Brent J. Schmidt earned degrees in history and classics from the University of Utah and a PhD in classics from the University of Colorado Boulder. He teaches in the religion and humanities departments at Brigham Young University–Idaho.
Schmidt specializes in Greek and Latin moralistic literature and wrote his dissertation on ancient utopian communities. His publications on biblical subjects include word studies on grace and faith, and he is an author and editor of the BYU New Testament Commentary series.

His interests outside of his academic work include reading—particularly the Book of Mormon and Bible—gardening, collecting ancient coins, world travel, skiing, and learning ancient and modern languages. He and his wife, Judith, are the parents of one son.