How An Ex-Christian Experiences Mormonism - Jared Smith as @HeliocentricOfficial | Ep. 2138
Mormon Stories Podcast
Dr. John Dehlin
4.5 ā¢ 5.7K Ratings
šļø 22 April 2026
ā±ļø 124 minutes
šļø Recording | iTunes | RSS
š§¾ļø Download transcript
Summary
In this episode, we sit down with Jared Smith āan ex-Christian, former Wheaton College student, and atheist YouTuber āto explore what happens when someone deeply rooted in evangelical Christianity takes a serious look at Mormonism.
Jared shares his journey from devoted believer to skeptic, including his time at Wheaton College (often called the āHarvard of Christian institutionsā), where he studied everything from apologetics to exorcism āand even Christian heavy metal.
We dive into his firsthand experiences auditing religions, attending Mormon services, reading the Book of Mormon, and engaging with LDS culture from an outsiderās perspective.Ā
Along the way, we explore what itās like to WANT your religion to be true āand still lose it, the role of Jesus in Mormonism vs. traditional Christianity, those who take religion most seriously are the ones who seem to be leaving, the emotional and intellectual toll of deconstruction, what he thought when he read the Book of Mormon, and the intersection of belief, identity, and online content creation.
We also discuss broader topics like Jehovah's Witnesses and blood doctrine, charismatic Christianity (including exorcism and speaking in tongues), and the culture of apologetics across faith traditions.
Jared offers a thoughtful, non-combative perspective as someone more interested in understanding belief than attacking it āmaking this conversation a nuanced look at faith, doubt and everything in between.
Check out Jaredās YouTube channel āHeliocentricā: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCS5YtyTzVJo_N-vjub8te3g
Videos to watch in preparation for our next episode with Jared Smith:
- āThis Mormon church suckedā - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_iAA_Zp-GQ
- His episode with Nemo the Mormon - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQSo0aQQkbg
- Jacob Hansenās response to Jared - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOFghorZj9s
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello everyone and welcome to another edition of Mormon stories podcast. I am your co-host for today, John DeLinn, and today we have in studio, someone we don't normally have in studio. Nemo. Hi, everyone. What the freak are you doing here? Oh, I'm just having a good time. Nemo's in the house, everyone. He's visiting from the UK. Yeah. And it's good to have you, Nemo. Yeah, it's a pleasure to be yeah, I'm really excited about this guest. |
| 0:24.3 | And you don't just, He's visiting from the UK. Yeah. And it's good to have you, Nemo. |
| 0:21.6 | Yeah, it's a pleasure to be here. |
| 0:22.6 | I'm really excited about this guest. |
| 0:23.6 | And you don't just come to visit, you bring a guest. |
| 0:26.6 | Yeah, I, you know, I bring treats for everyone when I visit from abroad. |
| 0:31.6 | For those of you who don't know, for the three of you who don't know, Nemo is the head, the face, the voice, the brain behind the Nemo the Mormon YouTube channel. |
| 0:41.9 | So check it out, support it, subscribe and like to it as you subscribe and like to this Mormon stories podcast as well. |
| 0:50.4 | Nemo, how do you want to begin today's episode? |
| 0:54.4 | Well, I'm really excited about this guest because we have someone who has experienced Mormonism a lot, but has not had a chance to sit down with the ex-Morman community and have a chat with us about our experience. |
| 1:06.2 | So he's someone I've had a chance to sit down and talk with about his experience of reading the Book of Mormon and about his experience of going on a cruise with a bunch of influences, but we'll get to all that because I think we should let him introduce himself. |
| 1:19.6 | Okay. Who are you, brother? |
| 1:22.6 | John, thanks so much for having me. My name is Jared Smith. I'm the guy behind the heliocentric YouTube channel, and I have a series on there called |
| 1:32.3 | Atheist Church Audit. |
| 1:34.3 | And, yeah, so you, we'll be talking about this, but you're a former Christian who became an atheist, |
| 1:41.0 | and now you have a YouTube channel where as an atheist you check out churches. |
| 1:47.4 | Yeah, yeah. |
| 1:48.1 | So my background is that I'm an atheist with a couple of degrees in theology. |
| 1:53.1 | What are they? |
| 1:54.4 | Well, so my first degree in theology was a non-accredited degree in practical ministry from a little Pentecostal |
| 2:02.9 | pseudo seminary called Fire School of Ministry out there in Charlotte, North Carolina. And then my second |
| 2:08.4 | degree, I like to say that I got a degree in Christian heavy metal music at Wheaton College |
... |
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