LDS Church Leaders Falling for Frauds - LDS Discussions Pt. 73 | Ep. 2153
Mormon Stories Podcast
Dr. John Dehlin
4.5 ā¢ 5.7K Ratings
šļø 27 May 2026
ā±ļø 131 minutes
šļø Recording | iTunes | RSS
š§¾ļø Download transcript
Summary
Welcome to Episode 73 in our LDS Discussions series!
In this episode, we explore the long history of fraud, forgery, and "discernment" within Mormon history āfrom Joseph Smithās treasure digging and the Kinderhook Plates to the Salamander Letter, Paul Dunn, Tim Ballard, and Jodi Hildebrandt.
We discuss why people believe extraordinary claims, the role of critical thinking and skepticism, and whether church leaders who claim divine guidance have actually demonstrated the āGift of Discernmentā they preach about. Along the way, we examine the Book of Abraham, the Kinderhook Plates controversy, Mark Hofmannās forged documents, hidden church history, and modern scandals that continue to raise difficult questions for believers and critics alike.
The episode also looks at how faith can remain resilient even after exposure to false claims, and why many argue that institutional dishonesty ārather than belief itself āis the deeper issue.
Topics include: Joseph Smithās treasure digging, the Book of Abraham facsimiles, how Elder Oaks defended the Salamander Letter, and the hiding of early Mormon documents. This discussion asks a central question: If church leaders claim special spiritual discernment, why were so many frauds, forgeries, and harmful figures embraced or defended for so long?
If you enjoy long-form Mormon history and analysis, consider subscribing and supporting the channel.
If you have thoughts on other topics you wish for us to cover, please leave them in the comments!
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Transcript
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| 0:30.1 | Right, home from work, walk the dog, kids are back, up the stairs for something. |
| 0:37.9 | Back down. |
| 0:39.3 | No idea what I went up for. |
| 0:42.0 | Mom, what's for dinner? |
| 0:43.7 | Chop, sizzle, done. |
| 0:47.2 | Hello Fresh can't slow life down, |
| 0:49.2 | but it makes bringing everyone together around the table a whole lot easier. |
| 0:53.1 | So its phones down, forks up. |
| 0:55.6 | Hello, Fresh. |
| 0:56.6 | Bring back dinner time. |
| 1:00.2 | Hello. |
| 1:00.7 | Hello, everyone, and thank you for joining us on today's episode of Mormon Stories |
| 1:04.2 | podcast LDS Discussions Edition. |
| 1:07.0 | I'm your host today, Colby Reddish, |
| 1:08.7 | and before I bring our other panelists on, |
| 1:10.7 | I just wanted to remind everybody about the purpose of the LDS discussion series. |
| 1:15.6 | So the purpose of the LDS discussion series is an attempt to discuss Mormon truth claims as objectively as we can based on evidence to look at the claims and try and set aside bias as much as possible. |
| 1:29.9 | This work started with the legend Mike who started his website, LDSdiscutions.com, and the first, I don't know, 60-something episodes, |
| 1:36.8 | were taken from Mike's website and revamped as part of this series. Mike has since retired and we are |
| 1:43.6 | so happy to continue this series with our |
... |
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