Review
Title: Truth Seeker: The Life of Joseph F. Merrill, Scientist, Educator, and Apostle
Author: Casey Paul Griffiths
Publisher: RSC BYU Deseret Book
Genre: Biography
Year Published: 2021
Number of Pages: 347
Binding: Hardcover
ISBN-13 Hardcover: 9781950304127
Price: $28.99
Reviewed by Richard Ji for the Association for Mormon Letters
Before reading Truth Seeker: The Life of Joseph F. Merrill, Scientist, Educator, and Apostle by Case Paul Griffiths, I had never heard of Joseph Merrill. Going into this book, I was not sure what to expect in terms of my interest level. But I quickly found that this well-written biography engaged me from cover to cover. Joseph F. Merrill and his achievements in the development of Utah’s advanced education system as well as in the Church Education system are described in the book while also painting a clear portrait of the man.
This 347-page book has 12 chapters which are bookended by a Prologue and Epilogue. There are copious references at the end of each chapter along with an index. I felt Griffiths did a great job at providing a balanced narrative of the personal as well as the public side of Merrill. The humanity of the man with its accompanying ups and downs of life was made evident despite the more rational and scientific nature of his accomplishments.
It is easy to take for granted the culture, systems, and opportunities we have in Church Education and Utah’s higher learning system today. I had never given thought to the forces and people such as Merrill who we can thank for what we have today. I found it fascinating to learn of the high level of tension between faith and reason manifested in debates of separation of Church and State in Utah education.
Merrill reflected that “the University felt that we were between the devil and deep blue sea” (p. 24). It seemed that those not belonging to the faith viewed the University of Deseret (now University of Utah) to be a “Mormon Institution” while members of the Church looked upon the same institution as an “infidel factory” (p. 24). While this statement is specific to the University of Deseret, I feel it describes well the dynamic of the time as it related to education in general.
Managing that tension and ensuring that secular education was not received at the exclusion of religious education was where Merrill spent much of his career navigating and addressing. Merrill sought to be non-partisan as it related to these debates but he seemed to pursue is efforts firmly rooted in the soil of reason. As with many enduring programs and institutions, there were fits and starts. But out of these efforts was born the Seminary and Church Education system that we know today.
In addition to shedding light on Merrill’s accomplishments, Truth Seeker provides wonderful context and color into the politics, culture, Church governance, and personalities of that time. This was a time where the political leanings of the Church membership highly favored the Democrats, where the line between Church leadership and politics was less clear, and where it seemed that the Church was much less tolerant of reason versus faith.
As an Apostle and Mission President of the European Missions, Merrill recognized that the proselyting methods taught to missionaries did not keep up with the changing times (p. 260). He turned to Elder Gordon B. Hinckley and worked with him to modernize missionary methods. That young elder would later become our Prophet.
Griffiths’ book is titled Truth Seeker, perhaps in homage to Merrill’s book called The Truth Seeker and Mormonism. From this title, I came into the book expecting to read of Merrill’s faith journey as he struggled to reconcile science with his religion. However, from the text, it seemed more to me that perhaps a more apt title to the book might be “Truth Agnostic.” Merrill never seemed afraid of truth regardless of where it came from. He wrote “I am convinced that religion is as reasonable as science, that religious truths and scientific truths nowhere are in conflict” (p. XVI). He seemed to indicate that where they did conflict, it was due to a lack of understanding. For a majority of his life, he sought to walk a delicate path between “worldly concerns of his work at the university, his political ambitions, and his devotion to his faith”’ (p. 319). This was not due to questioning but rather diplomacy. In this fashion, he argued that science and religion are perfectly compatible.
He saw belief in God as an eminently reasonable proposition. An open-minded, prayerful examination of all the evidence – that furnished by nature, science, philosophy, and especially the human experience – leads to a conviction, to an assurance that God exists, that Jesus Christ lives, and that souls are immortal (p. 298).
Merrill transcended the squabbles between the dogmatics of both science and religion because science was his religion (p. 299). Merrill criticized partisans of both science and religion. He said:
Our understanding of truth is often faulty. The chaff often conceals the kernel. Dogmatism raises its arrogant hand and smothers clear thinking … Religious faith need not retreat from nor surrender in any of the fields of research or learning. Scholarship can never put God out of existence nor find a substitute for Him. This is the abiding confidence of the Latter-day Saints (p.173).
Merrill’s indifference to the source of truth may explain how both conservative and liberal scholars of our faith today can all trace their origins to Joseph F. Merrill (p. 332).
Casey Paul Griffiths’s book, Truth Seeker: The Life of Joseph F. Merrill, Scientist, Educator, and Apostle is an excellent read. Griffiths has written a remarkable work in taking what could be dry subject matter (university education, science, etc.) and weaving it into a cohesive and interesting read. He does this while also building a solid biography of the life of Joseph F. Merrill. Joseph F. Merrill left behind an enduring legacy that many in Utah and the Church today continue to benefit from. This is an exceptional book and well worth the time to read, especially if one works within the Church educational system today.