Allen E. Bergin: A Scholar's Conversion Through a Continuing Series of Divine Inspirations (1970s and after)
Contributed by
LDS Witness Archive
Allen E. Bergin (1928-2021) was a professor of psychology at Brigham Young University whose conversion, in his own words, 'involved a continuing series of inquiries and divine inspirations, accompanied by a concerted effort to integrate, balance, and resolve conflicts.' He became a sounding voice in integrating moral and spiritual themes into professional psychology research, theory, practice, and education, at a time when the discipline was largely secular. In his BYU devotional 'Psychology and Repentance,' he taught that though suffering may be intense, if we are repentant it is temporary and is but a taste of the suffering the Savior endured for us. His lifelong labor to bring the insights of the restored gospel into the heart of a secular science is a faith-promoting witness that the Lord answers the sincere inquirer with a continuing series of divine inspirations, and that faith and intellect, yoked together, can redeem a whole field of learning.
Sources & References
Allen E. Bergin, testimony, FairLatterDaySaints (https://www.fairlatterdaysaints.org/testimonies/scholars/allen-e-bergin); Allen E. Bergin, 'Psychology and Repentance,' BYU Speeches (https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/allen-e-bergin/psychology-repentance/); 'And Back Again,' Religious Studies Center, BYU (https://rsc.byu.edu/finding-god-byu/back-again).
