Lowell L. Bennion: A Mormon Educator

There are some people who, due to their enormous personal integrity and vision, play an outsized role in their culture, even though they hold no position of formal authority. Theologian Lowell Bennion (1908–96) was one such person who became known for his effective humanitarian efforts among the Latter-day Saints (LDS). Handley (interdisciplinary humanities, Brigham Young Univ.; The Hope of Nature) situates Bennion within the context of LDS educational practice and its evolution from the era of World War II through the more turbulent times of the 1960s and 1970s. In the latter part of his life, Bennion had no formal connection to the church’s education system, but he continued to present a living example of what service to marginalized groups in his community might mean, regardless of one’s role inside or outside the church. The book emphasizes Bennion’s philosophy of religion, which is that intellectual growth and moral development go hand-in-hand with service to others.