Today's Maxwell Quote

From Deposition of a Disciple (1976), 89-90:

Paul warned about the early Saints being spoiled "through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ." (Colossians 2:8.) Combine that scripture with the tardy but truthful admission of Korihor, an "anti-Christ" and a clever man of devilish dialectic, who said he taught as he had taught because he had been tutored and deceived by the devil, appearing as an angel, because the concepts "were pleasing unto the carnal mind"; and because he had so much success, he really came to believe his words were true! (Alma 30:53.) . . .

Because it is a special case, it is also especially illuminating. Classic cases help us to deal with ancillary cases. For instance, the "caving in" to Korihor of so many otherwise good people made his movement and method self-reinforcing; attachment to true doctrines dissolved before him, not because the doctrines were faulty, but for the reasons elaborated. False doctrines are carnally convenient!