Charles Wilfred Griggs (born 1942) is a professor of ancient scripture at

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-d ...

Biography

Griggs was educated at BYU and Stanford University. Griggs received his Ph.D. from the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

. Griggs currently holds the University Professorship of Ancient Studies at BYU. In addition to being a scholar of early Christian and Latter-day Saint history he is also an archeologist. In 1975–1976 he was part of a team doing excavations at the

Nag Hammadi Nag Hammadi ( ; ar, نجع حمادى ) is a city in Upper Egypt. It is located on the west bank of the Nile in the Qena Governorate, about north-west of Luxor. It had a population of close to 43,000 . History The town of Nag Hammadi is name ...

site in Egypt for UC Berkeley. In January–March 1981 he was the field director of the joint BYU and UC Berkeley excavation at Seila, Fayum, Egypt and he has been the head of BYU's Fayum excavation since 1982. Also in 1994 he was invited by the government of the Autonomous Republic of the Crimea to do excavations at Ancient Greek sites on the Crimea. Griggs is a charter member of the

Association of Ancient Historians The Association of Ancient Historians (AAH) is the oldest and largest academic organization in the US for scholars of the history of the Ancient Mediterranean World. HISTORY The Association of Ancient Historians had its origins in 1969, when a num ...

and the International Association for Coptic Studies. Among the books Griggs has written is ''Early Egyptian Christianity: From Its Origins to 451 C.E.'' (Brill, 2000). He has appeared in ''Operation Sethos: High Tech in the Tomb of the Pharaoh'' a TV mini-series and also in another TV episode about

King Tut Tutankhamun (, egy, twt-ꜥnḫ-jmn), Egyptological pronunciation Tutankhamen () (), sometimes referred to as King Tut, was an Egyptian pharaoh who was the last of his royal family to rule during the end of the Eighteenth Dynasty (ruled ...

. At BYU, Griggs has served as the director of ancient studies for the

Religious Studies Center The Religious Studies Center (RSC) is the research and publishing arm of BYU Religious Education, Religious Education at Brigham Young University (BYU), sponsoring scholarship on the Culture of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, cul ...

. He has also written several works on the Early Christian Church, mainly published in LDS-owned or -related periodicals. He has argued that in the

Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible The Joseph Smith Translation (JST), also called the Inspired Version of the Holy Scriptures (IV), is a revision of the Bible by Joseph Smith, the founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, who said that the JST/IV was intended to restore what ...

(JST), Paul was married. Griggs' interpretation was described by Deirdre Good as "among the more creative", but said she preferred to avoid "adding to Paul's words," as the JST does throughout. In 1982 Griggs' article, "The Book of Mormon as an Ancient Book" was published 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 ...

''. He has also published in '' Coptic Studies'' and the ''Archaeological Textiles Newsletter''. Some of his work has related to DNA issues in studying mummies and has been done in cooperation with Scott Woodward. Griggs is the father of seven children. Griggs is a

Latter-day Saint Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's death in 1844, the movement split into several ...

. Among other callings he has served as the member of a stake high council and a

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...

Notes

References

* * https://web.archive.org/web/20100611174619/http://religion.byu.edu/sing_fac.php?f=C.%20Wilfred&l=Griggs
Griggs vita
* S. Kent Brown and C. Wilford Griggs
"The Messiah and the Manuscripts"
''

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 ...

'', September 1974, p. 68
Scientific Commons listing of works by Griggs
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Griggs, C. Wilfred Brigham Young University alumni Stanford University alumni University of California, Berkeley alumni American leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Brigham Young University faculty American archaeologists American Egyptologists Coptologists Living people American expatriates in Egypt Latter Day Saints from California Latter Day Saints from Utah 1942 births