Brent Lee Metcalfe is an independent researcher and writer of the
Latter Day Saint Movement
The Latter Day Saint movement (also called the LDS movement, LDS restorationist movement, or Smith–Rigdon movement) is the collection of independent church groups that trace their origins to a Christian Restorationist movement founded by ...
. He is also credited on over sixty video games, primarily as a writer.
Writings in Mormon studies
Seventh East Press
In the early 1980s, Metcalfe contributed to the
Seventh East Press and
Sunstone
Sunstone is a microcline or oligoclase feldspar, which when viewed from certain directions exhibits a aventurescence, spangled appearance. It has been found in Southern Norway, Sweden, various United States localities and on some beaches along ...
, while at the same time working as a security guard in the
Church Office Building
The Church Office Building is a 28-story building in Salt Lake City, Utah, which houses the administrative support staff for the lay ministry of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) throughout the world.Taylor, Scott"For ...
of
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...
(LDS Church). According to Metcalfe, he was questioned by LDS Church authorities about his writing for the Press and ''Sunstone''. An anonymous source reported that Roy Doxey, then the director of church correlation, wanted to know about the papers Metcalfe was studying at the Church Historical Library, which were on
Elias Smith
Elias Smith (17 June 1769 – 29 June 1846) was an American preacher, physician, journalist and clergyman. Smith, along with the preacher Abner Jones, founded a group of Christian Churches in New England that eventually merged with other like-mi ...
and others. Doxey denied asking about Metcalfe.
At first Metcalfe was placed on 30 days probation by the LDS Security department and ordered to "sever yourself from involvement with people, groups, or publications that teach doctrines, privately or publicly, which are contrary to those of the Prophet." Metcalfe subsequently resigned from the Seventh East Press and told Sunstone that he would no longer write for them.
His supervisor removed the probation, but on April 8, 1983 Metcalfe's employment was terminated.
Metcalfe believed that his firing was because of a few people in church leadership who perceived him as a threat, even though he viewed his own work as apologetic and not scholarly.
New Approaches to the Book of Mormon
In 1993 Metcalfe organized a group of scholars to publish ''New Approaches to the Book of Mormon: Explorations in Critical Methodology'', a series of essays that sought to apply
techniques of higher criticism to the
Book of Mormon
The Book of Mormon is a religious text of the Latter Day Saint movement, first published in 1830 by Joseph Smith as ''The Book of Mormon: An Account Written by the Hand of Mormon upon Plates Taken from the Plates of Nephi''.
The book is one of ...
. These scholars included
Dan Vogel
Daniel Arlon Vogel (born 1955) is an independent researcher, writer, and author on a number of works that include '' Joseph Smith: The Making of a Prophet'' and is most known for his work on early Mormon documents.
Joseph Smith biography
Vogel ...
,
Stan Larson,
David P. Wright, and
John Kunich. In it, Metcalfe himself wrote an essay that was the first to advance the
Mosiah priority
Mosiah priority is a theory about the creation of the Book of Mormon arguing that the original manuscript began not with 1 Nephi (found at the beginning of the Book of Mormon), but midway through, starting with Book of Mosiah, Mosiah. According t ...
theory, or that Joseph Smith began dictating the Book of Mormon from the
Book of Mosiah
The Book of Mosiah (),, written by Joseph Smith in the early 19th century, is one of the books which make up the Book of Mormon. The title refers to Mosiah II, a king of the Nephites at Zarahemla. The book covers the time period between ''ca'' 1 ...
. The
reception of the Mosiah priority theory was gradual, but it is now well accepted by researchers and in scholarly publications about the text.
According to the
Deseret News
The ''Deseret News'' () is a multi-platform newspaper based in Salt Lake City, published by Deseret News Publishing Company, a subsidiary of Deseret Management Corporation, which is owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS ...
, the response from the apologetic community was "vitriolic."
The LDS Church fired
Brigham Young University
Brigham Young University (BYU) is a Private education, private research university in Provo, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is the flagship university of the Church Educational System sponsore ...
professor
David P. Wright for his contribution to the volume, and excommunicated both Wright
and Metcalfe shortly thereafter. An entire issue of ''
FARMS Review of Books
''Mormon Studies Review'' is an annual academic journal covering Mormon studies published by the University of Illinois Press. Previously, until and including its 2018 issue, the journal was published by Brigham Young University's Neal A. Maxwell ...
'' was devoted to rebuttals of ''New Approaches'', though mostly not to the Mosiah priority theory.
William J. Hamblin, responding specifically to an article by Metcalfe, phrased the opening 18 paragraphs of his essay to form an
acrostic
An acrostic is a poem or other word composition in which the ''first'' letter (or syllable, or word) of each new line (or paragraph, or other recurring feature in the text) spells out a word, message or the alphabet. The term comes from the Fre ...
spelling out "Metcalfe is Butthead." The message was discovered after his review had gone to press,
and was edited out in archived copies
of the journal.
Later work
Metcalfe has continued publishing on Mormon studies. Metcalfe is on the editorial board of the
John Whitmer Historical Association
The John Whitmer Historical Association (JWHA) is an independent, nonprofit organization promoting study, research, and publishing about the history and culture of the Latter Day Saint movement. It is especially focused on the History of the Commu ...
.
Personal life
Metcalfe is a native of
New Zealand
New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
.
He grew up a member of the LDS Church in a devout family, and served a
mission
Mission (from Latin 'the act of sending out'), Missions or The Mission may refer to:
Geography Australia
*Mission River (Queensland)
Canada
*Mission, British Columbia, a district municipality
* Mission, Calgary, Alberta, a neighbourhood
* ...
for the LDS Church.
[Mehrotra, K. (2021, March 3)]
Where is Brent Metcalfe Now?
The Cinemaholic. Retrieved December 22, 2022 His father was the managing director of the Temple Department for the LDS Church.
[Naifeh, S., & Smith, G. W. (2005). "The Mormon murders: A true story of greed, forgery, deceit, and death." St. Martins Press. 2005, page 147, 180]
Metcalfe worked for many years as a technical writer in the
information technology
Information technology (IT) is a set of related fields within information and communications technology (ICT), that encompass computer systems, software, programming languages, data processing, data and information processing, and storage. Inf ...
and
video games
A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...
industries, and is credited on over sixty video game titles.
Mark Hofmann murders
After being fired from his job in security for the LDS Church for his writings, Metcalfe worked first for Steve Christensen and later for
Mark Hofmann
Mark William Hofmann (born December 7, 1954) is an American counterfeiting, counterfeiter, forgery, forger, and convicted murderer. Widely regarded as one of the most accomplished forgers in history, Hofmann is especially noted for his creation ...
.
According to Metcalfe, he had written a letter to LDS Church leader
Gordon B. Hinckley, disputing the grounds for his termination. Hinckley never responded, but was shortly thereafter offered the job by Christensen, which Metcalfe felt was orchestrated by Hinckley.
Metcalfe had become an ardent supporter of the forged Salamander letter, and was hired by Christensen to research the letter.
When it became rumored that Metcalfe had lost his belief in the historical claims of the LDS Church, Christensen terminated the project and fired Metcalfe.
Metcalfe then assisted Hofmann in leaking the existence of the letter to the press, contrary to the wishes of the LDS Church.
As it began to be clearer that Hofmann was counterfeiting documents, Christensen and Kathy Sheets were murdered by separate bombs created by Hofmann, and Hofmann himself was injured when a later bomb he created inadvertently exploded.
As both Metcalfe and the police were afraid Metcalfe might be a future target, he went into hiding.
Metcalfe became a suspect himself at one point in time.
Metcalfe said of the time, "It was soul-crushing ... I felt like somehow I was responsible for what had happened. And I went through a very long phase of just wishing that I had never been born."
Publications
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References
[ Location 502, 899, 5027 of 9578.]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Metcalfe, Brent Lee
American biographers
Former Latter Day Saints
Historians of the Latter Day Saint movement
Living people
Mormon studies scholars
People excommunicated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Year of birth missing (living people)