The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has no shortage of complex doctrines, teachings and history that can feel hard to understand fully. With only a few hours weekly for religion and institute classes, students may feel like they are not able to learn about elaborate topics as much as they would like. These are issues that BYU-Idaho professor Scott Woodward faced.
“We get one hour on the Book of Abraham. We get one hour on race in the priesthood and polygamy and all these challenging topics,” Woodward said. “They're complex. And when you get into complexity, sometimes you can get lost in there and some people end up losing their way.”
Because of this, Scott Woodward and BYU professor Casey Griffiths began the Church History Matters Podcast with the non-profit organization called Scripture Central.
“What if we could just go as long as we wanted until we felt satisfied that we had laid out some of our best thinking and interviewed some of the best scholars in the Church on those topics,” Woodward said. “So that listeners could navigate these complicated topics and in a way that can help them both understand it, and be intellectually satisfied, but also maintain their faith.”
The Church History Matters Podcast covers a variety of doctrinal and historical church topics and invites experts onto the podcast to clarify what can be delicate subjects. The podcast aims to inform listeners of history and show the importance of context to avoid misunderstandings.
“Anytime you get a complex topic, the chances for misunderstanding go way up right,” Woodward said. “And when there are misunderstandings, that can cause people to stumble, we find that absolutely unfortunate.”
The Church History Matters Podcast started two years ago. Woodward and Griffiths plan to continue covering difficult topics that may cause people to struggle with their faith.
“If we can be helpful to people who need it, that's our goal,” Woodward said. “Let's help people navigate complex church history topics. And if people don't need the podcast, then that's great. But We hope that all those who do need it, listen.”
You can listen to the Church History Matters Podcast on your favorite podcast app or on the Scripture Central website