Lowell Bennion

[Anonymous]

Joanna Brooks referenced him in her podcast about moving on from excommunication. I had heard the name, but knew little about the man. BCC ran a piece on him today, then linked a personal blog about him. I thought I would post one a week here for our reading and learning pleasure.

http://bycommonconsent.com/2015/02/21/living-theology-lowell-l-bennion/#comment-347769” class=”bbcode_url”>http://bycommonconsent.com/2015/02/21/living-theology-lowell-l-bennion/#comment-347769

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/homewaters/2012/06/my-debt-to-lowell-bennion.html” class=”bbcode_url”>http://www.patheos.com/blogs/homewaters/2012/06/my-debt-to-lowell-bennion.html

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the link. That is a good post.

Religion and the Pursuit of Truth was an important read for me several years ago. I’m a fan.

[Anonymous]

I read a few Bennion books somewhat early in my faith crisis.

They seemed to be written to college age students that were wondering how religion would fit into their new lives of research, scientific discovery, and critical reasoning.

From my memory it was about compartmentalization and being well rounded. Art cannot be evaluated based on scientific principles – likewise religion should be kept seperately and evaluated by its own set of criteria. Also that a well rounded person can have room in their life for these differing aspects – science/academia, art, religion, sports, family, etc.

I liked them and wished that the principles therein were taught more widely in CES programs.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for posting those. I especially like the BCC one.

Quote:

In one of his last essays, “The Indispensable Central Role of Love,” Bennion draws together passages from the Hebrew prophets showing that God hates the externalities of religious ritual if the people performing them do not also care lovingly for the poor, the lonely, the stranger, the widow. Updating this prophetic language to present-day Mormonism, he writes:

I hate your baptisms and sacrament service. I will not hear your prayers and songs anymore. Amen to your priesthood. Be honest in your dealings, be merciful to the poor and the afflicted, be understanding of the needs of others. Then my spirit will be with you and you will know me.

[Anonymous]

Roy wrote:

I read a few Bennion books somewhat early in my faith crisis.

They seemed to be written to college age students that were wondering how religion would fit into their new lives of research, scientific discovery, and critical reasoning.

From my memory it was about compartmentalization and being well rounded. Art cannot be evaluated based on scientific principles – likewise religion should be kept seperately and evaluated by its own set of criteria. Also that a well rounded person can have room in their life for these differing aspects – science/academia, art, religion, sports, family, etc.

I liked them and wished that the principles therein were taught more widely in CES programs.

I wish these were part of the CES program too. In fact I can’t believe they’re not. Sort of a no brainer. Sad.

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