Brant Anderson Gardner (born 1951)^[1] is an American researcher, writer and speaker on the Book of Mormon, and Mesoamerican studies.

Biographical background

Gardner is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. From 1971 to 1973, he served as a missionary for the church in the Spain Madrid Mission.^[2]

Gardner received a B.A. in University Studies from Brigham Young University in 1975, and an M.A. in Anthropology from the State University of New York, Albany (SUNY) in 1978.^[3] From 1978–80, Gardner continued at SUNY, completing all the course work, but not exams or a dissertation,^[3] toward a Ph.D. in Mesoamerican ethnohistory.^[4]

In Mesoamerican studies, Gardner has published on classical Nahuatl kinship terminology, ethnohistoric investigation of Coxoh in southern Mexico, and the Aztec Legend of the Suns.^[4] He has published with the New World Archaeological Foundation and the Institute for Mesoamerican Studies.^[3]

Professionally, Gardner has worked in software consulting^[5] and product management.^[4]

Mormon studies

Gardner has published widely on the Book of Mormon and its possible geographical settings. He has often written for the FARMS Review of Books^[5] and has presented in the conferences of the Foundation for Apologetic Information & Research (FAIR) during 2000–4, and 2008.^[6] In 2007 he presented on "DNA and the Book of Mormon" to the Book of Mormon Archaeological Forum.^[7]

Gardner is the author of Second Witness: Analytical & Contextual Commentary on the Book of Mormon (ISBN 1589580478), published by Greg Kofford Books in 2007. This six-volume commentary on the Book of Mormon focuses on its spiritual, theological, cultural, textual, and historical context.^[8] For years much of this work was presented online as The Multi-dimensional Commentary on the Book of Mormon, which Gardner further revised for publication and took offline.

Published works

• Campbell, Lyle; Ventur, Pierre; Stewart, Russell; Gardner, Brant (1978). Bibliography of Mayan Languages and Linguistics. Publication. Vol. 3. New York: State University of New York at Albany, Institute for Mesoamerican Studies. ISBN 094204102X.
• Campbell, Lyle; Gardner, Brant (1988). "Coxoh". The Linguistics of Southeast Chiapas, Mexico. Papers of the New World Archaeological Foundation. Vol. 50. Provo, Utah: New World Archaeological Foundation, Brigham Young University. pp. 315–38.
• Gardner, Brant (1975). Mecayotl and Mexicayotl : The Role of Kinship in Nahua Society (M.S. Anthropology thesis).
• ——. "A Structural and Semantic Analysis of Classical Nahuatl Kinship Terminology". Estudios de Cultura Nahuatl. 15: 89–124.
• —— (March 1986). "The Christianization of Quetzalcoatl: A History of the Metamorphosis". Sunstone. Vol. 10, no. 11. Salt Lake City, Utah: Sunstone Education Foundation. pp. 6–10. Archived from the original on 2022-05-18. Retrieved 2019-11-23.
• —— (1986). "The Aztec 'Legend of the Suns': A Multi-Dimensional Approach to the Ethnohistory of Myth". In Gary Gossen (ed.). Symbol and Meaning Beyond the Closed Community. New York: Institute for Mesoamerican Studies, State University of New York, Albany. pp. 19–34. ISBN 0-942041-10-0.
• —— (1997). "Quetzalcoatl's Fathers: A Critical Examination of Source Materials". AZTLAN E-Journal. John W. Hoopes, University of Kansas. Archived from the original on 2009-06-26.
• —— (2004). "An Exploration in Critical Methodology: Critiquing a Critique". FARMS Review. Provo, Utah: Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies. 16 (2): 173–223. doi:10.5406/farmsreview.16.2.0173. S2CID 67828044.
• —— (2007). Second Witness: Analytical and Contextual Commentary on the Book of Mormon. [six volumes]. Salt Lake City, Utah: Greg Kofford Books. ISBN 9781589580473.
• —— (2011). The Gift and Power: Translating the Book of Mormon. Greg Kofford Books. ISBN 9781589581319.
• —— (2015). Traditions of the Fathers: The Book of Mormon As History. Greg Kofford Books. ISBN 9781589586659.

Sources