From Brigham Young University's Maxwell Institute, this is the Maxwell Institute podcast,

Faith, Illuminating, Scholarship.

My name is Rosalind Welch. I host the podcast, and today I have for you the fourth and final in a series of interviews with the Maxwell Institute's new cohort of faculty fellows, this time featuring the wonderful

Dr. Katie Paxman, who was visiting us from her home department of philosophy. First, though, I want to

remind you of a project we've had running all year, which will be wrapping up at the end of 2025.

We've gathered some of the best of Elder Neil A. Maxwell's previously unpublished

speeches from across his career in ministry. And every two weeks, we post one of those speeches

on our blog. I've been sharing these speeches with my son, who doesn't remember Elder Maxwell

personally, but has come to love his signature style of reasoned, literate faith.

The speeches will remain archived on our website, but don't miss the last of the series as we

roll them out.

Turning now to my conversation with Dr. Katie Paxman.

Dr. Paxman has joined us at the Institute to work on a book for our Living Faith series,

tentatively titled, More to Question, More to Believe.

As that title suggests, she doesn't see questions and belief as opposites,

but as partners that expand and build on each other.

Katie specializes in epistemology, the study of what we know

and how we know it, and she uses her expertise to dig into how we form religious beliefs,

what happens when we question those beliefs, and how we can approach the whole thing with more

joy and confidence. Katie helped me see that although

it feels like my beliefs and questions reside in my own head, they actually are a deeply social

process. And if I feel stuck, the way forward may be social as well as mental. We explored the difference between doubt and questioning.

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