Six months before his death the prophet Joseph said to a group of trusted friends, “I am exposed to far greater danger from traitors among ourselves than from enemies without, … and if I can escape from the ungrateful treachery of assassins I can live as Caesar might have lived were it not for a right hand Brutus…. All the enemies upon the face of the earth may roar and exert all their power to bring about my death; but they can accomplish nothing, unless some who are among us, enjoying our society, [who] have been with us in our Councils, participated in our confidence, taken us by the hand, called us brother, [and] saluted us with a kiss, join with our enemies, turn our virtues into faults, and by falsehood and deceit, stir up their wrath and ​in​dignation against us, and bring their united vengeance upon our heads.” And then he said, “Judas was one of the Twelve Apostles … and thro​ugh his treachery, the crucifixion [of Christ] was brought about, and we have a Judas in our midst.” (source)

In this episode of Church History Matters, we discuss what we know about those trusted Church members who treacherously turned on Joseph Smith and conspired to bring about his death—one of whom, like Judas of old, was an apostle and counselor to the prophet.

For show notes and transcript for this and other episodes go to https://doctrineandcovenantscentral.org/church-history-matters-podcast/

The martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith was among the most tragic and defining moments in the history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and it continues to reverberate deeply in the hearts and minds of Latter-day Saints around the world. Hyrum was 44 years old and Joseph was 38 and a half when they were murdered in cold-blood in Carthage Jail on June 27, 1844. Many have read the brief account of the events of that day outlined in section 135 of the Doctrine and Covenants and wondered what more there was to know about this poignant event in our history. Like, how did they come to be incarcerated in Carthage Jail in the first place? What were the charges against them? Who had the motivations to kill Joseph Smith and why? Was Joseph betrayed by insiders or was this entirely an outside job? Who were those in the mob who actually pulled the trigger, and were they ever brought to justice?

On this episode of Church History Matters, we begin a new series where we seek to begin pinning down answers to these and other related questions about this highly significant event. Specifically we will take a close look today at what we know about some of the external factors—especially political ones—that led to the martyrdom.

For show notes and transcript for this and other episodes go to https://doctrineandcovenantscentral.org/church-history-matters-podcast/

What do we know about the purposes and function of the Holy of Holies? And do all temples have one? The word “seal” or “sealing” seems to have multiple meanings. What are those meanings? Also, has the Church’s teachings on wearing garments changed over time? And is there anything doctrinal about the length of garments? Since the garment length has changed in the past to accommodate changes in modern clothing styles, could we expect them to change again as styles continue to change? Furthermore, how do we reconcile examples of clear covenental changes in the endowment ceremony with the common narrative that the covenants don’t change?

Today on Church History Matters we sit down with Dr. Richard Bennett, one of the world’s foremost scholars on LDS temple development during the 19th century, to discuss these and other great questions. And, by the way, we apologize in advance for some difficulties with the audio recording of Dr. Bennett. For whatever reason, several times during this interview his audio didn’t record properly and so it was sadly unusable. But we hope you’ll enjoy what we were able to capture from the responses of this great Latter-day Saint scholar.

For show notes and transcript for this and other episodes go to https://doctrineandcovenantscentral.org/church-history-matters-podcast/