Hans Mattsson

Hans H. Mattsson is a former leader in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) in Europe.

This article is about the Mormon leader. For the Swedish-American politician, see Hans Mattson.

LDS historian Greg Prince described Mattsson as "the highest-ranking church official who has gone public with deep concerns" about the LDS Church.[1]

Biography

Mattsson was raised in the LDS Church. As a young man he served as a missionary, as is common in the LDS Church, and was assigned to the Central British Mission headquartered in Birmingham, England. There he learned English, despite some difficulty, and felt his religious convictions grow.[2] After returning to Sweden he married Birgitta, a convert to the Mormon faith, and they have five children.

Mattsson and his twin brother Leif were both called in senior positions as leaders in the LDS Church. First Hans, then Leif, served as stake presidents in Gothenburg, Sweden.[3] In April 2000, Hans became the first Swede to serve as an area authority. He held a secular job in technology marketing, but traveled widely in Europe at weekends, overseeing the church. He was released from the position of area authority in April 2005 when he had heart surgery.[1][4][5]

Members began asking Mattsson about criticisms that they had read on the Internet, including the many wives of Mormon founder Joseph Smith, the authenticity of the Book of Abraham, and the exclusion of black people from the priesthood until 1978. Mattsson was dissatisfied with the answers that he in turn received from the church's highest authorities in 2010, and in 2013 he publicized his own doubts on John Dehlin's Mormon Stories Podcast[6] and in the New York Times,[7] stating that "I don’t want to hurt the church … I just want the truth."[1]

In 2013, Mattsson and his wife moved to Spain for health reasons.

Bibliography
  • Mattsson, Hans; Hanke, Christina (2018). Sökte sanning, fann tvivel (in Swedish). ISBN 9781722885755.
  • Mattsson, Hans; Hanke, Christina (2018). Truth Seeking. Andersson & Isacson AB. ISBN 9789198412574. English edition of Sökte sanning, fann tvivel.

See also

References
  1. Goodstein, Laurie (July 20, 2013). "Some Mormons Search the Web and Find Doubt". The New York Times. Retrieved July 21, 2013.
  2. Hans Mattsson (December 2004). "Book of Mormon Principles: How Could I Testify?". Ensign. Retrieved 2014-07-29.
  3. Erik Nilsson (July 2000). "Göteborg, Sweden: A Second Harvest". Ensign. Retrieved 2014-07-29.
  4. Thomas S. Monson (April 2000). The Sustaining of Church Officers. General Conference. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Retrieved 2014-07-29.
  5. Thomas S. Monson (April 2005). The Sustaining of Church Officers. General Conference. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Retrieved 2014-07-29.
  6. Dehlin, John (July 22, 2013), "Hans Mattsson — Former LDS Area Authority Seventy (Sweden)", Mormon Stories Podcast
  7. Hodge, Channon (July 20, 2013), "A Mormon Doubts", The New York Times
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