Scott Kent Brown (born 1940) is an emeritus

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

professor of ancient scripture at

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 ...

(BYU) where he was also the director of ancient studies and for three years head of the university's Jerusalem Center.

Biography

Brown received his B.A. from the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

in classical Greek with a minor in Near Eastern Studies. He then went on to receive his Ph.D. from

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

. He joined the faculty of BYU in 1971. From 1978-1979 he was a fellow of the American Research Center in Egypt. From 1993-1996 he was the director of the

BYU Jerusalem Center The Brigham Young University Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies (often simply referred to as the BYU Jerusalem Center or BYU–Jerusalem, and locally known as the Mormon University), situated on Mount of Olives in East Jerusalem, is a s ...

, a position he again held from 2009 until August 2010. He has also served as a fellow of the David M. Kennedy Center for International Studies. In

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 ...

, Brown has served, among other callings, as a

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

. Brown served as an editor of the ''

Encyclopedia of Mormonism The ''Encyclopedia of Mormonism'' is a semi-official English-language encyclopedia for topics relevant to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church, see also "Mormon"). The encyclopedia's five volumes have been digitized and ar ...

'' and as the managing editor of the ''

Coptic Encyclopedia The ''Coptic Encyclopedia'' is an eight-volume work covering the history, theology, language, art, architecture, archeology and hagiography of Coptic Egypt. The encyclopedia was written by over 250 Western and Egyptian contributing experts in th ...

''. He has also been an editor of the ''

Journal of Book of Mormon Studies The ''Journal of Book of Mormon Studies'' is an annual peer-reviewed academic journal covering topics surrounding the Book of Mormon. It is published by the University of Illinois Press on behalf of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Sch ...

''. He also edited the '' Historical Atlas of Mormonism'' along with Donald Q. Cannon and Richard H. Jackson. Brown has written and edited a wide variety of books dealing with Lehi, 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 ...

, Judaism between

Malachi Malachi or Malachias (; ) is the name used by the author of the Book of Malachi, the last book of the Nevi'im (Prophets) section of the Hebrew Bible, Tanakh. It is possible that ''Malachi'' is not a proper name, because it means "messenger"; ...

and the

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

, the

and Pearl of Great Price. He also wrote a book Brown was a consultant in the production of the film ''

The Prince of Egypt ''The Prince of Egypt'' is a 1998 American animated musical drama film directed by Brenda Chapman, Steve Hickner, and Simon Wells, and written by Philip LaZebnik, from a story by Kelly Asbury and Lorna Cook. Produced by DreamWorks Pictur ...

''. He was also the Executive Producer and a commentator in the documentaries " Journey of Faith", " Journey of Faith: The New World", and " The Messiah: Behold the Lamb of God". Brown is married to the former Gayle Oblad. They are the parents of five children. One of his daughters is novelist Heather B. Moore and they co-wrote the book ''Divinity of Women: Inspiration and Insights From Women of the Scriptures''.

Notes

References

*Parry et al., ed., ''Echoes and Evidences of the Book of Mormon'', (Provo: FARMS, 2002) p. 501.
Maxwell Institute biographyBYU faculty biography pageDeseret Book bio
1940 births American leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Mormon apologists Brigham Young University faculty Brown University alumni Coptologists American historians of religion Living people UC Berkeley College of Letters and Science alumni American male non-fiction writers American expatriates in Egypt American expatriates in Israel Latter Day Saints from California Latter Day Saints from Rhode Island Latter Day Saints from Utah {{US-historian-stub