Uploaded March 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Following the passing of my dear friend and former BYU professor, Dr. William Bradshaw, we are honoring his life today by re-broadcasting my interview with him from 2010.
The original description for this episode is as follows:
"In this episode, John Dehlin interviews one of his former professors and mentors, Dr. William Bradshaw, on a wide variety of topics. Dr. Bradshaw has just recently retired from a rich and fulfilling career as a molecular biology professor at BYU in which he influenced thousands of students to continually be open to the best thinking of the sciences while still nurturing a robust, mature faith and spiritual life. Many report Dr. Bradshaw’s classes and their various interactions with him as pivotal to their finding a way to value the wisdom generated in both their heads and their hearts.
In this far-ranging discussion, Dr. Bradshaw takes us through the arc of his life, including his mission, experiences at Harvard, the circumstances of his career choice, and the surprise call he and his wife Marge received to serve as very young mission presidents in Hong Kong, during which service they had to wrestle with opening and closing missionary work in Vietnam. Dr. Bradshaw relates stories from his career at BYU, talks about science and religion issues, and reveals the way he faces challenges to his faith from Mormon history and scriptural studies.
Many Mormon Stories podcast listeners will already be familiar with one aspect of Dr. Bradshaw’s life from Episode 191, which featured a recording of the most recent lecture he gave at BYU on the biological origins of homosexuality–a lecture he has arranged and given every year for the past several years. Dr. Bradshaw first became prompted to study the research on this subject when his son Brett came out about his homosexuality. Since that time, the Bradshaws have been active members in various LDS groups for families working to support their LGBT children."
Dr. Bradshaw's funeral will be held at the Orem Stake Chapel (365 South 900 East, Orem, UT 84097) on April 3rd at 11:00 AM.
Show notes can be found on the Mormon Stories blog here: mormonstories.org/celebrating-dr-william-bradshaw-re-broadcast
Timecodes:
00:00:00 - Introduction
00:08:24 - Re-broadcast begins
00:11:17 - Early Years in the Church
00:23:25 - Advice from Marion D. Hanks
00:39:00 - Serving in Hong Kong
00:48:00 - Marriage
00:51:38 - Never had a crisis of faith
01:07:20 - Tensions in the church
01:13:25 - Sending missionaries to Saigon
01:27:25 - Vietnamese mission experiences
01:32:50 - The Church in Vietnam
01:37:48 - Counseling LDS Soldiers
01:44:04 - Professor at BYU
01:54:20 - Teaching Evolution at BYU
01:57:57 - Told he could no longer teach religion
02:02:01 - Dissecting a rat in class
02:24:00 - Those who disagree with us
02:26:25 - Having a gay son
02:34:11 - Myths surrounding LGBTQ
02:43:50 - Causes of sexual orientation
02:56:10 - Plan of Salvation
03:09:10 - What are gay Latter-day saints going to do?
03:14:20 - Proposition 8
03:29:11 - DNA Evidence and the Book of Mormon
03:37:40 - The Mormon Narrative
___________________
At Mormon Stories we explore, celebrate, and challenge Mormon culture through in-depth stories told by members and former members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as well as scholars, authors, LDS apologists, and other professionals.
Our overall mission is to:
1. Facilitate informed consent amongst LDS Church members, investigators, and non-members regarding Mormon history, doctrine, and theology
2. Support Mormons (and members of other high-demand religions) who are experiencing a religious faith crisis
3. Promote healing, growth and community for those who choose to leave the LDS Church or other high demand religions
🤝Help us continue to deliver quality content by becoming a donor today
One-time or recurring donations: donorbox.org/mormon-stories?default_interval=m
Patreon: patreon.com/mormonstories
Venmo: account.venmo.com/u/mormonstories
Paypal: paypal.me/mormonstories
Join this channel to get access to perks:
youtube.com/channel/UCx6OgmoqJbOVRq-Lv1P7SzA/join
Our Platforms:
🌐Mormon Stories Blog: mormonstories.org/episodes
🎙️Patreon: patreon.com/mormonstories
✳️Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/4sDzk7dRjODTSEqzZKZJzk?si=148b0efc1ccc4404&nd=1
🍎Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mormon-stories-lds/id312094772
🖼️Instagram: instagram.com/mormstories
📱TikTok: tiktok.com/@mormonstoriespodcast
🎮Discord: discord.com/invite/kuX5p6yyjF
Contact us:
📧 MormonStories@gmail.com
📬PO Box 171085, Salt Lake City, UT 84117
Following the passing of my dear friend and former BYU professor, Dr. William Bradshaw, we are honoring his life today by re-broadcasting my interview with him from 2010.
The original description for this episode is as follows:
"In this episode, John Dehlin interviews one of his former professors and mentors, Dr. William Bradshaw, on a wide variety of topics. Dr. Bradshaw has just recently retired from a rich and fulfilling career as a molecular biology professor at BYU in which he influenced thousands of students to continually be open to the best thinking of the sciences while still nurturing a robust, mature faith and spiritual life. Many report Dr. Bradshaw’s classes and their various interactions with him as pivotal to their finding a way to value the wisdom generated in both their heads and their hearts.
In this far-ranging discussion, Dr. Bradshaw takes us through the arc of his life, including his mission, experiences at Harvard, the circumstances of his career choice, and the surprise call he and his wife Marge received to serve as very young mission presidents in Hong Kong, during which service they had to wrestle with opening and closing missionary work in Vietnam. Dr. Bradshaw relates stories from his career at BYU, talks about science and religion issues, and reveals the way he faces challenges to his faith from Mormon history and scriptural studies.
Many Mormon Stories podcast listeners will already be familiar with one aspect of Dr. Bradshaw’s life from Episode 191, which featured a recording of the most recent lecture he gave at BYU on the biological origins of homosexuality–a lecture he has arranged and given every year for the past several years. Dr. Bradshaw first became prompted to study the research on this subject when his son Brett came out about his homosexuality. Since that time, the Bradshaws have been active members in various LDS groups for families working to support their LGBT children."
Dr. Bradshaw's funeral will be held at the Orem Stake Chapel (365 South 900 East, Orem, UT 84097) on April 3rd at 11:00 AM.
Show notes can be found on the Mormon Stories blog here: mormonstories.org/celebrating-dr-william-bradshaw-re-broadcast
Timecodes:
00:00:00 - Introduction
00:08:24 - Re-broadcast begins
00:11:17 - Early Years in the Church
00:23:25 - Advice from Marion D. Hanks
00:39:00 - Serving in Hong Kong
00:48:00 - Marriage
00:51:38 - Never had a crisis of faith
01:07:20 - Tensions in the church
01:13:25 - Sending missionaries to Saigon
01:27:25 - Vietnamese mission experiences
01:32:50 - The Church in Vietnam
01:37:48 - Counseling LDS Soldiers
01:44:04 - Professor at BYU
01:54:20 - Teaching Evolution at BYU
01:57:57 - Told he could no longer teach religion
02:02:01 - Dissecting a rat in class
02:24:00 - Those who disagree with us
02:26:25 - Having a gay son
02:34:11 - Myths surrounding LGBTQ
02:43:50 - Causes of sexual orientation
02:56:10 - Plan of Salvation
03:09:10 - What are gay Latter-day saints going to do?
03:14:20 - Proposition 8
03:29:11 - DNA Evidence and the Book of Mormon
03:37:40 - The Mormon Narrative
___________________
At Mormon Stories we explore, celebrate, and challenge Mormon culture through in-depth stories told by members and former members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as well as scholars, authors, LDS apologists, and other professionals.
Our overall mission is to:
1. Facilitate informed consent amongst LDS Church members, investigators, and non-members regarding Mormon history, doctrine, and theology
2. Support Mormons (and members of other high-demand religions) who are experiencing a religious faith crisis
3. Promote healing, growth and community for those who choose to leave the LDS Church or other high demand religions
🤝Help us continue to deliver quality content by becoming a donor today
One-time or recurring donations: donorbox.org/mormon-stories?default_interval=m
Patreon: patreon.com/mormonstories
Venmo: account.venmo.com/u/mormonstories
Paypal: paypal.me/mormonstories
Join this channel to get access to perks:
youtube.com/channel/UCx6OgmoqJbOVRq-Lv1P7SzA/join
Our Platforms:
🌐Mormon Stories Blog: mormonstories.org/episodes
🎙️Patreon: patreon.com/mormonstories
✳️Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/4sDzk7dRjODTSEqzZKZJzk?si=148b0efc1ccc4404&nd=1
🍎Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mormon-stories-lds/id312094772
🖼️Instagram: instagram.com/mormstories
📱TikTok: tiktok.com/@mormonstoriespodcast
🎮Discord: discord.com/invite/kuX5p6yyjF
Contact us:
📧 MormonStories@gmail.com
📬PO Box 171085, Salt Lake City, UT 84117
