I also read the Bushman Paper

[RockyBalboa]

That CaliCoug posted on here a few weeks ago that was hosted at a college and attending by several in the media.

It was a great paper and I really enjoyed reading it.

Many of Bushman's answers resonated with me. I'm glad we have an individual like him, who is much smarter and wiser than I am to represent the faith.

Thanks for posting that back then Cali.

[SteelBlue]

I gave that link to a good friend of mine who is, as he describes himself, "a devout agnostic". He absolutely loved it and has commented on it several times. He was most impressed by the fact that Bushman never dodges a tough question.

[bluegoose]

Originally Posted by SteelBlue

He was most impressed by the fact that Bushman never dodges a tough question.

My favorite was the way he handled the question posed about what the missionaries teach versus what the church "actually" believes.

"BUSHMAN: Well, I hear two things in your comment. One is the notion of peculiar, heterodox, wild ideas about the nature of God and how to cope with such departures from conventional Christianity. The other is the idea of a certain degree of trickery. That is, you're brought into the church with simple, plain doctrines, like the story of the Book of Mormon.

JENKINS: I am not trying to make these accusations, please understand.

BUSHMAN: Yes. I do understand. I thought you were very tactful in the way you stated it. But still, that is the question, because often the evangelical critics of Mormonism will make that very point. They will make it look like it's simple, but boy, wait till you get inside of it and you'll find all sorts of terrifying beliefs. "