Nate Oman: Messiness and a thoughtful faith.
John: I have a special place in my heart for those who have studied and become shocked or bewildered by historical stuff they didn't know about or has been uncovered in terms of history or culture and really struggle because I’ve gone through my own phase in life with that. There's a lot of people who believe in an absolute literalist way and then they feel like their only option is either maintain a literalist belief [perhaps causing them severe distress or cognitive dissonance] or to throw it all away and abandon it. I’d like to share your perspective of Joseph Smith considering him to be a prophet but still considering the hard things. Nate: The important thing for me is you can't subscribe to the notion that everything that Joseph Smith says or does is directly dictated by God. The point is this, generally, I think about revelation and inspiration, the important claim is not that everything is revealed or inspired but enough of it is revealed and inspired to accompli