Eugene England championed an optimistic Mormon faith open to liberalizing ideas from American culture. At the same time, he remained devoted to a conservative Mormonism that he saw as a vehicle for progress even as it narrowed the range of acceptable belief. Kristine L. Haglund views England’s writing through the tensions produced by his often-opposed intellectual and spiritual commitments. Though labeled a liberal, England had a traditional Latter-day Saint background and always sought to address fundamental questions in Mormon terms. His intellectually adventurous essays sometimes put him at odds with Church authorities and fellow believers. But he also influenced a generation of thinkers and cofounded Dialogue, a Mormon academic and literary journal acclaimed for the broad range of its thought. A fascinating portrait of a Mormon intellectual and his times, Eugene England reveals a believing scholar who emerged from the lived experiences of his faith to engage with the changes roiling Mormonism in the twentieth century.

Eugene England (1933-2001)—one of the most influential and controversial intellectuals in modern Mormonism—lived in the crossfire between religious tradition and reform. This first serious biography, by leading historian Terryl L. Givens, shimmers with the personal tensions felt deeply by England during the turmoil of the late twentieth century. Drawing on unprecedented access to England's personal papers, Givens paints a multifaceted portrait of a devout Latter-day Saint whose precarious position on the edge of church hierarchy was instrumental to his ability to shape the study of modern Mormonism. A professor of literature at Brigham Young University, England also taught in the Church Educational System. And yet from the sixties on, he set church leaders' teeth on edge as he protested the Vietnam War, decried institutional racism and sexism, and supported Poland's Solidarity movement—all at a time when Latter-day Saints were ultra-patriotic and banned Black ordination. England could also be intemperate, proud of his own rectitude, and neglectful of political realities and relationships, and he was eventually forced from his academic position. His last days, as he suffered from brain cancer, were marked by a spiritual agony that church leaders were unable to help him resolve.

Originally published: Salt Lake City, Utah: Bookcraft, c1986.

At a time when society has become so violent that school children conceal weapons in their waistbands, Eugene England suggests that everyone take a moment to reconsider where they stand on issues. Using his hallmark literary forms of personal essay and autobiographical short story, he draws examples from his own life to illustrate the complexities people face at home, in their neighborhoods, at work, and in the pews. Admitting to no easy answers, he shows through plot and metaphor of well developed stories, and through the penetrating view of his unrelenting mind, the dangers and advantages of various options.He takes readers on road trips to present the Christian ethic in a new and seductive light. He recounts the times when inner tranquility and outward peace have come to his own family and community in unusual ways. Whether traipsing through Utah's trout streams, visiting strife-torn Los Angeles, or sorting out the cultural maze he encountered on a church mission to American Samoa, England proposes paths people might follow to reconcile ambiguities in maintaining a caring, purposeful existence in the 1990s and beyond.

In honor of the late BYU Professor Eugene England (1933-2001), friends and colleagues have contributed their best original stories, poems, reminiscences, scholarly articles, and essays for this impressive volume. In one essay, "Eugene England Enters Heaven," Robert A. Rees imagines his friend being welcomed into heaven by the Savior. Rees then imagines England "organizing contests between the Telestial and Celestial Kingdoms, leading a theater tour to Kolob, and pleading the cause of friends still struggling in mortality. This," he concludes, "is the image I have of Gene, that I hold in my heart."

Have you ever felt in over your head? When Eric Peterson became the pastor of a brand-new church, he quickly and wisely turned to his dad for guidance. Eugene Peterson, author of more than thirty books including his bestselling memoir The Pastor and his groundbreaking Bible The Message, here reflects on pastoral ministry in all its complexity--from relationships to administration to the sheer audacity of leading God's people in a particular place. This is Eugene Peterson at his best--lifelong wisdom written with deep love. As the reader, you will glimpse into the tender, witty, personal side of Eugene mentoring his own son. These intimate letters will be treasured by all who read, and applicable to church leaders around the globe. Purchase individually or together with Letters to a Young Congregation as a memorable gift for a church leader or seminary graduate.