Brent Top: Mormon Scholar

Brent LaMar Top is a professor of Church History and Doctrine at Brigham Young University.

Top was born in 1953 in Idaho Falls, Idaho. He earned a bachelor’s degree in history, a master’s in instructional media, and a PhD in instructional science and technology, all from Brigham Young University. He worked for the Church Educational System as a seminary, institute instructor, and administrator.

He joined the BYU faculty in 1987 and held the endowed Professorship in Moral Education for two years. He was appointed dean of his department in 2009 and then was appointed dean of Religious Education in 2013.

Top served a full-time mission for [http://Mormon.org The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to Denmark. He also served as the president of the Peoria Illinois Mission from 2004 to 2007.

He has several books to his credit, including Forgiveness: Christ’s Priceless Gift, The Life Before, Ten Secrets Wise Parents Know: Tried and True Things You Can Do To Raise Faithful, Confident Responsible Children (with Bruce A. Chadwick), When You Can't Do It Alone, and Why Bad Things Happen to Good People. He and his wife, Wendy, collaborated on two books: Beyond Death’s Door: Understanding Near-Death Experiences in Light of the Restored Gospel and Finding God in the Garden.

Top and his wife, Wendy, are the parents of four children and live in Pleasant Grove, Utah.