Church History Matters

046 Consecration and the Beginning of Church Finances

In the last few years the finances of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have been in the media spotlight—and not always in positive ways. It’s no secret that the Church today has amassed an impressive financial reserve to ensure the accomplishment of its purposes. But it was not always so. There have been some narrow straits through which the Church has had to pass to get to where it is financially today. It is quite compelling history actually—which is why we wanted to dedicate a whole series to exploring this fascinating and important topic.  
In this episode of Church History Matters, Casey and Scott go back to the beginning of Church finances to explore the undergirding principles in the original revelations that have gotten us to where we are today. And among them all there is one particular principle that looms larger and is more responsible for the Church’s financial success than any of the others, and that is consecration—a law shrouded with some degree of mystery and confusion in the minds of many. So, we want to at least begin dissecting what it is and what it isn’t in this episode.
For show notes and transcript for this and other episodes go to https://doctrineandcovenantscentral.org/church-history-matters-podcast/   

045 Seekers Wanted: Interview with Dr. Anthony Sweat

What kind of thinking skills do we need to develop in order to gain and maintain the kind of robust faith we desire? This question is the central subject of a book by Dr. Anthony Sweat entitled, “Seekers Wanted, the Skills You Need for the Faith You Want.” In this book Dr. Sweat offers keen insights into many of the principles of truth-seeking we have been exploring throughout this series as well as many others we didn’t cover! 
Casey and I were excited to interview Dr. Sweat for this episode of Church History Matters to discuss his book and to dig deeper together into what good thinking looks like—especially regarding doctrinal seeking. And, as usual, we were not disappointed.
For show notes and transcript for this and other episodes go to https://doctrineandcovenantscentral.org/church-history-matters-podcast/   

044 Real vs. Rumor: An Interview with Dr. Keith Erekson

In this episode of Church History Matters, we are joined by special guest Dr. Keith Erekson, a Church Historian. Dr. Erekson wrote an important book entitled “Real vs. Rumor: How to Dispel Latter-day Myths.” It embodies many of the principles of truth-seeking we have been exploring throughout this series … and then some! Casey and I were excited to interview Dr. Erekson about his book and to invite him to demonstrate what those principles look like in practice by inviting him to grapple on-air with some challenging Church History questions. And we were not disappointed.

043 God Bless You All!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from Church History Matters! We'll see you next week :)

042 Why Evidence-Based Faith Matters

“Faith is the substance of things hoped for,” Hebrews 11:1 reads, “the evidence of things not seen.” Hmm. Faith is the evidence of things not seen. Does this mean faith is the evidence we have of things not seen? Or could we say it this way: faith is the level of confidence we feel toward a truth-claim or proposed reality which we have not seen based on the degree of evidence we have accumulated of its truthfulness and existence? 
If so, is this why the Lord’s prescription in D&C 88:118 for those who “have not faith” is for them to seek learning? Is he suggesting that by diligently studying wisdom from the “best books” we will find evidences of the unseen that will enlarge our faith?
Today on Church History Matters Casey and Scott explore this idea of evidence-based faith-seeking as a way to understand each of the thinking skills and mental frameworks they've explored throughout this series. Could it be that for some of us at least, the best way to strengthen our faith is to gather evidences of the unseen by combining good thinking tools with a study of great source material? Quite possibly. But as today’s discussion makes plain, there is also a deep need to add to this approach a few crucial attributes as well. 
For show notes and transcript for this and other episodes go to https://doctrineandcovenantscentral.org/church-history-matters-podcast/   

041 Why Contextualizing Facts Matters So Much

Facts don’t interpret themselves. People interpret facts. And the people best equipped to most accurately interpret facts are those who understand the contexts in which those facts were originally embedded. This is especially important in understanding Church History because a fact—especially a potentially shocking or scandalous sounding fact—isolated from its context is a fact certain to be misunderstood. This reality is too often leveraged by critics against Church members as a weapon of mass deception which has troubled many a testimony.
This is why in this episode of Church History Matters we discuss the crucial skill of properly contextualizing facts so we know what kind of meaning to give them and how to feel about them. We then demonstrate how this skill works with some real-life, potentially shocking examples.  
For show notes and transcript for this and other episodes go to https://doctrineandcovenantscentral.org/church-history-matters-podcast/   

040 Why Mental Flexibility is So Crucial for Durable Discipleship

A fundamental moment in all good learning is that moment where we modify our assumptions about the world as a result of acquiring new and more accurate knowledge. This in turn hopefully primes us to make better decisions. On one level, it’s what learning is all about. Sounds pretty basic right? Well, it is. But it isn’t always easy. Church History can teach us that modifying one’s assumptions can be a challenge for some when it requires them to rethink their ideas about God, prophets, and the Church. 
In this episode of Church History Matters we’re going to carefully look at this skill of humbly revising our assumptions in light of better or more accurate information—a skill we’re calling “mental flexibility”—and then take a look at key moments in the lives of a few people in our Church’s history that show us why this skill is so crucial for durable discipleship.
For show notes and transcript for this and other episodes go to https://doctrineandcovenantscentral.org/church-history-matters-podcast/   

039 Are Criticisms of the Book of Mormon Witnesses Defensible?

How can we confidently discern the difference between a reliable historical claim and an unreliable one? This is what Casey and I discussed in our last episode where we introduced five source critical questions we can all ask to carefully assess the reliability of a historical truth claim.  
In this episode of Church History Matters, we’re going to practice putting these five questions to work by actually using them to measure and evaluate various historical truth-claims about the witnesses of the Book of Mormon—a very high stakes topic with conflicting claims in the historical record.
For show notes and transcript for this and other episodes go to https://doctrineandcovenantscentral.org/church-history-matters-podcast/   

038 How Can We Think Like Historians?

How can we know what actually happened in the past? Whose stories are true? Piecing together accurate history can be tricky business. People in the past, like people today, were diverse. Some were honest. Some were not. Some were straight shooting truth tellers who gave honest (though subjective) accounts of what happened. Others emphasized or omitted specific details in ways that would serve their particular agenda. So, how should we think about and evaluate the reliability of historical claims and assertions to discern what is historically accurate from what is mistaken or misleading?
In this episode of Church History Matters, we dig into the basic toolbox trained historians use in their efforts to be “source critical.” And being source critical essentially means caring about where our information is coming from and being honest about what that information can and cannot tell us. It means we recognize that not all historical claims are created equal and so we aim to use only the best data to inform our understanding of the past. And while we cannot always protect ourselves from deception, developing the skill being source critical will greatly reduce the odds that we will be misled. So, in short, today is our crash course in learning how to think like a historian. 
For show notes and transcript for this and other episodes go to https://doctrineandcovenantscentral.org/church-history-matters-podcast/   

037 Workshopping the Three Lenses

How can we confidently determine what is and what is not reliable doctrine so we can decide what to believe? This is what Casey and I discussed in our last episode where we introduced what we called the Three Doctrinal Lenses, or criteria, by which we can assess the doctrinal reliability of a truth claim.  
In today’s episode of Church History Matters, we’re going to practice putting these three lenses to work by actually using them to measure and evaluate various theological truth-claims to determine the level of confidence we have in them. So, welcome to Scott and Casey’s doctrinal workshop! 
For show notes and transcript for this and other episodes go to https://doctrineandcovenantscentral.org/church-history-matters-podcast/