Mormons have turned to the Bible to prove their beliefs are true ever since the inception of the LDS Church. But are the Mormons getting the Bible right? World renowned Bible expert and prolific author Bart Ehrman joins us to get down to the bottom of the issue, and to help us answer the question, “Does the Bible prove Mormonism is true?”

Join Bill Reel and RFM as we cue up the most scintillating and awe-inspiring moments from the April 2026 General Conference! You are sure to have a good time!

In this episode of Mormonism Live, we walk through the full evolution of the Word of Wisdom—from its origin in 1833 to how it functions today as a requirement for temple worthiness. We start in Kirtland, where the School of the Prophets was filled with tobacco smoke, chewing, and spitting—and where Emma Smith’s frustration becomes part of the story behind the revelation. From there, we zoom out and examine the broader 19th-century health movements already shaping ideas about diet, stimulants, and self-control. Figures like Sylvester Graham and the growing temperance movement weren’t fringe—they were mainstream. And their fingerprints are all over the Word of Wisdom. We then track how the revelation was originally given “not by commandment,” how early leaders—including Joseph Smith and Wilford Woodruff—continued to drink alcohol, and how enforcement slowly tightened over time. What began as counsel eventually became a defining boundary marker of Mormon worthiness.

Along the way, we tackle the contradictions and gray areas:
Why coffee and tea are prohibited while caffeine is not
How “mild drinks of barley” disappeared from the conversation
The shifting stance on medical marijuana
Cultural gray zones like kava
And how modern application often depends more on tradition than a consistent principle

By the end, the question isn’t just what the Word of Wisdom says—but how it became what it is today.

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