John L. Sorenson biography


 John L. Sorenson
(Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles) is Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at Brigham Young University

John L. Sorenson was born in 1924 in Smithfield, Utah. After attending Utah State Agricultural College, he enlisted in the Army Air Corps where he was trained at the California Institute of Technology as a meteorologist and served in the South Atlantic theater of WW II.
He served an LDS mission in New Zealand and the Cook Islands from 1947 to 1949. He had married Kathryn Richards of Magna, Utah, in November 1946 prior to his mission. On his return to Utah, he, his wife, and their young son moved to Provo where he attended BYU and received a master’s degree in archaeology in 1952 He began work In 1953 with the New World Archaeological Foundation before becoming an instructor in archaeology at BYU. He received a Ph.D. in anthropology from UCLA in 1962.
He originated the anthropology program at BYU in 1958. He entered the business world from 1964 to 1971, then rejoined BYU as professor of anthropology. Dr.Sorenson headed the anthropology program at BYU for 14 years, retiring in 1986 after suffering a heart attack.
From 1986 to 2008 he did fulltime research and writing on ancient American civilization and the Book of Mormon in connection with the Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies. He was closely involved with FARMS for 28 years including nearly five as editor of the Journal of Book of Mormon Studies. He has published some 200 books and articles. His writings on the Book of Mormon are widely read.
In the Church he has served for more than 50 years in teaching callings and leadership positions, including high councilor and bishop.
He was married to Kathryn Richards for 44 years until her death in 1991. For 16 years he has been married to Helen Lance Christianson. They are the parents of 18 children, grandparents of 58 and great-grandparents of 8.

John L. Sorenson is one of the most prolific contributors to Book of Mormon publications.  His contributions include:
Journal of the Book of Mormon: (FARMS)

Ancient Voyages Across the Ocean to America: From "Impossible" to "Certain"
Volume: 14 Issue: 1
Before DNA
Volume: 12 Issue: 1
Comments on Nephite Chronology
Volume: 2 Issue: 2
Editor's Notebook
Volume: 7 Issue: 1
Last-Ditch Warfare in Ancient Mesoamerica Recalls the Book of Mormon
Volume: 9 Issue: 2
Steel in Early Metallurgy
Volume: 15 Issue: 2
The Book of Mormon as a Collectible
Volume: 10 Issue: 1
The Problematic Role of DNA Testing in Unraveling Human History
Volume: 9 Issue: 2
Was There Hebrew Language in Ancient America?
Volume: 9 Issue: 2
When Lehi's Party Arrived in the Land, Did They Find Others There?
Volume: 1 Issue: 1

Book Chapters:

Book of Mormon Authorship Revisited: The Evidence for Ancient Origins
The Book of Mormon as a Mesoamerican Record
Echoes and Evidences of the Book of Mormon
How Could Joseph Smith Write So Accurately about Ancient American Civilization?
Rediscovering the Book of Mormon
Introduction
Seasons of War, Seasons of Peace in the Book of Mormon
Reexploring the Book of Mormon
Two Figurines From the Belleza and Sanchez Collection
Old World Languages in the New World
Winds and Currents: A Look at Nephi's Ocean Crossing
Parallelism, Merismus, and Difrasismo
Seven Tribes: An Aspect of Lehi's Legacy
Once More: The Horse
Lost Arts
Ancient Europeans in America?
"Latest Discoveries"
Barley in Ancient America
Possible "Silk" and "Linen" in the Book of Mormon
The Nephite Calendar in Mosiah, Alma, and Helaman
"A Day and a Half's Journey for a Nephite"
Mesoamericans in Pre-Spanish South America
Mesoamericans in Pre-Columbian North America
Nephi's Garden and Chief Market
Prophecy Among the Maya
The Disciple as Scholar: Essays on Scripture and the Ancient World in Honor of Richard Lloyd Anderson
Religious Groups and Movements among the Nephites, 200–1 B.C.
Book of Mormon Articles from the Encyclopedia of Mormonism
Peoples of the Book of Mormon
Warfare in the Book of Mormon:
Fortifications in the Book of Mormon Account Compared with Mesoamerican Fortifications
Seasonality of Warfare in the Book of Mormon and in Mesoamerica
Book of Mormon Authorship Revisited: The Evidence for Ancient Origins:
The Book of Mormon as a Mesoamerican Record

Books:

Images of Ancient America (Hard Cover Book)
Mormon's Map (Soft Cover Book)
Pre-Columbian Contacts with the Americas across the Oceans: An Annotated Bibiography Vol 1 (A-K) & Vol 2 (L-Z)     (Hard Cover Book)
The Geography of Book of Mormon Events: A Source Book (Soft Cover Book)

Transcripts:

A New Evaluation of the Smithsonian Institution "Statement regarding the Book of Mormon"
Scientific Evidence for Pre-Columbian Transoceanic Voyages to and from the Americas  (3 parts) 
The Years of the Jaredites