Kent Phillips Jackson (born 1949) is an American scholar who was 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-day ...

(BYU). He has written on

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 ...

translation Translation is the communication of the Meaning (linguistic), meaning of a #Source and target languages, source-language text by means of an Dynamic and formal equivalence, equivalent #Source and target languages, target-language text. The ...

of and commentary on the Bible.

Early life and education

Jackson was born in

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

, on August 9, 1949. He received his bachelor's degree in ancient studies from

(BYU). Jackson holds a master's degree and a PhD in Near Eastern studies from the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

Career

Jackson was a professor of religion at BYU from 1980 to June 2017 and taught courses on ancient scripture.“About Kent P. Jackson,” The Interpreter Foundation, accessed October 1, 2021, https://interpreterfoundation.org/author/kentj/. The courses he taught include the

Old Testament The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...

, and The Pearl of Great Price. He was interested in the common ground between the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

and the beliefs and practices of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He also focused on the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

. Jackson was the associate dean of religious education at BYU. He was also the associate director of the BYU Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies. He was the chair of Near Eastern studies at BYU's

David M. Kennedy Center for International Studies The David M. Kennedy Center for International Studies provides international study and service opportunities for students at Brigham Young University (BYU). The center offers six interdisciplinary studies programs: Ancient Near East Studies, Asian ...

. Jackson was the regional president of the

Society of Biblical Literature The Society of Biblical Literature (SBL), founded in 1880 as the Society of Biblical Literature and Exegesis, is an American-based learned society dedicated to the academic study of the Bible and related ancient literature. Its current stated mis ...

as well as the

American Academy of Religion The American Academy of Religion (AAR) is the world's largest association of scholarly method, scholars in the List of academic disciplines, field of religious studies and related topics. It is a nonprofit member association, serving as a profes ...

. He is the author and editor of many publications. He has edited works including ''A Witness for the Restoration'' and ''Joseph Smith, the Prophet and Seer''. Jackson was also the editor of the 1996 publications of

Solomon Spaulding Solomon Spalding (February 20, 1761 – October 20, 1816) was an American author who wrote two related texts: an unfinished manuscript entitled ''Manuscript Story – Conneaut Creek'', and an unpublished historical romance about the lost civilizati ...

's ''Manuscript Found''.

Selected publications

Books

*''From Apostasy to Restoration'' (1996) *''The Restored Gospel and the Book of Genesis'' (2001)
''The Book of Moses and the Joseph Smith Translation Manuscripts''
(2005) *''Joseph Smith's Commentary on the Bible'' (2006)

Chapters

and Remember': The New Testament and the Great Apostasy"
in ''By Study and Also by Faith'' (1990)
"Zenock"
from ''To All the World'' (2000)
"Scenes from Early Latter-day Saint History"
in ''the Disciple as a Witness'' (2000)
"The Beginnings of Christianity in the Book of Mormon"
in ''The Book of Mormon: The Keystone Scripture'' (1988)
"Are Christians Christians"
in ''No Weapon Shall Prosper: New Light on Sensitive Issues'' (2011)

Articles

"What Every Latter-day Saint Should Know about Islam"
in ''

Religious Educator The Religious Studies Center (RSC) is the research and publishing arm of Religious Education at Brigham Young University (BYU), sponsoring scholarship on the culture, history, scripture, and doctrine of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day S ...

'' 4, no. 2 (2003):9–23
"Reprove, Betimes, and Sharpness in the Vocabulary of Joseph Smith"
from ''Religious Educator'' 6, no. 2 (2005):97–104
"Chapters, Verses, Punctuation, Spelling, and Italics in the King James Version"
from ''Religious Educator'' 7, no. 2 (2006):41–64
"Lessons from the Scriptures: A Conversation with Keith H. Meservy"
from ''Religious Educator'' 10, no. 2 (2009):67–76
"Early Signs of the Apostasy"
'' Ensign'', December 1984, p. 8

References

External links

Kent P. Jackson diaries, MSS 7577
a
L. Tom Perry Special Collections

. Access restricted until 2035.
Religious Studies Center list of publications
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, Kent P. Living people People from Salt Lake City Latter Day Saints from Michigan Brigham Young University alumni University of Michigan alumni Brigham Young University faculty Sunday School (LDS Church) people 1949 births Latter Day Saints from Utah