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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. S2E3 D&C 41 Part 2

    2D AGO • SUBSCRIBERS ONLY

    S2E3 D&C 41 Part 2

    In this episode, Richard battles through a flu-ridden, barely-alive condition to dive back into early anti-Mormon arguments, Sidney Rigdon, and the remarkable claim that you should apparently trust the Bible completely but never pray to God about whether anything else is true. Please join us in our Standard of Truth Dead and in Hell March Madness Bracket Buster Challenge: Password: rice https://fantasy.espn.com/tc/sharer?challengeId=277&from=espn&context=GROUP_INVITE&edition=espn-en&groupId=1d5c280f-2dc4-4104-8176-cc1fa81237f6&joinKey=3767b450-8248-37f2-b8f2-84f7a5625440 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 12m

  2. 5D AGO

    S6E11 The Day Bernie Came Inside

    In this episode, we discuss a bizarre culinary textbook that credits the founding of the Church to “Joseph Young,” and a missionary's question about whether someone should pray to know if the Book of Mormon is true.   Gerrit also shares an unforgettable Walgreens VHS story that ends with a strong testimony.   Please join us in our Standard of Truth Dead and in Hell March Madness Bracket Buster Challenge: Password: rice https://fantasy.espn.com/tc/sharer?challengeId=277&from=espn&context=GROUP_INVITE&edition=espn-en&groupId=1d5c280f-2dc4-4104-8176-cc1fa81237f6&joinKey=3767b450-8248-37f2-b8f2-84f7a5625440   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 28m
  3. S2E2 D&C 41 Part 1

    MAR 7 • SUBSCRIBERS ONLY

    S2E2 D&C 41 Part 1

    In this episode, we discuss the early Ohio period of Church history, setting the stage for Doctrine and Covenants 41 by exploring the sacrifices required of the Saints as they gathered to Kirtland and the difficult realities facing new converts who had to leave behind property, security, and deeply held religious assumptions. Please join us in our Standard of Truth Dead and in Hell March Madness Challenge: Password: rice https://fantasy.espn.com/tc/sharer?challengeId=277&from=espn&context=GROUP_INVITE&edition=espn-en&groupId=1d5c280f-2dc4-4104-8176-cc1fa81237f6&joinKey=3767b450-8248-37f2-b8f2-84f7a5625440 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 7m

  4. MAR 5

    S6E10 Live! With Chocolate-Flavored Candy and Zero Tertullian

    In this special live studio recording of the Standard of Truth Podcast, Dr. Gerrit Dirkmaat and Dr. Richard LeDuc are joined by an in-person audience for a lively mailbag episode. The hosts tackle a question submitted mid-labor, fielding a request for obscure Angel Moroni stories guaranteed to keep the asker out of church leadership.  Gerrit shares an account from Edward Stevenson describing a roadside encounter with Moroni during the translation period, as well as a powerful testimony from Wilford Woodruff about three angelic messengers dressed in temple clothing who rescued him and George A. Smith from evil spirits in London. The episode also dives into the speculative attempts to pin down the exact date of the First Vision, complete with an impromptu weather analysis presentation from Richard.  The hosts then answer a question about Hyrum Smith's prophetic role, reading from his 1842 sermon definitively interpreting the Word of Wisdom's "hot drinks" as tea and coffee, paired with a complementary Brigham Young sermon warning that dismissing prophetic counsel leads gradually to apostasy.  The episode closes as Gerrit shares the story of Emmeline Anderson, an unsung hero of early church history whose faith remained unshaken even after losing her husband and teenage son in the 1846 Battle of Nauvoo. 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
  5. S3E4 The Three-Fifths Compromise

    MAR 1 • SUBSCRIBERS ONLY

    S3E4 The Three-Fifths Compromise

    Slavery doesn’t dominate the Constitutional Convention the way modern listeners expect, not because it wasn’t evil or important, but because the delegates are obsessing over a different fight: how representation will work, who counts in the census, and how taxation should track with political power. That technical argument is exactly where slavery gets dragged onto the floor. Gerrit walks through the convention minutes, and introduces the listener to General Pinckney. If you lived back then, would you really have been the hero? Gerrit argues that most of us like to cast ourselves as the righteous exception in historical stories, but the reason true abolitionists stand out is that they were rare even on the eve of the Civil War. The episode closes with the convention’s debate heating up into open warnings about sectional power, with Gouverneur Morris delivering an impassioned anti-slavery broadside and Rufus King effectively predicting that bargaining with disunion threats sets a precedent that never really goes away. We had a couple of spots open up on our Standard of Truth Tour to Missouri/Illinois. We meet in Kansas City on Sunday, June 21st, and fly home from St. Louis on Saturday, June 27th. https://standardoftruth.com/tours/tour-missouri-nauvoo-carthage-springfield-st-louis-june-21-27-2026/ 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 13m

  6. FEB 26

    S6E9 Prepare, Don’t Predict the Second Coming

    In this episode we discuss a litners email where he asks about “the day and the hour” quote attributed to Joseph Smith and how some YouTube voices use it to fuel end times certainty. Gerrit breaks down why this kind of content deserves real skepticism: source quality matters, corroboration matters, and the Joseph Smith Papers exist for a reason. He explains how cherry picked, poorly sourced, or context free quotes can create anxiety, drive clicks, and worst of all, set people up for spiritual whiplash when predictions fail.  We had a couple of spots open up on our Standard of Truth Tour to Missouri/Illinois. We meet in Kansas City on Sunday, June 21st, and fly home from St. Louis on Saturday, June 27th. https://standardoftruth.com/tours/tour-missouri-nauvoo-carthage-springfield-st-louis-june-21-27-2026/ 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 19m
  7. S3E3 Discussion of Slavery at the Constitutional Convention

    FEB 22 • SUBSCRIBERS ONLY

    S3E3 Discussion of Slavery at the Constitutional Convention

    In this episode, we begin with a description about how people make decisions based on the world right in front of them with super topical examples like Blockbuster, BlackBerry, Pony Express, and Redbox. From there we get into what the delegates thought was going to happen with population growth, representation, and slavery, and why so many of their assumptions ended up being wrong. We also talk through the messy reality that slavery existed in every state, that some northern states started abolishing it early (often gradually), and that economics, religion, and Enlightenment ideas all collide in the background. We had a couple of spots open up on our Standard of Truth Tour to Missouri/Illinois. We meet in Kansas City on Sunday, June 21st, and fly home from St. Louis on Saturday, June 27th. https://standardoftruth.com/tours/tour-missouri-nauvoo-carthage-springfield-st-louis-june-21-27-2026/ 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 1m

  8. FEB 19

    S6E8 The Book of Enoch Part 2 (Giants in the Land)

    In this episode, we begin with a discussion prompted by a question about The Chosen; if the show depicts Joseph comforting Jesus in Gethsemane, is that a theological shift in broader Christianity toward the LDS idea that angels can be resurrected beings who once lived on earth?  From there, the conversation pivots into Part 2 with a deeper dive into the apocryphal Book of Enoch: why it mattered to early Christians, how Jude appears to quote it, and how Enoch’s dramatic narrative tries to explain the origin of evil through fallen angels, forbidden knowledge, and giants the size of Mount Garfield.  We had a couple of spots open up on our Standard of Truth Tour to Missouri/Illinois. We meet in Kansas City on Sunday, June 21st, and fly home from St. Louis on Saturday, June 27th. https://standardoftruth.com/tours/tour-missouri-nauvoo-carthage-springfield-st-louis-june-21-27-2026/ 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 11m
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Hosts & Guests

4.9
out of 5
958 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
    464
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2022 All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    Standard of Truth
  • Provider
    Standard of Truth Podcast

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