There is a wonderful obituary of a great man, John L. Sorenson, here:
https://www.utahvalleyfuneral.com/obituaries/John-Sorenson-5/#!/Obituary
Brother Sorenson was awesome. I dedicated my book Moroni’s America to him (along with Jack Welch, Wayne May, and Rod Meldrum).
John did a tremendous service by researching and publishing on the topics of transoceanic influences and the historicity of the Book of Mormon. While I disagree with some of his assumptions and conclusions about the setting of the Book of Mormon, I deeply appreciate his focus on the text as an actual history.
He laid the groundwork for ongoing research on Book of Mormon anthropology, archaeology, geology, geography, etc.
My condolences to his family.
Source: About Central America
2 thoughts on “Sad news: John L. Sorenson passed away”
I have the 1985 edition of “An Ancient American Setting for the Book of Mormon” by John L. Sorenson. I read the entire book and appreciate Brother Sorenson’s scholarly attempt to establish a geographical setting for the Book of Mormon. I believe that book became the go-to reference for many Latter Day Saints for defending against those who criticized the lack of knowledge on where the Book of Mormon took place.
Sorenson’s book remained my anchor for the Book of Mormon’s setting until 2014 when I began pulling up that anchor after coming across Ryan Fisher’s “Nephite Explorer”.
Yes, Brother Sorenson’s book has been very influential. I went through a pre-publication draft of that book with an archaeologist friend of mine who was doing a peer review. Of course, when we only see one side of an issue, we tend to be persuaded.
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