Arthur Henry King (1910–2000)

This is a most interesting book. Arthur Henry King was an English Quaker, a highly educated scholar, and a profoundly religious man. In his later years he converted to Mormonism and ended his career at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah.
This book is a collection of his essays, literary criticism, and musings on things secular and religious. In many of the pieces, he sounds quite similar to Hugh Nibley, another Mormon polymath who was somewhat of a gadfly and a thorn in the side of Mormonism's inherent institutional smugness. King, though more gentle with his barbs than was Nibley, is nonetheless as pertinent in his calls for the LDS Church and its members to abandon their self-centered smugness, and to examine their lives in light of Christ's authentic New Testament teachings.
King provides a welcome antidote to the surfeit of Mormon feel-good books now filling the shelves at LDS booksellers. He also proves that one can be intellectual, articulate and nonetheless be a follower of Jesus Christ within the somewhat confining ambit of Mormonism. Anyone who might be curious about the Mormons, or who might believe them to be collectively shallow about matters of the intellect and spirit, cannot help but be enlightened by King's erudite musings. A wonderful, timely book.… (more)