My intention in creating this podcast is to review these New Testament lessons – trying to maintain the same schedule as outlined in the manual. I will point out the similarities and differences in the Latter-day Saint interpretation of certain verses and passages. The lesson outlines are pretty general, so the manual recommends that Sunday School Teachers and families use additional resources like: Church Magazines (New Era, Ensign, and Liahona); Hymns; Media library (Artwork, videos); Seminary and Institute Manuals; General Conference addresses; Gospel Topic Essays; Preach My Gospel (guide for missionaries). Most of these resources can be found in the Gospel Library app and on LDS.org. So, I will refer to these resources as well.
In these podcasts, I will touch on New Testament verses that are unique to Mormonism in comparison to traditional Christianity. It will be up to you to determine if the doctrine taught in the New Testament over the years by the L.D.S. Church is from God or man. Jesus or Joseph Smith.
My name is Danny Larsen. Having been a Mormon for 60 years, I’ve had extensive experience studying and teaching the gospel within the context of Mormonism. After serving a mission in Ireland as a young man and graduating from college, I was hired by the LDS Church to teach full-time Seminary in Utah. During my lay service in the Church, I also taught such classes as: Gospel Doctrine, Gospel Principles, Temple Preparation, and Missionary Preparation. I was called to many Ward and Stake leadership positions. I was a high priest and, I was temple endowed.
It was while on my full-time mission that God instilled in me a desire for knowledge and understanding of the Mormon gospel. I sought truth from the Scriptures and the teachings of my Church leaders. Through the years, I recognized that correlated church manuals consisted of carefully selected verses supported by statements and commentary from modern-day prophets, apostles, and other General Authorities of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I came to realize that outside of biblical Christianity, these interpretations of Scriptures were unique and peculiar. I also noticed that over the course of time, established doctrines became watered down and even rejected due to the influences of societal attitudes. Sermons that had been taught in the past at General Conference by LDS prophets and apostles would be labeled as just opinions of those leaders instead of official doctrines and policies. I believe as time goes on, new generations of Latter-day Saints will be unaware of the changes and interpretations of the Church on Scripture.
