S1E40 D&C 29 Part 3

In this episode, Gerrit contrasts Calvin’s Institutes with Joseph Smith’s revelations, explores why “children are born innocent,” and why Latter-day Saints see Michael/Adam and the Fall not as a cosmic fiasco but as part of the plan. We unpack D&C 29, Joel 2, and Revelation; premillennial vs. post-millennial expectations in the 1830s; and how Restoration teachings (pre-existence, temple instruction, deification) collide with classical Christian claims (creation ex nihilo, aseity, total depravity). Standard of Truth Tour dates for the summer of 2027: ⁠ https://standardoftruth.com/tours Our 2026 tours are sold out, but if you would like to join us in the future here is a link to our 2027 tours: ⁠ 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 Rex's Elders Quorum President's Show Notes: 01:00 – Richard at the U of U game in a BYU jersey “Do you want to get booed?” Yes. 03:20 – Why Latter-day Saints reject inherited guilt; children born innocent. 04:24 – Angels in classical Christianity vs. Restoration view (separate creations vs. spirit children). 05:18 – The problem of evil framed: If God knows all, why create Lucifer? 06:29 – Agency defense examined, and its unanswered “Why create a rebel at all?” 07:45 – Predestination riffs: Calvinist vs. LDS “predestined to salvation in Christ.” 09:40 – Strength of the atheist critique against classical theism’s Satan problem. 10:41 – Creation ex nihilo implications: did God need to create anything? 12:02 – Why Latter-day Saints see Satan, Michael, and humans as spirit siblings. 13:36 – “Why make a super-powered adversary?”, escalating the coherence test. 14:36 – Glory language examined: “for God’s glory” vs. “demonstrating” glory. 16:19 – Missionaries, the “aseity of God,” and jargon that turns listeners off. 17:49 – King Follett line: “Do you suppose God was God from all eternity? I will refute that idea.” 18:30 – Eternal intelligences vs. God’s everlasting existence, LDS framing. 19:10 – Joseph on the Fall: “Adam did not commit sin in eating the fruit…” (plan language). 20:45 – Reading Calvin: total depravity laid out in the Institutes. 22:49 – Why Calvin spends time on what the Fall is, not why it had to be that way. 24:05 – Hereditary corruption vs. LDS “sin by knowledge/choice” distinction. 26:00 – Brigham Young’s remarks on Adam/Michael, earth organization, purposeful Fall. 27:40 – Eve as agent of life and purpose, not the world-breaker. 28:55 – D&C 29: trump, quake, signs above and beneath; Second Coming frame. 30:35 – Joel 2 and Revelation intertext with D&C 29, prophetic continuity. 32:10 – Premillennialism in early Restoration vs. post-millennial optimism in 1830 America. 34:05 – Why post-millennialism once felt believable (global growth of Christianity, 1500–1800s). 36:10 – Today’s reversal: secularization anxieties vs. 19th-century confidence. 38:05 – D&C 29 and agency: wickedness persists by choosing darkness, not inherited guilt. 39:50 – Toward D&C 93: spirits pure before God; sin comes with light and knowledge. 41:30 – Temple resonance: why Restoration teaching feels “radical” yet coherent in practice. 43:05 – Crosses and Protestants: why Reformed churches shunned them for centuries. 45:10 – Cultural amnesia: forgetting that we forgot (how symbols and norms shift). 47:20 – Apostasy/restoration lens: add to the good others already have