About

In the Faculty of Religious Education's approach to education, we seek to follow the process described by President Harold B. Lee:

"And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." (John 17:3.). . . How can you know the Father and the Son? . . . . We begin to acquire that knowledge by study. . . .

But it is not enough merely to learn of his life and works by study. . . one like yourself who would "know God" must be one who does his will and keeps his commandments and practices the virtues Jesus lived.

The acquiring of knowledge by faith is no easy road to learning. It demands strenuous effort and a continual striving by faith. . . .

In short, learning by faith is no task for a lazy man. Someone has said, in effect, that such a process requires the bending of the whole soul, the calling up from the depths of the human mind and linking it with God—the right connection must be formed. Then only comes "knowledge by faith." ("Chapter 5: Walking in the Light of Testimony," Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Harold B. Lee, 42)

The ultimate aim of our educational efforts is described by Elder Dallin H. Oaks, who stated, "In contrast to the institutions of the world, which teach us to know something, the gospel of Jesus Christ challenges us to become something.” (Dallin H. Oaks, "The Challenge to Become," Ensign, Nov. 2000, 32.)

The Faculty of Religious Education seeks to provide students with an apparatus of critical thinking and inquiry which will bolster the path of learning and discipleship in the present and carry forward into the future. Within our courses and interactions with the student body we hope to live, teach, and instill the following admonition: "May we learn what we should learn, do what we should do, and be what we should be." (Thomas S. Monson, "To Learn, To Do, to Be," Ensign, November 2008.)