Brent Lee Metcalfe

Brent Lee Metcalfe is an independent researcher and writer of the Latter Day Saint Movement.

For the wrestler, see Brent Metcalf.

Contributions

Metcalfe is on the editorial board of the John Whitmer Historical Association.[1]

Seventh East Press

In the early 1980s, Metcalfe contributed to the Seventh East Press and Sunstone, while at the same time worked as a security guard at the Church Office Building of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). According to Metcalfe, he was questioned by LDS Church authorities about his writing for the 7EP and Sunstone was "forced to resign" from his job in April 1983. 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 and others. Doxey denied asking about Metcalfe. 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.[2][3]

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.[4] His supervisor removed the probation, but on April 8 Metcalfe's employment was terminated.[4]

New Approaches to the Book of Mormon

In 1993 Metcalfe organized a group of scholars to publish a series of essays that sought to apply techniques of higher criticism to the Book of Mormon. These scholars included Dan 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 theory, or that Joseph Smith began dictating the Book of Mormon from the Book of Mosiah. This theory is now well accepted in academia.[5][6]

According to the Deseret News, the response from the apologetic community was "vitriolic."[7] William J. Hamblin responded specifically to an article by Metcalfe. In his response, he controversially included an encrypted message spelling out "Metcalfe is Butthead." The message was discovered after his review had gone to press and had to be edited out.[7] The LDS Church fired Brigham Young University professor David Wright for his contribution to the volume, and excommunicated both Wright and Metcalfe shortly thereafter.[8]

Personal life

Metcalfe is a native of New Zealand.[4] He grew up a member of the LDS Church in a devout family, and served a mission for the LDS Church.[9][10] His father was the managing director of the Temple Department for the LDS Church.[9][4]

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.[9] 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.[4] Metcalfe had become an ardent supporter of the counterfeited Salamander letter, and hired by Christensen to research the letter.[9] 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.[4] Metcalfe assisted Hofmann in leaking the existence of the letter to the press, contrary to the wishes of the LDS Church.[9]

As it began to be clearer that Hofmann was counterfeiting documents, Christensen and Kathy Sheets were murdered in an separate bombs created by Hofmann, and Hofmann himself was injured when a later bomb he created inadvertently exploded.[9] Metcalfe and the police were afraid Metcalfe might be a future target he went into hiding.[9] Metcalfe became a suspect himself at one point in time.[9] 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."[10]

Publications
  • Metcalfe, Brent Lee, ed. (1993). New Approaches to the Book of Mormon: Explorations in Critical Methodology. Salt Lake City, Utah: Signature Books. ISBN 1-56085-017-5.
  • Vogel, Dan; Metcalf, Brent Lee, eds. (2002). American Apocrypha: Essays on the Book of Mormon. Salt Lake City, Utah: Signature Books. ISBN 1-56085-151-1.

References
  1. John Whitmer Historical Society Website: JWHA Leadership and Committees
  2. Anderson, Lavina Fielding (Spring 1993). "The LDS intellectual community and church leadership: A contemporary chronology" (PDF). Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought. 26 (1): 20.
  3. "Mormon says he was fired for newspaper articles". The Sun-Advocate (Price, Utah). August 24, 1983. p. 7A.
  4. 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
  5. Metcalfe 1993, pp. 398–99 lists proponents including Hyrum L. Andrus, Edward H. Ashment, Richard L. Bushman, Edwin J. Firmage, Kenneth W. Godfrey, Dean C. Jessee, Stan Larson, Dale L. Morgan, Max J. Parkin, Jerald and Sandra Tanner, John A. Tvedtnes, Dan Vogel, Wesley P. Walters, John W. Welch, Robert John Woodford, as well as the LDS Institute of Religion manual Church History in the Fullness of Times (1989). Since Metcalfe's article, more publications have agreed with Mosiah priority, including:
    • Gardner, Brant A. (2011). The Gift and Power: Translating the Book of Mormon. Greg Kofford Books. p. 245. ISBN 978-1-58958-131-9.
    • Gardner, Brant A. (2015). Traditions of the Fathers: The Book of Mormon as History. Greg Kofford Books. p. 213. ISBN 978-1-58958-665-9.
    • Givens, Terryl L. (2003). By the Hand of Mormon: The American Scripture that Launched a New World Religion. Oxford University Press. p. 36. ISBN 978-0-19-513818-4.
    • Gutjahr, Paul C. (2012). The Book of Mormon: A Biography. Princeton University Press. p. 23. ISBN 978-0-691-14480-1.
    • Hardy, Grant (2003). The Book of Mormon: A Reader's Edition. University of Illinois Press. p. xiii, 645–46. ISBN 978-0-252-02797-0.
    • Hardy, Grant (2010). Understanding the Book of Mormon: A Reader's Guide. Oxford University Press. p. 10. ISBN 978-0-19-973170-1.
    • "Historical Introduction". Revelation, Spring 1829 [D&C 10]. The Joseph Smith Papers. Church Historian's Press. September 1, 2016. Retrieved 2017-09-11.
    • McBride, Matthew (January 3, 2013). The Contributions of Martin Harris. Retrieved 2017-09-07. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
    • McKay, Michael Hubbard; Dirkmaat, Gerrit J. (2015). From Darkness Unto Light: Joseph Smith's Translation and Publication of the Book of Mormon. Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University. pp. 125–26. ISBN 978-0-8425-2888-7.
    • Skousen, Royal (2009). The Book of Mormon: The Earliest Text. Yale University Press. p. xii. ISBN 978-0-300-14218-1.
    • Van Wagoner, Richard S. (2016). "Converting Cousin Cowdery". Natural Born Seer: Joseph Smith, American Prophet, 1805-1830. Smith-Pettit Foundation. ISBN 978-1560852636.
    • Wunderli, Earl (2013). "Overview: The Order of Translation and Small Plates". An Imperfect Book: What the Book of Mormon Tells Us About Itself. Signature Books. ISBN 978-1-56085-230-8.
  6. Roper, Matthew (1994), "A More Perfect Priority?", Review of Books on the Book of Mormon, 6 (1): 362–78, retrieved 2014-01-09
  7. Associated Press, "BOOK OF MORMON SCHOLARS UNLEASH SALVO OF BARBS" Deseret News Mar 22 1994
  8. John Charles Duffy, "MAPPING BOOK OF MORMON HISTORICITY DEBATES—PART I", Sunstone Magazine, October 2008, page 42
  9. Sillitoe, L., & Roberts, A. D. (1988). Salamander: The story of the Mormon forgery murders. Signature Books. location 502, 899, 5027 of 9578
  10. Mehrotra, K. (2021, March 3). Where is Brent Metcalfe Now?, The Cinemaholic. Retrieved December 22, 2022
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