Inclusive, exclusive, or pluralistic?

Thomas, a hard-headed, logical, nonreligious exclusivist, and Bea, an open-hearted, intuitive, religious inclusivist, are taking a class on world religions from Professor Fesser, a neutral, scholarly pluralist. The two students and the professor have a habit of meeting regularly after class for an informal discussion. They’ve just come from the class on Judaism.

Thomas: Well, Bea, what did you learn from that lecture?

Bea: Hmm. . . . I was about to answer, “Not much,” because I was already pretty familiar with Judaism. But then I suddenly realized that this course isn’t so much about knowing historical facts as it is about philosophical perspectives, and in that sense I learned a lot. I think the professor’s main aim is not just filling our heads with knowledge but inveigling us to look at the different religions of the world differently—to cock our heads to the side, so to speak.