Toward Theological Inclusivism: The Effects of a World Religions Course in a Mormon University

ABSTRACT

Inclusivist, exclusivist, and pluralist attitudes toward other religions interact in complex ways within the Mormon faith. Hence, a course on the world’s religions at LDS-sponsored Brigham Young University presents an interesting case study in this context. Through survey data and statistical analysis this article attempts to examine the effect of this course over students’ convictions in their own faith, particularly in relation to the inclusivist vs. exclusivist spectrum. Findings suggest that the sympathetic exposure to other religions in this course did not decrease students’ confessional commitment to Mormonism although it reshaped it in a more inclusivist direction. The religious make-up of students’ families and communities of upbringing is also shown to play a role in this conclusion.

Notes

A two-year mission experience with a specific geographic assignment from the LDS Church headquarters is considered a “religious duty” for Mormon young men who have reached the minimum age of 18. The missionary and his family are financially responsible for the mission, which is devoted full-time to proselytization and to church and community service. Women who have reached the minimum age of 19 can also choose to serve a mission for a period of 18 months.

Mormon Sunday Schools are weekly forty-minute classes held in LDS congregations and included in the regular schedule of Sunday meetings. They focus on the study of the Bible and of other LDS Scriptures. Seminaries also center on scriptural instruction, but are specifically aimed at students of high-school age with classroom meetings scheduled during the week so as to function as an additional form of catechesis beyond the Sunday School setting.

All reported p-values are based on Type III tests.

Most World Religions professors at BYU make contact with believers from other faiths a component of the course, both by inviting them to campus for a lecture/Q&A and by requiring students to attend a worship service of a faith different from their own. Thus, students are not only taught the encyclopedic dimension of a religion, but as much as it is possible, the experiential level as well.

The LDS Church does not publish research on specific trends of religious convictions and behaviors among its members. Given the difficulty in obtaining solid data on disaffiliation, conclusions on the size and significance of various trends on disaffection, doubt, and religiosity are usually debated.

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Notes on contributors

Mauro Properzi

Dr. Mauro Properzi is Assistant Professor of Religion in the Church History & Doctrine Department at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah.