If you follow LDS apologetics or the broader conversation surrounding Mormon truth claims, the name Sandra Tanner needs no introduction. But for a new generation of seekers — active Latter-day Saints, those who have left the faith, and curious onlookers alike — her story and her legacy deserve a fresh telling. That is precisely what John Dehlin set out to do in a March 2025 episode of his widely followed podcast, gathering three remarkable voices for a conversation that is equal parts history lesson and personal testimony.
Sandra and Jerald Tanner: Pioneers of Mormon Primary-Source Research
Sandra Tanner was born into Mormon royalty. A great-great-granddaughter of Brigham Young himself, she came to her faith with deep roots and an insider’s understanding of LDS culture and theology. Her husband, Jerald Tanner, carried similarly strong Mormon credentials. Yet it was Jerald who first began pulling at the threads. At just eighteen years old, nagging doubts about the historical foundations of the LDS Church began to surface — doubts he could not quiet. When Sandra and Jerald began dating, she, too, was drawn into those searching questions, and together they embarked on a journey that would reshape the landscape of Mormon studies.
Throughout the 1960s, 70s, and 80s, Jerald and Sandra Tanner became arguably the most consequential critics of LDS historical truth claims in the twentieth century. Working largely outside of academia, they did what few dared to do at the time: they went directly to the primary sources. They photographed, transcribed, and published original LDS documents — many of which the institutional church had quietly set aside — and made them available to the public. Their research examined, among other things, the textual history of the Book of Mormon and its thousands of changes across editions, the deeply problematic Book of Abraham translation, the fraudulent Kinderhook Plates, and the institutional patterns by which the LDS Church managed and suppressed its own difficult history.
To house and distribute their growing body of research, Sandra and Jerald opened the Utah Lighthouse Ministry in Salt Lake City, a bookstore and publishing operation that became a landmark destination for anyone serious about investigating Mormonism’s origins. The ministry, whose name reflected their explicitly Christian convictions, was never merely an academic exercise — it was an act of faith. Jerald passed away in 2006, but Sandra has continued the work with the same quiet tenacity that has defined her for six decades. The Utah Lighthouse Ministry remains in operation today.
John Dehlin and Mormon Stories
The conversation is hosted by John Dehlin, founder of Mormon Stories Podcast, one of the longest-running and most influential platforms dedicated to honest, open dialogue about the Latter-day Saint experience. Dehlin has interviewed hundreds of scholars, historians, and former members over the years, and his platform has become a trusted resource for those navigating faith transitions or simply seeking unfiltered information about LDS history.
Nemo the Mormon
Rounding out this three-way conversation is Nemo the Mormon, a U.K.-based content creator who has built a substantial YouTube following by bringing wit, accessibility, and a distinctly British perspective to Mormon history and criticism. Nemo represents a newer wave of independent voices engaging a younger, digitally native audience — many of whom are encountering the Tanners’ foundational research for the very first time through creators like him.
What You Will Find in the Extracted Segment
The full episode covers the Tanners’ top five contributions to Mormon historical scholarship, but the segment I am sharing with you here focuses on something more personal and, I would argue, more important: Sandra’s Christian testimony. In an age when ex-Mormon spaces are often defined by skepticism toward all religious faith, Sandra Tanner stands as a distinctive and compelling witness. She did not leave Mormonism for secularism. She left it for Christ. Her account of how she and Jerald came to embrace biblical Christianity — even as they dismantled the historical claims of the LDS Church — is a powerful reminder that the goal of honest inquiry is not deconstruction for its own sake, but the discovery of truth.
I believe her words will resonate deeply with those of you who share that conviction. Have a listen.
The full episode is available on YouTube.