The footnote is:Recent scholarship suggests that a distinguishing trait of the Digha Nikaya may be that it was "intended for the purpose of propaganda, to attract converts to the new religion." 1
From: http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sutta.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;1. Bhikkhu Bodhi, Connected Discourses of the Buddha (Somerville, Mass.: Wisdom Publications, 2000), p.31, referring to Joy Manné's "Categories of Sutta in the Pali Nikayas and Their Implications for Our Appreciation of the Buddhist Teaching and Literature," Journal of the Pali Text Society 15 (1990): 29-87.
I tried briefly to find the Joy Manne article online, but was unsuccessful.
So, is this a common conclusion, that perhaps part of the Digha Nikaya's purpose was to attract new Buddhists?
(If this is a silly question I apologize, I just haven't heard anything like this before. Thanks in advance for any insight.)