Stan Larson (born February 26, 1946) is an American author, researcher, and librarian.

Biography

Larson was born in

Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, Washington, Olympia, and northwest of Mount ...

, and was raised in

Boise, Idaho Boise (, , ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho and is the county seat of Ada County. On the Boise River in southwestern Idaho, it is east of the Oregon border and north of the Nevada border. The downtown are ...

. As a young man, he served as a

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which 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.Tho ...

for

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 Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

(LDS Church) in England (he turned down an assignment to Brazil). He received a Bachelor of Arts in history and a Master of Arts in ancient scripture from

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...

(BYU). Beginning in 1974, Larson was a scripture translation researcher and guide writer for the LDS Church. He resigned in 1985 and left the LDS Church after he, through his research, lost faith in the

Book of Mormon The Book of Mormon is a religious text of the Latter Day Saint movement, which, according to Latter Day Saint theology, contains writings of ancient prophets who lived on the American continent from 600 BC to AD 421 and during an interlude date ...

and other scriptural writings of

Joseph Smith Joseph Smith Jr. (December 23, 1805June 27, 1844) was an American religious leader and founder of Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint movement. When he was 24, Smith published the Book of Mormon. By the time of his death, 14 years later, he ...

.John Dart
"Critics in Mormon Church Express Doubts on the Book"
''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'', October 5, 1985. After leaving the employment of the LDS Church, he worked as a religious archives specialist at the

Marriott Library The J. Willard Marriott Library is the main academic library of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah. The university library has had multiple homes since the first University of Utah librarian was appointed in 1850. The current building ...

of the

University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...

. In 1988, he received a master's degree in library and information sciences from BYU. He later earned a PhD in theology from the

University of Birmingham , mottoeng = Through efforts to heights , established = 1825 – Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery1836 – Birmingham Royal School of Medicine and Surgery1843 – Queen's College1875 – Mason Science College1898 – Mason Univers ...

. In 2001, he became an associate librarian and curator of manuscripts at the Marriott Library. He retired from this position in 2011. Larson wrote and edited several books and has published articles in ''

BYU Studies ''BYU Studies Quarterly'' is an academic journal covering a broad array of topics related to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ( Mormon studies). It is published by the church-owned Brigham Young University. The journal is abstracted ...

'', ''

Dialogue Dialogue (sometimes spelled dialog in American English) is a written or spoken conversational exchange between two or more people, and a literary and theatrical form that depicts such an exchange. As a philosophical or didactic device, it is c ...

'', ''

Ensign An ensign is the national flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality. The ensign is the largest flag, generally flown at the stern (rear) of the ship while in port. The naval ensign (also known as war ensign), used on warships, may be diffe ...

'', ''

Evangelical Quarterly ''Evangelical Quarterly'' is an academic journal covering theology and biblical studies. It was established in 1929 by Donald Maclean (principal), Donald Maclean and J. R. Mackay. The current Editor-in-chief, editors are Richard Snoddy and John Nol ...

'', ''

Journal of Mormon History The Mormon History Association (MHA) is an independent, non-profit organization dedicated to the study and understanding of all aspects of Mormon history to promote understanding, scholarly research, and publication in the field. MHA was founded i ...

'', ''

Sunstone Sunstone is a microcline or oligoclase feldspar, which when viewed from certain directions exhibits a spangled appearance. It has been found in Southern Norway, Sweden, various United States localities and on some beaches along the midcoast of ...

'', and '' Trinity Journal''.

Works

*Stan Larson and Lorille Horne Miller. ''Unitarianism in Utah: A Gentile Religion in Salt Lake City, 1891–1991'' (1991, Freethinker Press) *Stan Larson. ''Quest for the Gold Plates: Thomas Stuart Ferguson's Archaeological Search for the Book of Mormon'' (1997, Signature Books, ) * * * *

Notes

References

Stan Larson papers, 1842–2011
archiveswest.orbiscascade.org. 1946 births 20th-century Mormon missionaries Alumni of the University of Birmingham American librarians American male non-fiction writers American Mormon missionaries in England Brigham Young University alumni Former Latter Day Saints Historians of the Latter Day Saint movement Latter Day Saints from Idaho Living people Mormon studies scholars Religious studies scholars People from Boise, Idaho University of Utah staff {{LDS-stub