This book felt strangely familiar to me. Did I actually read it TWICE?! Harline’s writing style is so manic and run-on. I wonder if he makes a great lecturer in his job as European History professor at BYU. But reading him is like grabbing a squirrel by the tail. Nevertheless, I persisted because I have a strange fascination with Mormons and their devotion and I am so curious about the mission work so many of their young ones sign on for. Reading Harline’s memoir of his two years in Belgium in the 70s made me sad for the thoughtless effort that they’ve put into converting people. I had to keep reading because I wondered if Harline ever figured out that what he was doing was a fool’s errand, that the approach was fatally flawed and surely could not have been what Jesus (and whatever denomination is claiming Him) had intended. Well, Harline does get it by the end. But his frantic style makes it hard to appreciate that. An admired friend of mine edited this for Eerdman’s Publishing.
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