Also, I wonder if there are other "gentile" scholars I am overlooking---i.e., people who have been befriended by the apologists in an effort to bring more credibility to FARMS.
I mentioned David Waltz in another recent thread. He has one review in FROB, and was an avid poster on ZLMB. He was Catholic and really got the praise heaped on him from the apologists. He always seemed ready to go to bat for Mormonism.
Make no mistake though, he was Catholic, and not afraid to raise questions where Mormonism conflicted with his faith. I remember one time, he posted a fascinating thread comparing the acheivements of GBH with Pope John Paul II. GBH came out looking like a fool, and the apologists essentially got owned in that thread.
I also remember him complaining about the apologists too easily siding with atheists when it was convenient to criticize the Bible or other elements of evangelical Christianity. I think he had a more ecumenical vision of faith in general, where the apologists seemed just opportunistic to support their own immediate causes when befriending outsiders.
Anyway, given how well received he was, I wondered if his fleeting role of "gentile apologist" had something to do with the "one way" kind of friendship realized when mingling with apologists. Then again, perhaps it was just a matter of both parties having other things to do.