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Standard of Truth

Dr. Gerrit Dirkmaat

The purpose of this podcast is to help Latter-Day Saints better understand their history and increase their faith. The podcast hosted by Dr. Gerrit Dirkmaat, associate professor of Church History and Doctrine at BYU.

  1. 10h ago

    S6E25 Nauvoo Lyceum & 1980s Church Movies

    We are recording in front of a live studio audience in Nauvoo, Illinois.  In this week's episode, we begin with a movie review of the 1980s classic Prodigal Son and Cipher in the Snow, and then make the obvious transition to Nauvoo Lyceum. Gerrit regales the audience with several topics discussed in this adult education program, and we cover the Chestnut Hill College Lacrosse Team's dominance from 2021 to 2024 If you are interested in joining us in 2027 in Palmyra and Kirtland, August 1st through August 7th, click on the link below and reserve your spot: https://pci.jotform.com/form/261567888174171 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

    59 min
  2. S3E13 A Republic, If You Can Keep It

    4d ago • Subscribers Only

    S3E13 A Republic, If You Can Keep It

    The ratification fight continues as we cover Massachusetts' razor-thin 187-168 vote, John Hancock's late-but-decisive endorsement, and Maryland's ratification despite Luther Martin's vow to "be hanged" before approving it. Then it's a deep dive into Madison's Federalist No. 10, why factionalism is poison to republics, why liberty and faction are inseparable ("liberty is to faction what air is to fire"), and how partisanship erodes public virtue. Tangents: NBA Finals heartbreak, Hack-a-Shaq strategy, and Fun with Numbers. If you are interested in joining us in 2027 in Palmyra and Kirtland, August 1st through August 7th, click on the link below and reserve your spot: https://pci.jotform.com/form/261567888174171 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

    1h 6m
  3. S3E12 The Umbrella of Discontent: Anti-Federalism's Many Faces

    Jun 14 • Subscribers Only

    S3E12 The Umbrella of Discontent: Anti-Federalism's Many Faces

    In this episode of Condemned to Repeat It, we dig into the fierce, chaotic fight over ratifying the Constitution, centered on Massachusetts, the populous, revolution-hardened state whose rejection could have killed the whole project. We discuss why Anti-Federalism was less a single movement than an umbrella term spanning everyone from Elbridge Gerry, who simply wanted a Bill of Rights attached, to the Daniel Shays faction, who opposed a stronger federal government on principle. Along the way we unpack George Washington's diplomatic but pointed cover letter to Congress (society requires surrendering some liberty to preserve the rest), Richard Henry Lee's proposed amendments and his Hobbesian warning about the "silent, powerful, and ever active conspiracy of those who govern," and the curious early design flaws of the vice presidency and electoral college that put political rivals in the same administration. Tangents: speeding-ticket philosophy, gravel-road fishtailing, a fan letter from "the slightly bitter sister" Pam, and a Fun with Numbers segment on Massachusetts casting roughly a third of all the "no" votes nationwide If you are interested in joining us in 2027 in Palmyra and Kirtland, August 1st through August 7th, click on the link below and reserve your spot: https://pci.jotform.com/form/261567888174171 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

    1h 5m

  4. Jun 11

    S6E23 King Follett Sermon Part 3

    In this episode, we answer a litter's questions who wrote while in "DEEP" labor asking about the lesser-known Pratt brothers and an audio submission from Filer, Idaho about the legend that Joseph of Arimathea brought the teenage Jesus to Cornwall. Gerrit traces the idea to William of Malmesbury's 12th-century history of Glastonbury and its tangle of Arthurian folklore.   We close with part three of our King Follett sermon series, where Gerrit warns against apologists who lean on the Thomas Bullock account's apparent mistranscription to claim Joseph taught God was God from all eternity, arguing that you can't play historian with one discrepant source against five consistent ones, and that watering down what Joseph actually taught to appease traditional Christian critics is selling your birthright for a mess of pottage that won't even fill you up.   If you are interested in joining us in 2027 in Palmyra and Kirtland, August 1st through August 7th, click on the link below and reserve your spot: https://pci.jotform.com/form/261567888174171   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

    1h 17m
  5. S2E8 D&C 42 Part 2

    Jun 7 • Subscribers Only

    S2E8 D&C 42 Part 2

    In this episode we continue exploring how a rapidly growing, less-than-a-year-old church established its earliest standards of belief, conduct, and discipline. We discuss why early excommunication was swift but also quickly reversible, drawing surprising comparisons to 1830s Baptist and Methodist congregations (where drunkenness topped the list of reasons members were cut off), and unpack what it meant to be an authorized representative versus a private member sharing the gospel. The conversation turns to the law of consecration and the deeded surrender of property to care for the poor, the tension between capitalism and the future city of Zion, and why teaching false doctrine publicly remains a serious matter. Along the way, expect plenty of detours from small-town Idaho Fourth of July plans, repurposed European churches, and the secret genius of Dolph Lundgren. If you are interested in joining us in 2027 in Palmyra and Kirtland, August 1st through August 7th, click on the link below and reserve your spot: https://pci.jotform.com/form/261567888174171 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

    1h 4m

  6. Jun 4

    S6E22 King Follett Sermon Part 1

    This episode was recorded 4 1/2 years ago, but was never released. In this episode, Gerrit provides context around the setting of Joseph Smith’s King Follett Sermon. If you would like to follow what Sweetwater Rescue is doing, specifically our most recent trip to Nairobi Kenya please follow us on Instagram or Facebook.    Sweetwater Rescue Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sweetwaterrescue?igsh=MTd6eHRteG9idzB6bA%3D%3D&utm_source=qr   Sweetwater Rescue Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/18n8KBA9bz/?mibextid=wwXIfr 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

    59 min
  7. S3E11 Enumerated Rights for an Energetic Government

    May 31 • Subscribers Only

    S3E11 Enumerated Rights for an Energetic Government

    We begin with a discussion of why populous, divided states like Pennsylvania endured weeks of acrimonious debate (including suppressed newspapers and a delegates' boarding house surrounded by angry Philadelphia dock workers) while small neighbors like Delaware, New Jersey, and Georgia ratified unanimously, each for self-interested reasons, from Senate equality to protection against trade-taxing giants and frontier threats. The conversation digs into the core anti-Federalist objection (the missing Bill of Rights) and John Wilson's argument that enumerating rights actually endangers them, then turns to a lengthy reading of Thomas Jefferson's December 1787 letter to James Madison, where Jefferson praises the great-state/small-state compromise yet insists "a bill of rights is what the people are entitled to against every government on earth" and warns that "I am not a friend to a very energetic government. It is always oppressive." Gerrit offered a nuanced LDS framing that the Constitution can be divinely inspired without being perfect, Joseph Smith himself lamented that it enumerated rights without compelling officials to protect them, and faithful members can honor an exceptional, hope-giving experiment in self-government while still acknowledging its flaws. If you would like to follow what Sweetwater Rescue is doing, specifically our most recent trip to Nairobi Kenya please follow us on Instagram or Facebook.  Sweetwater Rescue Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sweetwaterrescue?utm_source=qr Sweetwater Rescue Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/18n8KBA9bz/?mibextid=wwXIfr 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

    1h 16m

  8. May 28

    S6E21 Declaration of Independence Part 2 (rerelease of premium CTRI)

    This is a rereleased episode from season 1 of Condemned to Repeat It. In this episode, we work through the grievances section of the Declaration of Independence, unpacking how Jefferson methodically built his case against King George III. Gerrit shows how each charge, dissolving colonial legislatures, making judges beholden to the Crown, quartering standing armies, employing Hessian mercenaries, cutting off colonial trade, and asserting the power "to legislate in all cases whatsoever" directly echoes earlier acts of Parliament and the king, with Jefferson cleverly turning the Crown's own language back against it.  The episode closes with a thoughtful reflection on the Declaration's enduring legacy: while Jefferson and many signers were themselves slaveholders, the document's assertion that all are created equal and endowed by their Creator with inalienable rights became the very foundation later generations would invoke to dismantle slavery, expand suffrage, and pursue civil rights, proof that, as Lincoln understood at Gettysburg, the arc of history bends slowly but inevitably toward the truths the founders dared to declare. If you would like to follow what Sweetwater Rescue is doing, specifically our most recent trip to Nairobi Kenya please follow us on Instagram or Facebook.    Sweetwater Rescue Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sweetwaterrescue?igsh=MTd6eHRteG9idzB6bA%3D%3D&utm_source=qr   Sweetwater Rescue Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/18n8KBA9bz/?mibextid=wwXIfr 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

    58 min
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Hosts & Guests

4.9
out of 5
996 Ratings

About

The purpose of this podcast is to help Latter-Day Saints better understand their history and increase their faith. The podcast hosted by Dr. Gerrit Dirkmaat, associate professor of Church History and Doctrine at BYU.

Information

  • Creator
    Dr. Gerrit Dirkmaat
  • Years Active
    2021 - 2026
  • Episodes
    494
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2022 All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    Standard of Truth
  • Provider
    Standard of Truth Podcast

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