RoseAnn Benson received her PhD from Southern Illinois University—Carbondale and a second master's degree in Ancient Near Eastern Studies from Brigham Young University.

Richard Lloyd Anderson is a coeditor of the Oliver Cowdery Papers and is a contributing editor for the Joseph Smith Papers. After obtaining doctorates in law and ancient history, he taught for four decades at Brigham Young University in the Department of Ancient Scripture.

Chris Conkling teaches ancient Greek and Roman literature, film writing, creative writing, and film history at the University of Judaism, in Bel-Air, California. Previously, he ran the advertising and public relations efforts for two large divisions of Pennzoil-Quaker State and Shell Oil. He co-wrote the screenplay of the original, animated Lord of the Rings film, wrote A Joseph Smith Chronology for Deseret Book, and has published articles in BYU Studies, Literature and Belief, and the Ensign.

Van C. Gessel is professor of Japanese at Brigham Young University. He has served as chair of the Department of Asian and Near Eastern Languages and as dean of the College of Humanities. He received his PhD in modern Japanese literature at Columbia University. Beginning in July 2005, he will preside over the Oregon Portland Mission of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Sherrie Mills Johnson is a part-time instructor of ancient scripture at Brigham Young University. He PhD is in sociology. She is also a freelance writer who has written curriculum material for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and has published poetry, short stories, essays, articles, books, and narrative for the television broadcast Music and the Spoken Word.

Daniel H. Ludlow earned an MA in education from Indiana University and a PhD from Columbia University. He held several administrative positions at the headquarters of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City, director of Correlation. He is editor in chief of the Encyclopedia of Mormonism and the author of several scriptural commentaries and other church-related materials.

Stephen D. Ricks received his PhD in Near Eastern religions from the University of California, Berkeley, and Graduate Theological Union. He is professor of Hebrew and cognate learning at Brigham Young University.

Lindon J. Robison is a professor of agricultural economics at Michigan State University.  His recent research has focused on the social capital paradigm. He is the author of many published works, including "Economic Insights from the Book of Mormon," published in this journal.

John L. Sorenson, emeritus professor anthropology at Brigham Young University, holds BS and MA degrees from BYU, an MS from California Institute of Technology, and a PhD in anthropology from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Thomas A. Wayment is an assistant professor of ancient scripture at Brigham Young University. He earned a PhD in New Testament at the Claremont Graduate School. His research interests include Christian origins, textual criticism of the New Testament, and early Christian heresies.

M. Gawain Wells received his PhD in clinical child psychology from Purdue University. He is currently professor and chair of the Department of Psychology at Brigham Young University. His research interests focus on parenting of troubled children and adolescents.