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Hello and welcome to this special edition of Mormon Stories Podcast. This is John Delin. Normally I don't necessarily provide an opening disclaimer for a podcast, but this one's kind of so special I felt like I wanted to.

This interview with Grant and Heather Hardy for me is a really important one for Mormon Stories, and it's important for a number of reasons.

First it was produced by a good friend Casey Kern. Casey is the grand nephew of Richard Bushman. He's the person most responsible for my interview with Richard Bushman, and he's just a class act.

He's a believing thoughtful Mormon who's committed to the church but open to seeing it in its full technique color. And anything Casey does I think is worth checking out.

Secondly, Grant and Heather Hardy's story is truly a Mormon story. The way that they talk about their BYU years, their belief, their commitment to the church, their early family years, even just their relationship, I think is a beautiful example of Mormon intellectuals who are thoughtful and excited and energetic about the church.

And I just think it really captures that story very, very well. Also, I think that any time a believing scholar is willing to come on Mormon Stories Podcast, the deserves our respect.

I think the believers who listen to Mormon Stories are going to love this podcast, and I'm hoping that non-believers will as well, because it's so rich with information.

I believe that Grant Hardy is to the Book of Mormon what Richard Bushman is to Joseph Smith, and his wife Heather is no intellectual slouch either.

So the fact that they're willing to come on, that they're thoughtful, and that they still love the Book of Mormon and look at it, I think is worth listening to.

But most importantly, I think that the last 30 minutes of this podcast are literally worth their digital weight in gold.

The last 30 minutes is just an incredibly frank candid discussion of the Book of Mormon, and a friendly critique of traditional Book of Mormon apologetics that I think even the most ardent disbeliever will find refreshing.

So I love this podcast, I'm proud of it, I'm grateful for Casey Grant and Heather for producing it, and I hope you guys will enjoy it.

So without any further ado, here's Casey Kern interviewing Grant and Heather Hardy on the Book of Mormon and Scholarship. Thank you.

Hello and welcome to Mormon Stories. My name is Casey Kern, and I'm the guest host today, and by way of introduction, I have been a contributor on the Mormon Matters blog, and I'm also the creator and custodian of Book of Mormon Online.net, which is a resource for the study of the Book of Mormon.

Today it's my great privilege to have on the program Dr. Grant Hardy and his wife, Heather Hardy.

Dr. Grant Hardy is a professor of history and religious studies at the University of North Carolina at Asheville.

He has a BA in Ancient Greek from Brighaming University, and a PhD in Chinese language and literature from Yale.

In addition to having written books and articles on early Chinese history, he has authored Understanding the Book of Mormon, a Reader's Guide, and is the editor of The Book of Mormon, a Reader's Edition.

And he is the author of the introduction for Royal Scousons recent Yale Edition of The Book of Mormon.

Heather Hardy has a BS and an MBA from Brighaming University. She says the latter seemed like a good idea when Grant was studying Greek, someone was going to have to support the family someday.

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