Maxwell Institute Podcast

Jaksot

• Zeal and the Still Small Voice: Reflections on 1 Kings 12–13; 17–22 29.06.2026 13min

  Morgan Davis reflects on Elijah’s encounter with the still small voice in 1 Kings 19, exploring how God’s quiet instruction challenges zeal, violence, and spiritual overconfidence. In a world often drawn to loudness and certainty, Elijah’s story invites us to listen again for the voice of perfect mildness.
• Lessons From Life’s Complex Stories: Reflections on 2 Samuel 11–12 25.06.2026 6min

  Avram Richard Shannon reflects on the complex story of David, Bath-sheba, and Uriah, inviting readers to seek moral and spiritual lessons from scripture without oversimplifying the lives of real people.
• Abigail in Between: Reflections on 1 Samuel 25 16.06.2026 15min

  In this reflection on 1 Samuel 25, Kristian Heal explores Abigail’s courageous peacemaking between David and Nabal and invites readers to consider how Christ can transform foolishness, resentment, and offense into wisdom, reconciliation, and peace.
• Saul Among the Prophets: Reflections on 1 Samuel 8–16 08.06.2026 17min

  Kristian Heal considers Saul’s calling, the Spirit’s role in shaping Israel’s leaders, and the deeper theological debate over kingship in the books of Samuel. Drawing on Deuteronomy, Judges, and later texts, he explores what Saul’s rise and decline reveal about covenant responsibility, prophetic authority, and the kind of king Israel was meant to have.
• The Beauty and Risks of Costly Love: Lessons from Ruth 01.06.2026 14min

  Rosalynde F. Welch explores the book of Ruth through the lens of “costly love,” considering the beautiful and complicated ways Orpah, Ruth, and Boaz each respond to need, loyalty, and covenant. The article asks what faithful self-giving looks like when sacrifice is both spiritually powerful and morally risky.
• Longing for a Better Way: Reflections on the Book of Judges 25.05.2026 10min

  J. B. Haws examines the story of Gideon in Judges, highlighting its moral tension and unanswered questions. This reflection invites readers to consider how faith, power, and human weakness intersect—and why these ancient stories leave us longing for a higher, more Christlike way.
• “As I Was with Moses”: The Book of Joshua and Filling Prophetic Shoes 18.05.2026 6min

  Scott Esplin reflects on Joshua’s calling to succeed Moses and the Lord’s promise, “As I was with Moses, so I will be with thee.” This essay explores how faith in God’s constancy helps us move beyond comparison and find courage in our own callings.
• “Hear, O Israel“: Reflections on Deuteronomy 6–8; 15; 18; 29–30; 34 11.05.2026 9min

  Andrew Reed reflects on Moses’s final teachings in Deuteronomy, highlighting covenant remembrance, holiness, care for the poor, prophetic succession, and trust in God’s promises.
• Perceiving the Wild Abundance of the Wilderness: Thoughts on Numbers 11–14, 20–24, 27 04.05.2026 8min

  In the wilderness of Numbers, suffering and abundance exist side by side. Robbie Taggart explores how God’s grace can feel both daily and overflowing—and how our ability to perceive divine abundance, even in hardship, shapes whether we wander in despair or awaken to the promised land already before us.
• Beginning Again: Reflections on Exodus 35–40 and Leviticus 27.04.2026 8min

  What does it mean to begin again? Drawing on Exodus 35–40 and Leviticus, Jennifer Champoux shows how ancient patterns of covenant and cleansing reveal Christ’s power to offer renewal, healing, and fresh starts.
• Maxwell Institute Podcast #203: Student Spotlight, with Melissa Jensen and Sam Petersen 22.04.2026 36min

  Two research assistants at the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship at Brigham Young University join Rosalynde F. Welch to reflect on the questions, ideas, and mentorship that shaped their work. Melissa Faith Jensen shares what her study of miracles in the Book of Mormon taught her about divine help, faithful action, and the way scripture shapes how we see God at work in our lives. Sam Petersen explores Joseph Smith’s teachings on sacred matter, pointing to a vision of the world in which material things can hold deep spiritual meaning.Together, they discuss disciple scholarship as a way of seeking truth with Jesus Christ at the center through curiosity, rigor, and faith. Their conversations offer a thoughtful look at how serious study can shape belief, deepen discipleship, and prepare people to live lives of service and purpose.
• God’s Trustworthiness and Becoming a Kingdom of Priests: Reflections on Exodus 19–20 20.04.2026

  In Exodus 19–20, God invites Israel into a covenant relationship built on trust, not transaction. Avram Shannon explores how this covenant was meant to shape Israel into “a kingdom of priests” and what that vision means for us today as we learn to trust God—before we even know what He will ask.
• Abide: Easter (Maxwell Classics) 15.04.2026 27min

  In this classic Maxwell Institute Podcast episode, Kristian Heal explores the profound connections between Easter, Christian tradition, and the Old Testament, emphasizing the importance of understanding the historical and spiritual significance of the resurrection. Guests share personal insights, theological reflections, and cultural experiences that deepen faith and appreciation for Easter's meaning.
• Exodus 15 and the Practice of Praise 13.04.2026

  What does it mean to praise God—and why does it matter? In this episode, Rosalynde Welch explores the powerful poetry of Exodus 15, the “Song of the Sea,” where Moses, Miriam, and the Israelites respond to deliverance with music, dance, and exultant praise. Drawing on scripture, poetry, and theology, she suggests that praise is more than a commandment or a ritual—it is a way of seeing the world. From the chaos of the sea to the quiet rhythms of modern worship, this reflection invites listeners to reconsider praise as the natural response to divine glory—something woven into creation itself and into our daily lives.
• “And when your children ask you”: Reflections on Exodus 12:26 06.04.2026 8min

  In this week’s Old Testament Reflection, Kristian Heal explores the meaning and power of the question posed in Exodus 12:26: “And when your children ask you…” Drawing on the Exodus story, Heal reflects on what he calls the Bible’s tradition of prophetic audacity—the insistence that God is mightier than any empire, obstacle, or fear. This episode considers how story and ritual work together to sustain faith across generations. In Exodus 12, narrative gives way to law, memory becomes embodied in ritual, and parents are charged with passing on the reasons for hope through a culture of questions and answers. From Passover to Christian worship, Heal shows how sacred time, liturgy, and memory keep the mighty acts of God present and real. This audio essay invites listeners to consider how remembering—and retelling—God’s saving work shapes resilient faith in both ancient Israel and contemporary discipleship.
• From End Times to Sacred Time: Holy Week and the Latter-day Saint Liturgical Year (Easter) 30.03.2026 7min

  What happens when children ask, “Why do we do this?” In this reflective episode, Kristian Heal explores Exodus 12:26 and the powerful relationship between story, ritual, and memory in the life of faith. From the dramatic deliverance of Israel in the Exodus to the quiet, repeated practices that keep that story alive across generations, this episode considers how sacred traditions are designed not just to remember the past—but to shape the future. Heal examines how narrative and ritual work together to sustain hope, especially in moments of uncertainty, and how a culture of questioning and answering becomes essential to passing faith from one generation to the next. As ancient Israel marked time through Passover and sacred observance, so too do modern believers find meaning through practices that connect them to God’s saving work. Ultimately, this episode invites listeners to consider how the most prophetically audacious story of all—the life and resurrection of Jesus Christ—continues to be remembered, reenacted, and lived today.
• Saviors before Sinai: Lessons from the Childhood of a Prophet in Exodus 1–6 23.03.2026 11min

  The story of the Exodus begins not with miracles or plagues, but with acts of quiet courage. In this Old Testament Reflection on Exodus 1–6, Rosalynde Welch explores the network of women who ensure the survival of the infant Moses—midwives, a mother, a sister, a princess, and a wife—each acting at great personal risk to preserve a life that will one day help liberate a people. Welch reflects on how these early chapters of Exodus reveal a deeper pattern in sacred history: God’s saving work often unfolds through “small-s saviors,” ordinary men and women who cooperate to protect life, resist injustice, and prepare the way for deliverance. Drawing connections from ancient Israel to the abolitionist work of Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman, she invites us to consider how quiet acts of courage and partnership can shape the course of history.
• Chosenness, Recognition, and Reconciliation: Reflections on Genesis 42–50 16.03.2026 5min

  In this study of Genesis 42–50, Kristian Heal explores themes of chosenness, favoritism, recognition, and reconciliation in the Joseph narrative, examining how hidden identity, repentance, and divine providence shape the theological meaning of the story.
• Maxwell Institute Podcast #202: Book of Mormon Ethics, featuring Dr. Courtney Campbell 12.03.2026 56min

  What if your daily scripture study is actually ethical training? In this episode Rosalynde Welch sits down with editor and scholar Dr. Courtney Campbell to unpack Moral Visions: Ethics and the Book of Mormon (edited with Kelly Sorensen). They take the Book of Mormon seriously as an ethical text: not just a list of dos and don’ts, but a set of moral visions that shape who we are, how we live together, and what kind of communities we build.Campbell and Welch walk through three big moves in the book: how the Book of Mormon teaches (the “scene of instruction”), what it says about everyday ethics (from clothing and conspicuous consumption to prosperity), and why those moral teachings matter — prophecy as moral memory and social criticism aimed at creating flourishing, covenantal communities.What you’ll take away:A fresh lens for reading the Book of Mormon: ethics as vision, not only rule-following.How narrative, memory, and prophecy function as tools for communal moral formation.Concrete ethical concerns the book raises for the 21st century: social cohesion, economic justice, and peacemaking.A new appreciation for why the Book of Mormon’s stories still matter—because they aim to shape communities that last.
• Four Readings from Genesis 37–41 09.03.2026 12min

  How should we read the story of Joseph in Genesis 37–41? This essay examines four distinct approaches—ancient Jewish narrative expansions, early Christian typology, Latter-day Saint restoration readings, and contemporary biblical scholarship—to reveal the richness and complexity of scripture across time.