“Early in Nephite history an ambitious intellectual by the name of Sherem, who was a master of smooth talk and rhetorical tricks and made a great show of being a good and devout church-member, set himself to the task of outshining all others as a Great Mind. … The interesting thing about Sherem is his convincing performance as a devout and active churchman who is not attacking the gospel but defending it: no wonder he got a large following!” (Nibley, Approach to the Book of Mormon, 302).