The LDS Church teaches that its top leaders are prophets, seers, and revelators; men who speak for God and whose guidance deserves trust, obedience, and moral authority. When serious problems arise in Church history, doctrine, or policy, the most common explanation offered is simple: prophets are fallible. But does that explanation actually resolve the issue? In this episode of Mormonism Live, we take a step back and examine what prophetic fallibility is being asked to accomplish, and whether it truly holds up under scrutiny.

We walk through multiple categories where prophetic authority is expected to function reliably and where the Church and its apologists claim fallibility resolves the concerns, including:
• Foundational integrity
• Doctrinal and theological accuracy
• Moral judgment
• Prophetic discernment
• Revelation in real time
• Ethical leadership
• Institutional accountability
• Pastoral care and protection of the vulnerable

Using clear historical examples including Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, modern prophets, and recent institutional decisions, we show how the same explanation is repeatedly used to absorb contradiction, reverse teachings, and excuse harm. Along the way, we ask the question that often goes unspoken: If prophets can confidently teach error, attribute it to God, and only later have it reclassified as opinion or mistake… how is anyone supposed to know when God is actually speaking? Fallibility may explain why mistakes happen — but it does not explain how members are meant to trust leaders in real time. Rather than attacking belief, this episode carefully examines whether the prophetic model itself functions as advertised — and what it means when authority becomes clear only in hindsight. This is not about expecting perfection. It’s about whether divine authority can be trusted to guide human lives safely, honestly, and consistently.

The post Does Prophetic Fallibility Solve the LDS Problem? appeared first on Mormon Discussions Podcasts - Full Lineup.

Tonight’s top story looks at new national data revealing a growing gap inside the LDS Church — especially among Gen Z members. While many young adults are stepping away entirely, new research shows that those who remain often continue outward religious behaviors like church attendance and temple participation. But beneath the surface, something deeper is happening. Only a minority of Gen Z Latter-day Saints report finding sacrament meeting uplifting. Confidence in prophetic leadership has dropped sharply compared to older generations. Daily religious practices like scripture study, prayer, garment wearing, and full tithing adherence are all significantly lower than they once were. In other words, many young members are still showing up — but fewer are actually believing, feeling, or engaging in the way previous generations did. Tonight, we break down the data point by point and explore what it reveals about faith, identity, cognitive dissonance, and why increased outward devotion among remaining believers may actually signal pressure, not strength. This is not speculation. This is not anecdote. This is what the numbers actually say. Plus, we’ll cover additional top Mormon news stories shaping the week such as Colorado Springs Temple News, LDS Missionary Fall, Texas Land Grab, Lucifer’s Lantern, & LDS Drilling For consecrated Oil

The post Inside the Disappearance of LDS Devotion appeared first on Mormon Discussions Podcasts - Full Lineup.

Beginning with the classic fringe belief that “aliens built the pyramids,” Radio Free Mormon teaches you the simple but powerful technique that can defuse and destroy virtually any apologetic argument in favor of Mormonism. This silver bullet works every time! Apologists, beware!

The post Built By Aliens? RFM 436 appeared first on Mormon Discussions Podcasts - Full Lineup.

Mormonism Live is honored to host the 2025 Brodie Awards, an annual event dedicated to recognizing excellence, courage, insight, and impact in the world of Mormon-related scholarship, commentary, media, and creative work. Named after historian Fawn M. Brodie, the Brodie Awards exist to spotlight voices—both established and emerging—who meaningfully contribute to public understanding of Mormonism. These awards are about acknowledging thoughtful analysis, original research, compelling storytelling, and principled engagement with a complex tradition. The 2025 Brodie Awards Ceremony will feature the 2025 award categories and nominees, an announcement of the 2025 winner in each category, and shining a light on the impact of the winner’s work. Our goal is simple: to elevate quality creators around the topic of Mormonism and raise awareness of creators who are contributing something genuinely valuable to the broader discussion around Mormonism. For those interested in the history of these awards please check out the Sunstone presentation about history of the Brodie Awards found here: https://mainstreetplaza.com/2024/08/08/post-mormon-media-past-present-and-future/ The Brodie Awards were founded and are operated by Main Street Plaza, A Community for Anyone Interested in Mormonism. This year’s ceremony Hosted by Bill Reel and Radio Free Mormon on Mormonism Live!

Links to all Brodie Awards Nominations https://mainstreetplaza.com/2025/12/03/collecting-nominations-for-the-2025-brodie-awards/

The post The 2025 Brodie Awards Ceremony appeared first on Mormon Discussions Podcasts - Full Lineup.

Tonight on The Mormon Newscast, we lead with remarks from Elder Dallin H. Oaks encouraging Latter-day Saints to marry younger. We take a clear-eyed look at what was said, why it matters, and why it’s raising eyebrows yet again. We also cover a full slate of additional stories shaping the Mormon world this week, including a shooting at a Tongan LDS meetinghouse, the quiet end of Temple Square missionary service, disturbing reports involving sexual activity inside Idaho church buildings, renewed scrutiny over missionary-related sex trafficking claims, and a leadership update with Dieter F. Uchtdorf now serving as acting church president. We’ll also unpack the latest developments in the ongoing “foot lawsuit.” As always, The Mormon Newscast cuts through spin, avoids easy narratives, and focuses on what members and former members actually need to know.

Support independent Mormon news and analysis If you value this work and want to help keep it going, please consider donating:
https://donorbox.org/the-mormon-newscast
https://donorbox.org/mormonish-podcast
Your support helps us stay independent, ask hard questions, and keep showing up week after week.

The post Unlock Your Loins on Your LDS Mission appeared first on Mormon Discussions Podcasts - Full Lineup.

The evisceration of the Light and Truth Letter continues! RFM is joined by Kolby Reddish as they continue their debunking of Austin Fife’s pride and joy. In this strange chapter, Austin claims he left Mormonism after he stopped believing in God. Then, using only common sense, he reconstructed a new version of God that just happened to match the Mormonism he just left. “More strange than true”? Join us as we explore not only Austin Fife’s faith journey, but also the question of evil in a world governed by a God who is allegedly both all-powerful and all-loving. Does such an idea make sense? And do Austin’s attempts to solve the problem of evil hold water? Listen to the evidence and you decide!

The post Why Believe In Mormonism? RFM: 435 appeared first on Mormon Discussions Podcasts - Full Lineup.

Black Skin A Curse From God? Rumors have been swirling recently that the LDS Church is changing certain verses in its African language translations of the Book of Mormon; certain verses that in the English Book of Mormon talk about black skin being a curse from God. The rumor is that those verses have been changed in African language translations so as to keep Africans from knowing that the Book of Mormon calls black skin a curse. Radio Free Mormon investigates those rumors and reports the facts!

The post LDS Church Changing Book of Mormon To Fool Africans? RFM: 434 appeared first on Mormon Discussions Podcasts - Full Lineup.

We dig into one of the lesser-known but deeply revealing historical sources from early Mormonism: the Fayette Lapham interview with Joseph Smith Sr. Lapham’s account places Joseph Smith’s father in conversation about the earliest days of the movement — before the Church had polished narratives, before later offices were cleanly defined, and before memory had decades to smooth out the rough edges. What emerges is a version of early Mormon leadership that feels far less settled and far more experimental than most members were ever taught. One claim in particular raises eyebrows: the suggestion that Joseph Smith may have identified or spoken of twelve apostles years before the traditionally accepted 1835 calling. Was this an early attempt at organization? A loose use of terminology? Or a later memory shaped by what the Church eventually became? We walk carefully through the evidence, the problems, and the implications — without overstating the case and without pretending the question isn’t uncomfortable. As always, we separate what the sources actually say from what later narratives need them to say. We look at how early language was used, how memory works, and why moments like this matter when trying to understand how Mormonism developed in real time rather than in hindsight. If you care about early Mormon history, shifting priesthood structures, and how institutional stories get built — sometimes retroactively — this is an episode you won’t want to miss.

RESOURCES:
https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/license-for-john-whitmer-9-june-1830/1
https://archive.org/details/volume-1_202010/page/456/mode/2up
https://books.google.com/books/download/The_Historical_Magazine_and_Notes_and_Qu.pdf?id=x7MTAAAAYAAJ&output=pdf

Support Mormonism Live: https://mormonismlive.org/Donate-To-Mormonism-Live/

Time to Vote for X-MoOTY and the Brodie Awards 2025!! https://mainstreetplaza.com/2026/01/01/time-to-vote-for-x-mooty-and-the-brodie-awards-2025/

The post Interview with Joseph Smiths Father appeared first on Mormon Discussions Podcasts - Full Lineup.