I’m grateful to Todd Galbraith for calling this item to my notice:
I’m reminded of a story that I believe I may have told here before:
A friend of mine who has since left the Church once recounted an experience to me, somewhat at his own expense, from graduate school. A prominent Israeli scholar had come to his university as a visiting professor. One day, knowing that my friend was a Mormon, he asked my friend to explain Mormonism. My friend, who was still active at the time but who was already very, very liberal, theologically speaking, gave him a very liberal account of the Restoration. And, he told me, he could easily see that it had left the Israeli scholar deeply unsatisfied.
Many years later, the Israeli professor visited Salt Lake City and, as part of his visit, spent a couple of hours on Temple Square. Shortly thereafter, he spoke with my friend again. “You recall our conversation of years ago, I expect. I think you could see,” he said, “that your explanation of Mormonism didn’t really satisfy me. I couldn’t figure out why anybody would make serious sacrifices, let alone be willing to die, for what you were telling me. Now, though, I understand it. If I were to be convinced of the story that I heard on Temple Square, I would be willing to sacrifice my life for it, too.”
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