The Browns were at the forefront of taking Martin's challenge and turning it around on critics of the LDS faith. In that sense, they raised the ensign for an entirely new cohort of apologists*, a cohort that directly set the stage for what's happening nowadays.
It was pretty obviously identified on both sites.
*The first cohort, if you will, were the early church members themselves, who spent much of the 1800s trying to explain themselves and keep the church alive.
The second cohort came in the early 1900s. James Talmage was a geology professor before accepting a church leadership position, and so brought with him a scholar's patience and discipline. This is reflected in his writings, with many - such as Jesus The Christ (still in print 100 years later) - being as much academic treatise as apologetic. Talmage encouraged others to apply academic standards to their writings, allowing a sense of coherency and cohesion.
The third cohort was brought about a few decades later by Hugh Nibley. Nibley, who was also a professor, had actually studied theology, languages, and other relevant fields. He took the academic structure that Talmage encouraged and used it to directly address claim after claim made against the church, in the process employing his usual wit and humor to make his writing more accessible to the common person. Various individuals followed suit, doing their best to study the relevant fields directly.
The Browns gave us the fourth cohort. This cohort, based on Martin's challenge, decided to switch from "defense" to "offense". During the 1980s and early 1990s, most of the then-prominent critics of the church saw their careers go down in flames as scandal after scandal was unearthed and their credibility was torn to shreds. [Accusation without evidence ! DA]
Cohort #5 took advantage of #4's efforts by reaching for the microphone that the critics of the church had dropped in shock and shame; [Accusation without evidence ! DA] instead of simply addressing fellow apologists and those Mormons curious or concerned enough to come their way, they went out and sought for rank-and-file Mormons while beginning early conversations with key non-Mormon officials.
I'm part of #6, the group of Mormons who seized upon the internet in the early 2000s as a tool for communicating with others. Before the church even considered making use of social media, we were chatting with others online and changing opinions. I myself once got a World Net Daily reporter to about-face with a single e-mail noting the gaping flaws in his research for an article. [Unsubstantiated boast! DA]
Now we're on #7. We tested the water, and so now the church - both SLC itself and scads of Mormons all over the globe - are enjoying themselves in the pool. The Bloggernacle is alive & well, and us "old farts" from #6 are helping to make sure it stays that way.
