BYU Campus Education Week: How to relate to others about the Church
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PROVO, UTAH
Before beginning his BYU Campus Education Week series titled "Myths and Realities of Mormonism," Robert L. Millet, professor of ancient scripture and former dean of religious education at BYU, sought to help his audience understand the need to clarify these misconceptions.
"Whether we like it or not, it matters a great deal what people understand or don't understand about us," he said.
Brother Millet referred to a 2007 survey, "Public Opinion about Mormons," released by the Pew Research Center. The study found that 53 percent of the public expresses a favorable view of Mormons, while 27 percent express an unfavorable view of Mormons, leaving 20 percent expressing no opinion.
A deeper look at the statistics, Brother Millet noted, revealed a correlation between respondents' education level and their positive outlook on Mormonism — the more education a person receives, the more likely they are to view the Church positively.
Conversely, Brother Millet shared that survey participants were asked to describe Mormonism in one word. Of the 27 percent who responded with a negative word, the most common response was "polygamy" or "bigamy." "Cult" was not far behind.
"We tend to be down on what we're not up on," Brother Millet said. "So if we don't know much about something, especially if it's a religious group that's different than our own, the temptation is to have a critical attitude toward it. That's what the results are saying to us."
To help Latter-day Saints relate better to their fellow Christians, Brother Millet began the first class in his series, intended to clarify misconceptions on how members of the Church view the Holy Bible. He began by extensively quoting from the talk given Elder M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve during April 2007 general conference, titled "The Miracle of the Holy Bible."
Part of Elder Ballard's message suggested that others may doubt the Church's belief of the Bible because of the lack of time some Church members spend with it.
"The fact of the matter is that the Holy Bible is deeply significant in our family of scripture," Brother Millet said. "Frankly, I don't love one member of the family more than any other."
A familiar reference in this argument is the 8th Article of Faith, particularly the phrase "as far as it is translated correctly."
"I'm convinced that Joseph Smith, as much as anything, meant transmission — that's moving from one generation to the next," he said, adding that conversion is not entirely dependent on scripture, though it is an important element in the conversion process.
