history. It serves as a month of profound historical significance for Latter-day Saints, marking both the commemoration of the priesthood restoration and the anniversary of the 1978 revelation ending the priesthood and temple ban. Rick Bennett of Gospel Tangents explores the complex history of how priesthood authority was first established and how it evolved over nearly two centuries. https://youtu.be/Tkc1j6r23s0 Don’t miss our other conversations on LDS Faith Journeys: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v...