Brian M. Hauglid (born 1954) is an emeritus professor of ancient scripture at Brigham Young University (BYU). From 2014 to 2017, he was the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Book of Mormon Studies, and he was the director of the Laura F. Willes Center for Book of Mormon Studies, a part of BYU's Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship.[1][2][3]

Brian M. Hauglid
Brian M. Hauglid
Brian M. Hauglid in 2016.
Born1954
OccupationHistorian
Known forMormon studies, Book of Abraham scholarship

Life and career

edit

Hauglid was raised in the suburbs of Minneapolis, Minnesota.[4] He was raised as a Catholic.[citation needed] In 1976, Hauglid was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). He served a mission for the church in the California Sacramento Mission.

Hauglid has a bachelor's degree in Near Eastern Studies from BYU. He received a PhD from the University of Utah in Arabic and Islamic studies in 1998.[4]

In 1999, he joined the BYU faculty.[5] In addition to his work with the Journal of Book of Mormon Studies and the Willes Center he has been on the editorial advisory board for the Eastern Christian Texts series of BYU's Middle Eastern Texts Initiative.[2][4] He was also a co-editor of the Maxwell Institute's Studies of the Bible and Antiquity.[5]

Hauglid has been a member of the academic advisory board of the Intermountain West Journal of Religious Studies.[6][5]

Outside of his professional work, Hauglid has served in multiple positions in the LDS Church, including as a bishop.[4]

Scholarship on the Book of Abraham

edit

Apologetic Work

edit

Hauglid has written extensively on the Book of Abraham, a text which Latter-day Saints consider to be scripture.[7] This includes his 2010 A Textual History of the Book of Abraham: Manuscripts and Editions, and with egyptologist John Gee he co-edited the five-volume Studies in the Book of Abraham.[4][5][8][9] Some of Hauglid's work is cited in the Church's Gospel Topics essay on the Translation and Historicity of the Book of Abraham.[10][8] Both Hauglid and other writers have described his work from this period of his career as apologetic in nature.[11][8]

Distancing from Apologetics

edit

In a 2018 Facebook post, Hauglid publicly stated that after a "transformative journey" he had revised some of the views he expressed in A Textual History and "was no longer interested" in apologetics.[8] Hauglid explained he did not believe the Book of Abraham came from a missing section of the Joseph Smith papyri, a theory advanced in his earlier works, and he added that his current views aligned with and were "much more open to" those expressed in a YouTube video by historian Dan Vogel (Vogel had referred and responded to Hauglid's A Textual History in the video).[11][8][12]

Hauglid stated that his "recent and forthcoming publications" demonstrated his "changed... mind" and new conclusions about the Book of Abraham.[8][11] Publications reflecting Hauglid's more recent thoughts on the Book of Abraham include the following: Book of Abraham and Related Manuscripts, The Pearl of Greatest Price: Mormonism's Most Controversial Scripture, and Producing Ancient Scripture: Joseph Smith’s Translation Projects in the Development of Mormon Christianity.[13][14][15][16]

Publications

edit

As co-editor

edit
  • Traditions of the Early Life of Abraham with John Gee and John Tvedtnes
  • Astronomy, Papyrus, and Covenant with John Gee
  • Revelations and Translations, Volume 4: Book of Abraham and Related Manuscripts. Facsimile edition. Vol. 4 of the Revelations and Translations series of The Joseph Smith Papers with Robin Scott Jensen
  • Producing Ancient Scripture: Joseph Smith's Translation Projects in the Development of Mormon Christianity (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 2020) with Michael Hubbard MacKay and Mark Ashurst-McGee

As co-author

edit
  • The Pearl of Greatest Price: Mormonism's Most Controversial Scripture with Terryl L. Givens

Book chapters

edit
  • Hauglid, Brian M. "On the Early Life of Abraham: Biblical and Qur’ānic Intertextuality and the Anticipation of Muḥammad." In John C. Reeves, ed., Bible and Qur’ān: Essays in Scriptural Intertextuality (Boston: Brill, 2004): p. 87-105.
  • Hauglid, Brian M. " Approaching Egyptian Papyri through Biblical Language: Joseph Smith’s Use of Hebrew in His Translation of the Book of Abraham." In Michael Hubbard MacKay, Mark Ashurst-McGee, Brian M. Hauglid, ed., Producing Ancient Scripture: Joseph Smith's Translation Projects in the Development of Mormon Christianity (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 2020).[17]

References

edit
  1. ^ Spencer, Joseph (December 6, 2018). "Latest 'Journal of Book of Mormon Studies' Breaks New Ground". Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship. Retrieved April 9, 2021.
  2. ^ a b Hodges, Blair (June 4, 2013). "Brian M. Hauglid Named Director of BYU Willes Center for Book of Mormon Studies". BYU University Communications News. Retrieved April 9, 2021.
  3. ^ Miller, Adam (June 26, 2014). "The Laura F. Willes Center for Book of Mormon Studies". Times and Seasons. Retrieved April 9, 2021.
  4. ^ a b c d e "Brian Hauglid". FAIR. Retrieved April 9, 2021.
  5. ^ a b c d "Brian Hauglid". Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship. Archived from the original on November 6, 2018. Retrieved April 9, 2021.
  6. ^ "Brian M. Hauglid". Greg Kofford Books. Retrieved April 9, 2021.
  7. ^ "Translation and Historicity of the Book of Abraham". Gospel Topics Essays. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. July 2014. Retrieved April 9, 2021.
  8. ^ a b c d e f "Book of Abraham Apologist: Brian Hauglid's 'Transformative Journey'". Prove All Things; Hold Fast to Good. December 19, 2018. Retrieved April 9, 2021.
  9. ^ Hauglid, Brian M. (2010). "A Textual History of the Book of Abraham: Manuscripts and Editions". Maxwell Institute Publications. Provo, UT: Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship.
  10. ^ Gospel Topics Essay on Book of Abraham
  11. ^ a b c bwv549. "Brian Hauglid Argues Against Missing Papyri Theory: 'They Were Working Off of the Papryri That We Actually Have in the Church Today'". A Careful Examination. Retrieved April 9, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  12. ^ Vogel, Dan (November 8, 2018). "Truth of the Book of Abraham (Part 6) - Joseph Smith As a Student of Hebrew - Dan Vogel". YouTube. Retrieved April 9, 2021.
  13. ^ "Revelations and Translations, Volume 4: Book of Abraham and Related Manuscripts". The Joseph Smith Papers. Retrieved April 9, 2021.
  14. ^ Givens upcoming projects list
  15. ^ Johnson, Mark L. (2020). "Scriptures through the Jeweler's Lens". Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship. 36: 85–108 – via Interpreter Foundation.
  16. ^ "Producing Ancient Scripture with Mark Ashurst-McGee". Latter-day Saint Perspectives. Interpreter Foundation. September 16, 2020. Retrieved April 9, 2021.
  17. ^ "Producing Ancient Scripture: Joseph Smith's Translation Projects in the Development of Mormon Christianity". University of Utah Press. University of Utah. Retrieved April 9, 2021.
edit