Joseph Fielding Smith’s family tree alone makes him a significant player in the history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
His father, Joseph F. Smith, was the faith’s sixth president. His grandfather was Hyrum Smith, who was slain with his great-uncle, church founder Joseph Smith. His son-in-law, in fact, was apostle Bruce R. McConkie, a theological kindred spirit.
Joseph Fielding Smith served as an apostle for 60 years, church historian for 49 and as the <a href='https://history.churchofjesuschrist.org/landing/prophets-of-the-restoration/joseph-fielding-smith?lang=eng'>church’s 10th president</a> for two. But he will forever be remembered more for his prose and his polemics than for his positions or his pedigree.
A conservative and orthodox thinker, he wrote more than two dozen books, answered religious questions from lay members and engaged in high-level, <a href='https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2022/04/14/latest-mormon-land-look/'>high-stakes debates</a> with fellow apostles James Talmage, John Widtsoe and other leading Latter-day Saint intellectuals. They discussed, debated and disputed issues ranging from scriptural interpretation to the age of the Earth and the theory of evolution.
Joseph Fielding Smith was, scholar <a href='https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2024/06/23/matthew-bowman-why-more-more/'>Matthew Bowman</a> argues, “the most important Latter-day Saint theologian of the 20th century.”
On this week’s show, Bowman, head of Mormon studies at Claremont Graduate University and author of the recently released “<a href='https://www.amazon.com/Joseph-Fielding-Smith-Theologian-Introductions/dp/0252088050'>Joseph Fielding Smith: A Mormon Theologian</a>,” talks about this towering Latter-day Saint man of letters.

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The conservative LDS prophet who led fights over evolution, the age of the Earth and orthodoxy | Episode 381

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