XII
EDUCATION
1.
A basic philosophical concept of Mormonism is that man may become like God by the acquisition of knowledge. God embodies all knowledge, and it is this knowledge, and the exercise or discipline gained by learning it, that have made Him into God from a state of being that once was like that of man today.
Therefore, it is small wonder that these people place such great store in the securing of an education. There is no top level of education beyond which the Mormon is forbidden to explore, either in fact or in practice. There is no ceiling on his intelligence. There is no end to his studies. Even death is only an entrance into a grander realm of knowledge that [sic] may be reached by disciplines and studies on the earth.
Mormons have about the highest average level of education of any cultural group in a nation that itself boasts the highest average of literacy in the world. Mormons honor scholarship as no other group of Americans honor scholars.
On the other hand, Mormons have a way of placing value upon knowledge for its own sake, however or wherever it may have been acquired. A college degree is deemed to be desirable, but is not an open sesame to honors unless its possessor is otherwise able to demonstrate his worth to society. I have seen many learned men sit humbly in a priesthood meeting, acknowledging the power of eloquence, leadership and spirituality of men who were comparatively uneducated. Some of the highest placed men in Mormondom were able to secure only a limited amount of formal schooling. Nevertheless, their society possessed the fundamental soundness necessary to recognize their worth and raise them for the sake of their strength of character.
Perhaps the most powerful educational influence among L.D.S. people is regular church attendance. All of the church is really one huge Chautauqua system. All the average Mormon need do is to be active in his church work, and the whole world will be paraded for his view in his own little ward meeting place. In the course of a single month, the average Mormon in even the more remote wards will hear such an array of subjects as an account of two years of church service in Sweden by a returned missionary, a first-hand account of a tour of Palestine and spots of interest in the Holy Lands by an elder who was there, a discussion of a visit to St. Peter's in Rome by a Mormon who was there, too, or an audience with the Pope, as well as an almost endless array of instructive and improving talks.
There literally is no field of knowledge into which Mormons do not habitually and enthusiastically delve. They eagerly search out knowledge and truth, wherever they may be found, and immediately appropriate them to their own use, whether their source be the voice of the Pope, the dissertations of a Jewish rabbi, or the mystic psychology of a witch doctor in an African jungle.
Therefore, it is small wonder that these people place such great store in the securing of an education. There is no top level of education beyond which the Mormon is forbidden to explore, either in fact or in practice. There is no ceiling on his intelligence. There is no end to his studies. Even death is only an entrance into a grander realm of knowledge that [sic] may be reached by disciplines and studies on the earth.
Mormons have about the highest average level of education of any cultural group in a nation that itself boasts the highest average of literacy in the world. Mormons honor scholarship as no other group of Americans honor scholars.
On the other hand, Mormons have a way of placing value upon knowledge for its own sake, however or wherever it may have been acquired. A college degree is deemed to be desirable, but is not an open sesame to honors unless its possessor is otherwise able to demonstrate his worth to society. I have seen many learned men sit humbly in a priesthood meeting, acknowledging the power of eloquence, leadership and spirituality of men who were comparatively uneducated. Some of the highest placed men in Mormondom were able to secure only a limited amount of formal schooling. Nevertheless, their society possessed the fundamental soundness necessary to recognize their worth and raise them for the sake of their strength of character.
Perhaps the most powerful educational influence among L.D.S. people is regular church attendance. All of the church is really one huge Chautauqua system. All the average Mormon need do is to be active in his church work, and the whole world will be paraded for his view in his own little ward meeting place. In the course of a single month, the average Mormon in even the more remote wards will hear such an array of subjects as an account of two years of church service in Sweden by a returned missionary, a first-hand account of a tour of Palestine and spots of interest in the Holy Lands by an elder who was there, a discussion of a visit to St. Peter's in Rome by a Mormon who was there, too, or an audience with the Pope, as well as an almost endless array of instructive and improving talks.
There literally is no field of knowledge into which Mormons do not habitually and enthusiastically delve. They eagerly search out knowledge and truth, wherever they may be found, and immediately appropriate them to their own use, whether their source be the voice of the Pope, the dissertations of a Jewish rabbi, or the mystic psychology of a witch doctor in an African jungle.
2.
An organized system of public schools was established by the Mormons at the very beginning of their church.
Shortly after Salt Lake City was settled, these people established a college, the University of Deseret. Today it is the University of Utah, and has been in continuous operation since the earliest pioneer days. It was the first university west of the Mississippi river and already was beginning to set a high scholastic mark in the heart of the Rocky Mountains when the rest of the country had to send its young men to the eastern seaboard for a higher education.
The L.D.S. church pioneered both religious and secular schools among its people. In every case where a community became strong enough to support its own schools through the elementary and secondary levels of education, however, the church withdrew and left the matter in the hands of local and state governmental authorities. Today the church maintains a system of elementary schools and a secondary school in only one locality, the big Mormon settlement of Colonia Juarez, near the city of Chihuahua, in Old Mexico.
In remarkable contrast to the policies of other strong churches, L. D. S. leaders seem never to have promulgated any doctrine that the church is better able to train the young than are public lay educators. Mormon children are not segregated from non-Mormon students during their formative years, as are children of several other churches, notably the Roman Catholic. The Mormon church seems to adhere to the principle that its young people ought to obtain everything that a strong free public school system can offer them, and to secure as an extra dividend the benefits of a rather fulsome religious education.
Carefully adjusting its methods to policies and statutory educational provisions of the several states in which it flourishes, the L.D.S. church has worked out a novel and effective system of "seminaries" and "institutes of religion."
Seminaries are religious educational institutions located adjacent to junior high schools and high schools. They are built, owned, staffed and operated by the church itself to provide religious training for young people, in addition to their regular school work.
Institutes of religion perform the same function as part of the campuses of colleges in the states of Utah, Idaho, Arizona, Wyoming and California. These institutes of religion are a fertile training ground for missionary work, if the one to be called to this duty is otherwise qualified.
The church directly maintains three institutions for secular education on the college level. These are Brigham Young University at Provo, Utah; Ricks Normal College at Rexburg, Idaho; and the L.D.S. Business College opposite Temple Square in Salt Lake City.
Naturally, the Mormon influence is very strong in other institutions of higher learning in Mormonism. Among these are the University of Utah at Salt Lake City, Utah State Agricultural College at Logan, Utah, Weber College at Ogden, and Snow College in southern Utah. The church began the life of higher learning at Logan with the establishment of an "academy," or sort of junior college, there. When the state set up its agricultural college, the academy was abandoned and its identity merged into that of the state institution. It was through the same sort of metamorphosis that the University of Deseret became the University of Utah.
Because it has held high scholastic standards for such a long period of time, Mormonism has heavily contributed from among its graduates to the faculties of colleges and universities throughout the country, and especially in the west. The contribution of Mormon scholarship is an important factor in the nation's cultural advancement.
Shortly after Salt Lake City was settled, these people established a college, the University of Deseret. Today it is the University of Utah, and has been in continuous operation since the earliest pioneer days. It was the first university west of the Mississippi river and already was beginning to set a high scholastic mark in the heart of the Rocky Mountains when the rest of the country had to send its young men to the eastern seaboard for a higher education.
The L.D.S. church pioneered both religious and secular schools among its people. In every case where a community became strong enough to support its own schools through the elementary and secondary levels of education, however, the church withdrew and left the matter in the hands of local and state governmental authorities. Today the church maintains a system of elementary schools and a secondary school in only one locality, the big Mormon settlement of Colonia Juarez, near the city of Chihuahua, in Old Mexico.
In remarkable contrast to the policies of other strong churches, L. D. S. leaders seem never to have promulgated any doctrine that the church is better able to train the young than are public lay educators. Mormon children are not segregated from non-Mormon students during their formative years, as are children of several other churches, notably the Roman Catholic. The Mormon church seems to adhere to the principle that its young people ought to obtain everything that a strong free public school system can offer them, and to secure as an extra dividend the benefits of a rather fulsome religious education.
Carefully adjusting its methods to policies and statutory educational provisions of the several states in which it flourishes, the L.D.S. church has worked out a novel and effective system of "seminaries" and "institutes of religion."
Seminaries are religious educational institutions located adjacent to junior high schools and high schools. They are built, owned, staffed and operated by the church itself to provide religious training for young people, in addition to their regular school work.
Institutes of religion perform the same function as part of the campuses of colleges in the states of Utah, Idaho, Arizona, Wyoming and California. These institutes of religion are a fertile training ground for missionary work, if the one to be called to this duty is otherwise qualified.
The church directly maintains three institutions for secular education on the college level. These are Brigham Young University at Provo, Utah; Ricks Normal College at Rexburg, Idaho; and the L.D.S. Business College opposite Temple Square in Salt Lake City.
Naturally, the Mormon influence is very strong in other institutions of higher learning in Mormonism. Among these are the University of Utah at Salt Lake City, Utah State Agricultural College at Logan, Utah, Weber College at Ogden, and Snow College in southern Utah. The church began the life of higher learning at Logan with the establishment of an "academy," or sort of junior college, there. When the state set up its agricultural college, the academy was abandoned and its identity merged into that of the state institution. It was through the same sort of metamorphosis that the University of Deseret became the University of Utah.
Because it has held high scholastic standards for such a long period of time, Mormonism has heavily contributed from among its graduates to the faculties of colleges and universities throughout the country, and especially in the west. The contribution of Mormon scholarship is an important factor in the nation's cultural advancement.
3.
In addition to fostering the acquisition of knowledge in any and all secular fields by vigorously supporting a program of progressive education in public schools, and maintaining its own colleges and university, the L.D.S. church follows a well defined course in its purely religious training.
Its main objectives are listed by the church as follows:
a. To help students acquire knowledge of God and a dynamic faith through study of revelations recorded in the standard works of the church, of the life and mission of Jesus Christ, and of the manifestations of God throughout the world of nature;
b. To guide students to a conviction of God by communion with Him in prayer and worship, stimulating a Christ-like life, and encouraging obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel;
c. To develop in the student an appreciation of Jesus as the Christ and to create a desire to follow Him as a way of life by study of Jesus as a moral and religious ideal, a study of revelations in all ages concerning Him, seeking for a testimony of the Spirit, portraying the fullness of life that results from loyalty to Christ, and by leading the student to the actual testing of living the principles of the Gospel;
d. To develop a testimony of the divinity of Joseph Smith's work and the mission of the Priesthood of God to disseminate the restored Gospel throughout the world, by an analysis of Joseph Smith's work, including the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants and Pearl of Great Price; by a study of the history of the church and testimony of its leaders; by encouraging students to so live that they may receive the assurance and promptings of the Holy Ghost;
e. To help students gain an ability and disposition to serve the church and the experience of joy in its service, by arousing an appreciatoin of the church organization and church program, study of the purpose and function of the Priesthood, a study of advantages and opportunities which service in the church affords, and by encouraging actual service in the church;
f. To assist students to arrive at a sound interpretation of life and the univers, to develop the ability and disposition to see God's purpose and plan in the universe, to understand man's relation to it, and to assist in the formulation of a philosophy of life built upon this interpretation;
g. To foster in students a progressive and continuous development of personality or character which is harmonious within itself, and adjusted to society, to its physical environment and to God, by means of courses in leadership, by supervised recreation, periods of worship, student counseling, classwork, and by the creation of a general religious environment;
h. To instill in students a love for all mankind and a desire to make the world a better place in which to live.
This is indeed an ambitious program for the student to swallow in addition to his regular high school or college studies. It is typical of the vigor with which Mormons tackle everything connected with their religious life.
Its main objectives are listed by the church as follows:
a. To help students acquire knowledge of God and a dynamic faith through study of revelations recorded in the standard works of the church, of the life and mission of Jesus Christ, and of the manifestations of God throughout the world of nature;
b. To guide students to a conviction of God by communion with Him in prayer and worship, stimulating a Christ-like life, and encouraging obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel;
c. To develop in the student an appreciation of Jesus as the Christ and to create a desire to follow Him as a way of life by study of Jesus as a moral and religious ideal, a study of revelations in all ages concerning Him, seeking for a testimony of the Spirit, portraying the fullness of life that results from loyalty to Christ, and by leading the student to the actual testing of living the principles of the Gospel;
d. To develop a testimony of the divinity of Joseph Smith's work and the mission of the Priesthood of God to disseminate the restored Gospel throughout the world, by an analysis of Joseph Smith's work, including the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants and Pearl of Great Price; by a study of the history of the church and testimony of its leaders; by encouraging students to so live that they may receive the assurance and promptings of the Holy Ghost;
e. To help students gain an ability and disposition to serve the church and the experience of joy in its service, by arousing an appreciatoin of the church organization and church program, study of the purpose and function of the Priesthood, a study of advantages and opportunities which service in the church affords, and by encouraging actual service in the church;
f. To assist students to arrive at a sound interpretation of life and the univers, to develop the ability and disposition to see God's purpose and plan in the universe, to understand man's relation to it, and to assist in the formulation of a philosophy of life built upon this interpretation;
g. To foster in students a progressive and continuous development of personality or character which is harmonious within itself, and adjusted to society, to its physical environment and to God, by means of courses in leadership, by supervised recreation, periods of worship, student counseling, classwork, and by the creation of a general religious environment;
h. To instill in students a love for all mankind and a desire to make the world a better place in which to live.
This is indeed an ambitious program for the student to swallow in addition to his regular high school or college studies. It is typical of the vigor with which Mormons tackle everything connected with their religious life.
4.
Guiding the L.D.S. system of religious and secular education is the church's general board of education at Salt Lake City. The president of this board is the president of the church, who is George Albert Smith. The first and second vice presidents of the board are respectively the first and second counselors of the presidency, J. Reuben Clark and David O. McKay. The chief executive officer is the commissioner of education, Franklin L. West, Ph.D., who is appointed by the first presidency. In addition to its formal organization, the church educational system is stimulated by the general oversight of a member of the council of twelve apostles.
Other members of the board of education are Frank Evans, secretary and treasurer, and the following, most of whom are members of the council of twelve: Joseph Fielding Smith, Stephen L. Richards, Adam S. Bennion, Joseph F. Merrill and Albert E. Bowen.
There is a stake board of education in every stake in which a seminary is located. Members of this board are the presidency of the stake, the seminary principal, and others whose services or counsel might be needed. The stake board provides suitable buildings, classrooms and equipment for teaching of seminary classes, and cooperates with teachers appointed by the general board in securing student enrollment. Half of the cost of erection and renovation of buildings for seminaries is borne by the general church fund and half by the stake.
The L.D.S. seminary system for week-day religious instruction began in 1912. The first unit was then established opposite Granite High school, near Salt Lake City. Thus, the Mormons were a full year ahead of the city of Gary, Indiana, when it attracted national attention by its establishment of week-day religious classes in 1913. Although similar systems have been in operation since that time in forty-one states of the union, the Mormons seem to have easily outdistanced all others in their success in this field.
In 1943, the latest year for which figures are available, there were one hundred and eight seminaries being operated adjacent to senior and junior high schools in the states of Utah, Idaho, Arizona, and Wyoming.
Utah, of course, has the greatest number of seminaries. The following named Utah cities and towns have units of this system on the high school level: Mt. Emmons, Alterra, American Fork, Kaysville, Garland, Beaver, Blanding, Brigham City, Price, Cedar City, Castle Dale, Ferron, Delta, Duchesne, Ephraim, Escalante, Fairview, Salt Lake City, Grantsville, Gunnison, Hinckley, Sandy, Nephi, Kanab, Orderville, Lehi, Logan, Manti, Fillmore, Morgan, Moroni, Mt. Pleasant, Murray, Payson, Richmond, Huntington, Laketown, Salina, Ogden, Magna, Spanish Fork, Panguitch, Parowan, Circleville, Provo, Roosevelt, St. George, Richfield, Orem, Hyrum, Randolph, Monroe, Kamas, Springville, Coalville, Pleasant Grove, Tooele, Tropic, Vernal, Heber, Bicknell and Hurricane (Zion Park).
High school seminaries in Idaho are located at: Ammon, Bancroft, Grace, Paris, Blackfoot, Burley, Downey, Preston, Idaho Falls, Malad, Moreland, Oakley, Malta, Rexburg, Rigby, Ririe, Rupert, Heyburn, St. Anthony, Shelley, Soda Springs, Sugar, Driggs, Ucon and Weston.| [sic]
In Wyoming, seminaries are found at Lovell, Cowley, Lyman and Afton. Arizona units are in the towns of Mesa, Phoenix, St. Johns and Snowflake. There formerly were seminaries in Nevada and Colorado, but the operation of these has been suspended.
Although invariably located very near the high schools which they serve, seminaries are not a part of the tax-supported public system of instruction. They are supported and maintained entirely by the church. Class periods of the seminaries are coordinated with those of the tax-supported schools. At the request of their parents, pupils are permitted to withdraw from some classes of the school and spend that time in seminary classes.
The curriculum of seminaries serving junior high schools is as follows: in the seventh grade, Biographies of Great Religious Leaders; eighth grade, The Book of Mormon; ninth grade, The Old Testament.
The senior high curriculum covers four years: first year, The Old Testament; second year, The New Testament; third year, Church History and Doctrine; fourth year (optional for seniors) Teacher Training, Priesthood Leadership, and Missionary Training.
Through a customary working arrangement with public boards of education, one half of standard high school credit is allowed for completion of the first two seminary high school courses. The church general board of education issues a graduation diploma to all high school students who successfully complete three years of seminary study.
Students of the seminaries are not limited to members of the L.D.S. church or their families. Many non-Mormon students are drawn to the seminaries because of a natural desire that exists in youth for religious training that often cannot be obtained in churchless families or in churches that are less enterprising than the Mormons in the satisfying of this normal urge.
Work of the seminaries is not confined to academic religious subjects, but is planned in a well-rounded program aimed at thoroughly socializing young people and developing them into community leaders.
The devotional program provides guidance in the organization and presentation of group devotional exercises as a part of regular classroom activity, production of religious dramas and pageants in either the seminary or the community, and the organization and presentation of devotional services in wards.
Student activities sponsored by the seminaries include: community projects to aid those in need; class projects of a religious nature; trips to places of historical and religious interest; social activities such as hikes, home parties, skating parties, dancing parties and more elaborate dances at regular festival seasons.
The L.D.S. church was outstanding and wise in the choosing of thoroughly qualified educational personnel to be superintendents and faculty members of its seminaries. The haphazard manner of filling religious teaching positions from among poorly qualified volunteers, so prevalent in many religious educational programs, is entirely absent here. The seminary instructors are all professional educators. They are as well trained and academically qualified as the faculties of tax-supported high schools; sometimes much more so. At the high school instruction level the faculty roster is an impressive list of educators with bachelor's and master's degrees.
Other members of the board of education are Frank Evans, secretary and treasurer, and the following, most of whom are members of the council of twelve: Joseph Fielding Smith, Stephen L. Richards, Adam S. Bennion, Joseph F. Merrill and Albert E. Bowen.
There is a stake board of education in every stake in which a seminary is located. Members of this board are the presidency of the stake, the seminary principal, and others whose services or counsel might be needed. The stake board provides suitable buildings, classrooms and equipment for teaching of seminary classes, and cooperates with teachers appointed by the general board in securing student enrollment. Half of the cost of erection and renovation of buildings for seminaries is borne by the general church fund and half by the stake.
The L.D.S. seminary system for week-day religious instruction began in 1912. The first unit was then established opposite Granite High school, near Salt Lake City. Thus, the Mormons were a full year ahead of the city of Gary, Indiana, when it attracted national attention by its establishment of week-day religious classes in 1913. Although similar systems have been in operation since that time in forty-one states of the union, the Mormons seem to have easily outdistanced all others in their success in this field.
In 1943, the latest year for which figures are available, there were one hundred and eight seminaries being operated adjacent to senior and junior high schools in the states of Utah, Idaho, Arizona, and Wyoming.
Utah, of course, has the greatest number of seminaries. The following named Utah cities and towns have units of this system on the high school level: Mt. Emmons, Alterra, American Fork, Kaysville, Garland, Beaver, Blanding, Brigham City, Price, Cedar City, Castle Dale, Ferron, Delta, Duchesne, Ephraim, Escalante, Fairview, Salt Lake City, Grantsville, Gunnison, Hinckley, Sandy, Nephi, Kanab, Orderville, Lehi, Logan, Manti, Fillmore, Morgan, Moroni, Mt. Pleasant, Murray, Payson, Richmond, Huntington, Laketown, Salina, Ogden, Magna, Spanish Fork, Panguitch, Parowan, Circleville, Provo, Roosevelt, St. George, Richfield, Orem, Hyrum, Randolph, Monroe, Kamas, Springville, Coalville, Pleasant Grove, Tooele, Tropic, Vernal, Heber, Bicknell and Hurricane (Zion Park).
High school seminaries in Idaho are located at: Ammon, Bancroft, Grace, Paris, Blackfoot, Burley, Downey, Preston, Idaho Falls, Malad, Moreland, Oakley, Malta, Rexburg, Rigby, Ririe, Rupert, Heyburn, St. Anthony, Shelley, Soda Springs, Sugar, Driggs, Ucon and Weston.| [sic]
In Wyoming, seminaries are found at Lovell, Cowley, Lyman and Afton. Arizona units are in the towns of Mesa, Phoenix, St. Johns and Snowflake. There formerly were seminaries in Nevada and Colorado, but the operation of these has been suspended.
Although invariably located very near the high schools which they serve, seminaries are not a part of the tax-supported public system of instruction. They are supported and maintained entirely by the church. Class periods of the seminaries are coordinated with those of the tax-supported schools. At the request of their parents, pupils are permitted to withdraw from some classes of the school and spend that time in seminary classes.
The curriculum of seminaries serving junior high schools is as follows: in the seventh grade, Biographies of Great Religious Leaders; eighth grade, The Book of Mormon; ninth grade, The Old Testament.
The senior high curriculum covers four years: first year, The Old Testament; second year, The New Testament; third year, Church History and Doctrine; fourth year (optional for seniors) Teacher Training, Priesthood Leadership, and Missionary Training.
Through a customary working arrangement with public boards of education, one half of standard high school credit is allowed for completion of the first two seminary high school courses. The church general board of education issues a graduation diploma to all high school students who successfully complete three years of seminary study.
Students of the seminaries are not limited to members of the L.D.S. church or their families. Many non-Mormon students are drawn to the seminaries because of a natural desire that exists in youth for religious training that often cannot be obtained in churchless families or in churches that are less enterprising than the Mormons in the satisfying of this normal urge.
Work of the seminaries is not confined to academic religious subjects, but is planned in a well-rounded program aimed at thoroughly socializing young people and developing them into community leaders.
The devotional program provides guidance in the organization and presentation of group devotional exercises as a part of regular classroom activity, production of religious dramas and pageants in either the seminary or the community, and the organization and presentation of devotional services in wards.
Student activities sponsored by the seminaries include: community projects to aid those in need; class projects of a religious nature; trips to places of historical and religious interest; social activities such as hikes, home parties, skating parties, dancing parties and more elaborate dances at regular festival seasons.
The L.D.S. church was outstanding and wise in the choosing of thoroughly qualified educational personnel to be superintendents and faculty members of its seminaries. The haphazard manner of filling religious teaching positions from among poorly qualified volunteers, so prevalent in many religious educational programs, is entirely absent here. The seminary instructors are all professional educators. They are as well trained and academically qualified as the faculties of tax-supported high schools; sometimes much more so. At the high school instruction level the faculty roster is an impressive list of educators with bachelor's and master's degrees.
5.
The L.D.S. institutes of religion are a valuable asset to the campus of every college at which they are located, and a distinct contribution to campus social, religious and academic life.
To begin with, the very buildings that they occupy, which invariably are architectural gems designed to enhance the campus physical plant, are inspiring and beautiful places of worship, recreation, study and social activity.
Leaders of the Mormon educational program seem to have rather fully sensed why so many American young people of college age are prone to become churchless, and they are here successfully meeting this challenging situation. Becoming an integral part of campus life, the faculty of the L.D.S. institute of religion meets, head-on in approved academic manner, every question of religion that is developed in modern scientific study, and in addition, offers a sound program to assist each student in organizing and formulating his own philosophy of life.
So advanced is the Mormon theology, so cohesive is the L.D.S. organization, and so complete are its methods of socialization that the Mormon religion need have no fear from any of the arts or sciences. Here, on the college and university level, Mormons are able to provide the modern intellectual with a way of life that makes the efforts of many less developed churches seem pitiable in comparison.
There is no clash between Mormonism and science. Mormonism embraces all sciences and points the way to still further progress and studies.
There is no fight between Mormonism and the arts. The Mormon church has a framework in which any artist can develop to his heart's content, and a mutual admiration and criticism system that tends to encourage all artists and the possessors of any kind of talent.
Approximately three thousand college students annually receive religious instruction at thirteen institutes of religion on the campuses of colleges and universities in five states. In Utah, these institutes are located at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City; the Utah State Agricultural College, at Logan; Branch Agricultural College at Cedar City; Snow College at St. George; and Weber Junior College at Ogden. Three institutes thrive in the state of Arizona: at the University of Arizona, Tucson; Arizona State Teachers' College, Flagstaff; and Gila Junior College, at Thatcher. One is maintained at the University of Wyoming, at Laramie. In Idaho, there are two, one at the University of Idaho, at Moscow, and the other at the University of Idaho, Southern Branch, at Pocatello. The University of Southern California, and the University of California, Los Angeles, now have the Pacific coast share of L.D.S. institutes.
The institutes maintain formal courses of religious instruction for which college credit is allowed, as well as social, devotional and counseling programs.
L.D.S. basic courses are integrated into the college's Department of Religious Education, and about half of them carry full credit acceptable to state and private institutions of higher learning. These basic courses are listed as follows: R. E. (Religious Education) 11, Social and Religious Teachings of Jesus; R. E. 12, Religion and Literature of the Apostolic Age; R.E. 13, Courtship and Marriage; R. E. 21, The Restored Church of Jesus Christ; R.E. 23, Joseph Smith and the Restoration; R.E. 111, Religion and Literature of the Old Testament; R.E. 112, History of Christianity (Christian Church); R.E. 113, Survey of World Religions; R.E. 121, L.D.S. Church History; R.E. 122, The Book of Mormon; and R.E. 123, The Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price.
Many special courses in interesting phases of religious thought and history also are offered at the larger institutes of religion. These include: The Prophets and Modern Social Problems, Early Christianity, Marriage and Family Life, Missionary Training, Training for Church Service and Leadership, Mormons on the Frontier, The Economic Ethic of the World's Religions, Life of Paul, Building a Philosophy of Life, Parables of Jesus, Formation of the New Testament, Mystery Religions of the Ancient World, Pearl of Great Price, Seminar in Religion, Recent Christian History, Current Religious Thought, The Program of the Church, and Religious and Social Problems of Mormon Youth.
The weight of Mormon scholarship is heavily felt in the faculties of nearly all western colleges and universities. This influence is spreading to other institutions of higher learning throughout the world. Due to the spirit of eager inquisitiveness that is fostered by Mormonism, this virile philosophy seems to be the breeding ground for a new class of professional and philosophical leaders that is spreading out in all directions and contributing much to the improvement of the moral fibre of many nations. Wherever an average Mormon congregation may be found, it possesses a surprisingly large percentage of lawyers, doctors, dentists, educators, and other professional men. Mormon influence is especially strong in the fields of history, philosophy, and other social sciences. In these activities, the researches of Mormon scholars have been thorough. The earlier Mormon scientists, seeking to justify the Book of Mormon, and searching out the source of the strange power it exerted over them and their fathers, approached a study of all the sociological sciences with a different viewpoint than that of any previous school of thought. While the leaders of many other religions still were floundering around in an idiotic fight of fundamentalism versus Darwinism, the Mormon scholars already were pushing frontiers of man's knowledge farther and farther back into antiquity by their explorations in far places of the Old World, as well as the previously neglected civilizations of the so-called New World.
The keen interest of Mormons in the people of ancient America has spurred the discovery of knowledge about hitherto unknown inhabitants of both North and South America. A large and enthusiastic audience of Mormons of a high average level of learning steadily has provided the encouragement and stimulus that have inspired archeologists, ethnologists, geologists, biologists, anthropologists, to ever-deeping [sic] and ever-widening explorations of the horizons of man's knowledge.
Here, indeed, is a religion that places no limits to the intellectual or spiritual marches of man's mind, and that courageously faces and accepts truth for its own sake, wherever it may be found.
Next: Their Missionary System
To begin with, the very buildings that they occupy, which invariably are architectural gems designed to enhance the campus physical plant, are inspiring and beautiful places of worship, recreation, study and social activity.
Leaders of the Mormon educational program seem to have rather fully sensed why so many American young people of college age are prone to become churchless, and they are here successfully meeting this challenging situation. Becoming an integral part of campus life, the faculty of the L.D.S. institute of religion meets, head-on in approved academic manner, every question of religion that is developed in modern scientific study, and in addition, offers a sound program to assist each student in organizing and formulating his own philosophy of life.
So advanced is the Mormon theology, so cohesive is the L.D.S. organization, and so complete are its methods of socialization that the Mormon religion need have no fear from any of the arts or sciences. Here, on the college and university level, Mormons are able to provide the modern intellectual with a way of life that makes the efforts of many less developed churches seem pitiable in comparison.
There is no clash between Mormonism and science. Mormonism embraces all sciences and points the way to still further progress and studies.
There is no fight between Mormonism and the arts. The Mormon church has a framework in which any artist can develop to his heart's content, and a mutual admiration and criticism system that tends to encourage all artists and the possessors of any kind of talent.
Approximately three thousand college students annually receive religious instruction at thirteen institutes of religion on the campuses of colleges and universities in five states. In Utah, these institutes are located at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City; the Utah State Agricultural College, at Logan; Branch Agricultural College at Cedar City; Snow College at St. George; and Weber Junior College at Ogden. Three institutes thrive in the state of Arizona: at the University of Arizona, Tucson; Arizona State Teachers' College, Flagstaff; and Gila Junior College, at Thatcher. One is maintained at the University of Wyoming, at Laramie. In Idaho, there are two, one at the University of Idaho, at Moscow, and the other at the University of Idaho, Southern Branch, at Pocatello. The University of Southern California, and the University of California, Los Angeles, now have the Pacific coast share of L.D.S. institutes.
The institutes maintain formal courses of religious instruction for which college credit is allowed, as well as social, devotional and counseling programs.
L.D.S. basic courses are integrated into the college's Department of Religious Education, and about half of them carry full credit acceptable to state and private institutions of higher learning. These basic courses are listed as follows: R. E. (Religious Education) 11, Social and Religious Teachings of Jesus; R. E. 12, Religion and Literature of the Apostolic Age; R.E. 13, Courtship and Marriage; R. E. 21, The Restored Church of Jesus Christ; R.E. 23, Joseph Smith and the Restoration; R.E. 111, Religion and Literature of the Old Testament; R.E. 112, History of Christianity (Christian Church); R.E. 113, Survey of World Religions; R.E. 121, L.D.S. Church History; R.E. 122, The Book of Mormon; and R.E. 123, The Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price.
Many special courses in interesting phases of religious thought and history also are offered at the larger institutes of religion. These include: The Prophets and Modern Social Problems, Early Christianity, Marriage and Family Life, Missionary Training, Training for Church Service and Leadership, Mormons on the Frontier, The Economic Ethic of the World's Religions, Life of Paul, Building a Philosophy of Life, Parables of Jesus, Formation of the New Testament, Mystery Religions of the Ancient World, Pearl of Great Price, Seminar in Religion, Recent Christian History, Current Religious Thought, The Program of the Church, and Religious and Social Problems of Mormon Youth.
The weight of Mormon scholarship is heavily felt in the faculties of nearly all western colleges and universities. This influence is spreading to other institutions of higher learning throughout the world. Due to the spirit of eager inquisitiveness that is fostered by Mormonism, this virile philosophy seems to be the breeding ground for a new class of professional and philosophical leaders that is spreading out in all directions and contributing much to the improvement of the moral fibre of many nations. Wherever an average Mormon congregation may be found, it possesses a surprisingly large percentage of lawyers, doctors, dentists, educators, and other professional men. Mormon influence is especially strong in the fields of history, philosophy, and other social sciences. In these activities, the researches of Mormon scholars have been thorough. The earlier Mormon scientists, seeking to justify the Book of Mormon, and searching out the source of the strange power it exerted over them and their fathers, approached a study of all the sociological sciences with a different viewpoint than that of any previous school of thought. While the leaders of many other religions still were floundering around in an idiotic fight of fundamentalism versus Darwinism, the Mormon scholars already were pushing frontiers of man's knowledge farther and farther back into antiquity by their explorations in far places of the Old World, as well as the previously neglected civilizations of the so-called New World.
The keen interest of Mormons in the people of ancient America has spurred the discovery of knowledge about hitherto unknown inhabitants of both North and South America. A large and enthusiastic audience of Mormons of a high average level of learning steadily has provided the encouragement and stimulus that have inspired archeologists, ethnologists, geologists, biologists, anthropologists, to ever-deeping [sic] and ever-widening explorations of the horizons of man's knowledge.
Here, indeed, is a religion that places no limits to the intellectual or spiritual marches of man's mind, and that courageously faces and accepts truth for its own sake, wherever it may be found.
Next: Their Missionary System
