Gadianton wrote:...
if this is what Nibley meant, then apologetics has failed, and I need to revise my other post to reflect this.
...
1. I'm not totally certain that Nibley believed all that he preached/taught/suggested --
but if he did espouse "taking the fight to the Gentiles," he might be a bit perplexed
at the modern situation.
2. Whether by rigid design or by accident, modern Mormonism is avoiding meeting
the Gentiles on their own ground for a "fight," and is instead attempting to sell
the less controversial aspects of Mormon "scholarship" exactly by being noncombatant.
3. Givens and Bushman might be cited, but they are probably not the "point of the spear"
in the current effort. We may have to take a retrospective look at things after a few
years, to fathom exactly what is happening.
4. The "fight" is no longer about Joseph Smith being a prophet, or the Book of Mormon
being true -- or even to justify/deny the aims of the political kingdom of God. The
"fight" these days is to "blend in" with the non-Mormons, gaining some sort of
acceptance on par with Jews operating in Christian circles.
5. But the Mormon leaders will over-reach, as they have done so many times in the
past, and unwanted controversy and non-acceptance will continue to dog them.
UD