Mormon Stories - Lds

Welcome to Part 26 of our Joseph Smith Podcast series! In this episode, we continue our deep dive into Chapter 22 of John Turner’s new biography, Joseph Smith: The Rise and Fall of an American Prophet, as the story moves to the founding of Nauvoo, Illinois in 1840 –a fresh start for the Latter-day Saints and a turning point in Joseph Smith’s theology and authority.We explore the emergence of baptism for the dead, one of the most distinctive doctrines introduced in Nauvoo, and how Joseph Smith framed proxy ordinances as answers to grief, death, and eternal family bonds. From New Testament passages to Adam Clarke’s biblical commentary, we examine how this doctrine developed, why the Saints embraced it so enthusiastically, and how it eventually became tied to the temple.This episode also covers the doctrine of re-baptism, a ritual that allowed faithful members to recommit repeatedly, and what this reveals about early Mormon ideas of salvation, renewal, and belonging. We also introduce one of the most controversi