That pursuit recognizes that "truth is not reality, but truth is what I think about reality" and must be distinguished from opinion, which is "based on probability rather than certainty ... I must not be afraid of honest doubt that accompanies debate and discussion."

Failure to have doubts about faith "may mean I'm on the threshold of delusion," the former pastor said, adding "spiritual formation is a process of maturity."

Bob Millet, who holds the Richard L. Evans Chair of Religious Understanding at Brigham Young University, said he's spent the past five years talking with evangelicals about their faith and trying to better understand them. He's now known among his colleagues at BYU as the "resident evangelical," he said, with some skeptical of his work to dialogue with scholars who have traditionally viewed Latter-day Saints as "non-Christian."

One of the things he's learned in those discussions is "it's a cardinal sin to say 'I know what you believe far better than you know what you believe.' The only thing worse than that is 'he's a liar and not really telling the truth.' I know a little about that, too."' He and Pastor Greg Johnson of the local evangelical group, Standing Together, have traveled in many parts of the United States and abroad modeling how Latter-day Saints and evangelicals can talk about faith together without "giving in" on theological differences.

Johnson was one of the conference organizers to get students engaged in such discussion.

"My life has been enriched because I've been around great and good men and women and they've taught me great and good things. I don't agree with all of them, but I try to hold them sacred," Millet said, adding his biggest regret in life is that he didn't meet Johnson and promote interfaith dialogue a decade earlier.

To maintain his integrity in doing so, "I would never say anything in private that I would not be willing to say in public with my evangelical friends. That's the only way I can be me. There are not two Bob Millets. I want to stand up and say what I say wherever I am."

Doug McConnell, dean of Intercultural Studies at Fuller Seminary, said it took 22 years as a missionary in several exotic locales before he began to understand how his worldview had been stereotyped regarding people of other faiths, particularly Muslims with whom he was interacting in Africa.

"The more I spent time with them, the more I realized ... there was something about hearing what they believed, rather than me telling them what they believed. That isn't what Jesus did."

As he gained understanding, appreciation began to replace anxiety, he said. "I realized that entering another's world physically was not enough. I had to move toward understanding that was supported by empathy to really enter their world."