“Learning By Study, Even Religious Studies”
Religious Studies often finds itself between equal and opposite skepticisms. On the one side are those who think it undermines scholarship through promotion of faith. On the other side are those equally convinced it undermines faith through scholarship. They both seem to agree, however, that the values of the academy and the church are incompatible and that the tools of each threaten the integrity of the other.
From personal experience and with admitted loyalties to faith and scholarship, Flake examines how they need not be antagonistic. In fact, believers who “seek learning, even by study” (D&C 88:118) can benefit from Religious Studies.
Kathleen Flake is the Richard L. Bushman Professor of Mormon Studies at the University of Virginia.