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

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

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 sev ...

scholar of 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 Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus ...

. Sperry was born in

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, th ...

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 state ...

.''

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 (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 ...

with a

B.S. A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University ...

Chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the elements that make up matter to the compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions: their composition, structure, proper ...

. 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 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 ...

in the Southern States

Mission Mission (from Latin ''missio'' "the act of sending out") may refer to: Organised activities Religion *Christian mission, an organized effort to spread Christianity *Mission (LDS Church), an administrative area of The Church of Jesus Christ of ...

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

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

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 counties, several municipalities, subdivision ...

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

institute An institute is an organisational 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, se ...

(CES). He received an MA from the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

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). The ultimate goal of a postdoctoral research position is to pu ...

research in

archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landsc ...

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, 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 ...

(BYU). In May 1962, he was given the

Karl G. Maeser Karl Gottfried Maeser (January 16, 1828 – February 15, 1901) was a prominent Utah educator and a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). He served 16 years as principal of Brigham Young Academy. Although h ...

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) 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 ...

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