Memories and Reflections: The Autobiography of E. E. Ericksen

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Memories and Reflections
The Autobiography of E. E. Ericksen
SCOTT G. KENNEY, EDITOR
STERLING M. McMURRIN, FOREWORD
Paperback. 260 Pages. / 0-941214-49-4 / $12.95

Ephraim Edward Ericksen (1882-1967), professor of philosophy at the University of Utah, was one of the first Mormon intellectuals to take seriously the history and theology of his church. A believing yet thoughtful Mormon, he had little sympathy with what he saw as a testimony cult—a belief in insupportable doctrine for the sake of tradition—and feared that moral stagnation resulted from authoritarianism. He was committed to the dictum "The unexamined life is not worth living" and believed that the critical examination of religious thought is as important to intelligent men and women as skepticism is to scientific discovery. Despite his thirteen-year tenure on the general board of the LDS church's Mutual Improvement Association (MIA), Ericksen was censured by Mormon leaders following publication of his Psychological and Ethical Aspects of Mormon Group Life because of its praise of early Mormon cooperative socialism, and his MIA manual Challenging Problems of the Twentieth Century because church authorities wanted lessons to be instructive, nor provocative. And because he continued to encourage thoughtful scrutiny of religion, he was later released as a priesthood instructor in his home and congregation.

Scott G. Kenney, a grandson of E. E. Ericksen, holds advanced degrees in American historical theology and in musicology. He is the editor of the nine-volume Wilford Woodruff's Journal: 1833-1898 Typescript and a contributor to The Wilderness of Faith: Essays on Contemporary Mormon Thought. He helped found Sunstone magazine and Signature Books, serving as publisher of Signature from 1981 to 1984; was business manager and agent for Dennis Smith, a Salt Lake City-based sculptor and artist; played viola in the Utah Symphony Orchestra; and is now employed in the computer industry. He and his wife, Susan, have two children and reside in Highland, Utah.

Sterling M. McMurrin was E. E. Ericksen Distinguished Professor of Philosophy and History Emeritus at the University of Utah until his death in 1996. He was U.S. Commissioner of Education in the John F. Kennedy administration. Among the several books he authored or co-authored are Matters of Conscience, The Theological Foundations of the Mormon Religion, and Toward Understanding the New Testament. He also contributed to The Autobiography of B. H. Roberts and The Truth, The Way, The Life.