Sidney Branton Sperry (December 26, 1895 – September 4, 1977) was one of three scholars who were members 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) who began the scholarly and systematic study of 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 ...

in the mid-20th century — the other two being John L. Sorenson and Hugh W. Nibley. Sperry was also a leading

Latter-day Saint 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 b ...

scholar of the

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

. Sperry was born in

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...

Utah Territory The Territory of Utah was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from September 9, 1850, until January 4, 1896, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Utah, the 45th st ...

.''

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 ...

'' Vol. 4, no. 1, p. x In 1917, Sperry graduated from the

University of Utah The University of Utah (the U, U of U, or simply Utah) is a public university, public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret (Book of Mormon), Deseret by the General A ...

with a B.S. in

Chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...

. For the next two years he worked for the United States Bureau of Metallurgical Research. Sperry then served as an LDS Church

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thoma ...

in the Southern States

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 * ...

from 1919 to 1921. He was for much of this time president of the church's

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

District A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

. After returning from his mission, Sperry began work as a seminary and

institute An institute is an organizational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations (research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body. In some countries, institutes ca ...

instructor for the

Church Educational System The Church Educational System (CES) of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) consists of several institutions that provide religious and secular education for both Latter-day Saint and non–Latter-day Saint elementary, sec ...

(CES). He received an MA from the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

Divinity School in 1926 and a Ph.D. from that university's Oriental Language and Literatures Department in 1931. He then did a year of

post-doctoral A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a PhD). Postdocs most commonly, but not always, have a temporary academ ...

research in

archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

at the

American School of Oriental Research The American Society of Overseas Research (ASOR), founded in 1900 as the American School of Oriental Study and Research in Palestine, is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization based in Alexandria, Virginia, which supports the research and teaching of ...

Career

In 1932, Sperry joined the faculty of

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). In May 1962, he was given the Karl G. Maeser Distinguished Teaching Award. He retired in 1971. Among his books were ''Our Book of Mormon'' (1947), ''The Book of Mormon Testified'' (1952) and ''Book of Mormon Compendium'' (1968). In 1960, Sperry's ''Doctrine and Covenants Compendium'' was published. He also wrote "Problems of the Book of Mormon" in 1964, which was later published again as "Answers to Book of Mormon Questions" in 1967 with some additions. He is credited in circles of the LDS Church for giving the passages in 2 Nephi chapter 4 the popular name "The Psalm of Nephi" in his book ''Our Book of Mormon''. In the early 1970s, Sperry's family established a research fund in his honor to promote original research of general interest, and a conference now called the Sidney B. Sperry Symposium has been held annually at BYU since 1973. In 1975, it featured not only a member of the Religious Instruction faculty but also a professor from another department on campus, as well as a CES scholar, beyond BYU. This was the beginning of a greater "outreach to the entire religious education community.".Jeffrey R. Holland, interview by Richard O. Cowan, May 7, 1976, in Richard O. Cowan, "Teaching the Word: Religious Education at Brigham Young University" (Provo, Utah: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 2008). A book with the proceedings is published annually by the

Religious Studies Center The Religious Studies Center (RSC) at Brigham Young University (BYU) sponsors and publishes scholarship on the culture, history, scripture, and doctrine of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). History The RSC (sometimes ...

in cooperation with

Deseret Book Deseret Book () is an American publishing company headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, that also operates a chain of bookstores throughout the western United States. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Deseret Management Corporation (DMC), th ...

Personal life

In September 1921, Sperry married Eva Lila Braithwaite. They eventually had eight children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sperry, Sidney 1895 births 1977 deaths American Latter Day Saint writers Book of Mormon studies Brigham Young University faculty Church Educational System instructors Mormon apologists American Mormon missionaries in the United States University of Chicago alumni University of Utah alumni 20th-century Mormon missionaries University of Chicago Divinity School alumni Latter Day Saint biblical scholars Book of Mormon scholars