S6E3 Gadianton Robbers Part 1

Standard of Truth

Dr. Gerrit Dirkmaat

Religion & Spirituality

4.9 • 992 Ratings

🗓️ 15 January 2026

⏱️ 66 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

After debating the college football national championship (with Richard very much not gambling… while also explaining the VIG in suspicious detail), Gerrit drops a sneak peek announcement: they might do another live event, likely in Davis County, with the goal of raising funds to help get more people to the temple in Kenya on the next Sweetwater Rescue trip. What are the strongest, most legitimate arguments against faith, the Church, or God in general and how do you faithfully deal with them? Gerrit argues that the most serious challenge isn’t a niche historical complaint or a shallow “gotcha” claim, but the universal human problem: suffering. Why is the world so brutal if God is both good and powerful? He explores how Latter-day Saint doctrine reframes the question through the premortal life, moral agency, and a more expansive view of God’s work and purposes than classical Christian models often allow. Finally, a listener from Southern Utah writes in with a gem of local folklore: Did Brigham Young really warn that “Gadianton robbers” still infest the area and are they out haunting the desert hills around St. George, Leeds, Apple Valley, and the Arizona mountains? That question kicks off the main theme for the next episode: the Latter-day Saint understanding of the spirit world. Sign up for our free monthly email: ⁠ ⁠https://standardoftruthpodcast.substack.com⁠ If you have any questions or possible topics of discussion for upcoming podcasts, please email us at: ⁠⁠questions@standardoftruthpodcast.com

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to the Standard of Truth podcast. In this podcast, Dr. Garrett Dirk-Mott and Dr. Richard
0:08.2	Leduc explore the early history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the life
0:14.3	and teachings of the prophet Joseph Smith. They examine the original historical sources and provide
0:20.4	context for events of the past.
0:23.1	They approach the history of the church with faith, expertise, and humor.
0:40.8	Hi, welcome to another episode of the Standard of Truth podcast.
0:46.0	I'm your host, Dr. Garrett Dirkmont, and I am joined by my friend, Dr. Richard Leduc.
1:02.2	Hello, Garrett. Thanks for having me back. Really excited to jump into some of the emails that we get and some of the questions that we've received as soon as we talk about college football playoff and the NFL playoffs for about 45 minutes.
1:09.6	Yeah, maybe we should just do a spin-off podcast that's called What We Got Wrong about football last week.
1:13.5	I was just telling you before.
1:14.6	So I'm a Bears fan.
1:23.7	And I threw my hat down in disgust, kind of like in like the 20s when they lose a bet on a horse or something, you know, just like.
1:27.9	Yeah, did you rip up your racing form and say, I don't know about this. This is obviously the mom's involved. I was just like, take it in. Yeah, did you rip up your racing for them and say, I don't know about this.
1:29.6	This is obviously the mom's involved.
1:36.0	I was so angry on the third quarter interception in the red zone. And I just, I left and I ran errands for my wife at WinCo and other places because I didn't want to watch the game anymore.
1:43.3	And I was so angry.
1:44.5	I came home with five minutes left.
1:46.2	I'm like, oh, hey, hey, all right.
1:48.2	This looks pretty good.
1:49.0	So you didn't watch the epic comeback of your team.
1:53.0	I watched the end of it.
1:55.6	I was cheering for the bears for you.
	...

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