Hugh Nibley Collection
An article about being in the world but not of the world.
Published as “The Circle and the Square” in Temple and Cosmos: Beyond THis Ignorant Present, Collected Works of Hugh Nibley vol. 12.
This is a manuscript dealing with authority and the councils, possibly related to the 155-page manuscript that became the volume Apostles and Bishops in Early Christianity, which focuses more on the office of Bishop.
This is in a campus newspaper.
A poem that captures the spirit of the Book of Abraham.
Reprinted in Hugh Nibley: A Consecrated Life, Boyd J. Peterson, Sandy, UT: Greg Kofford Books Inc, 2002, 56.
Copy in HBLL SC box 27 folder 4 through box 29 folder 1. Nibley’s dissertation was completed and approved by December 1938. The library at the University of California at Berkeley catalogued the dissertation in early 1939.
Compiled in Compiegne, France (at the end of World War II) using J. G. Hava, Arabic-English Dictionary for the Use of Students (Beirut: Catholic University Press, 1921).
G-2 Reports—a series of handouts prepared in the fifties and early sixties for distribution to various audiences. “Years ago it was my custom to communicate to the General Authorities in an occasional brash and self-appointed newsletter (called “G-2 Report”) items of interest dealing with new discoveries which I considered significant. My boldness was not ill-received.” Quoting a letter from Nibley to Elder Bruce R. McConkie, 2 October 1979.
A series of handouts prepared in the fifties and early sixties for distribution to various audiences.
““Years ago, it was my custom to communicate to the General Authorities in an occasional brash and self-appointed newsletter (called a ‘G-2 Report’) items of interest dealing with new discoveries which I considered significant. My boldness was not ill-received.” —Quoting a letter from Nibley to Elder Bruce R. McConkie, 2 October 1979.
“The Religious Picture”: Changes in the religious world and in scholarship concerning religion are illustrated by numerous quotations from various writers.“
A series of handouts prepared in the fifties and early sixties for distribution to various audiences.
““Years ago, it was my custom to communicate to the General Authorities in an occasional brash and self-appointed newsletter (called a ‘G-2 Report’) items of interest dealing with new discoveries which I considered significant. My boldness was not ill-received.” —Quoting a letter from Nibley to Elder Bruce R. McConkie, 2 October 1979.
Changes in religious scholarship further illustrated. Quotations are arranged under headings such as “Revelation,” No Longer a Dirty Word,” “Neo-orthodoxy,” and “Science.”“
A series of handouts prepared in the fifties and early sixties for distribution to various audiences.
“Years ago, it was my custom to communicate to the General Authorities in an occasional brash and self-appointed newsletter (called a ‘G-2 Report’) items of interest dealing with new discoveries which I considered significant. My boldness was not ill-received.” —Quoting a letter from Nibley to Elder Bruce R. McConkie, 2 October 1979.
A series of handouts prepared in the fifties and early sixties for distribution to various audiences.
“Years ago, it was my custom to communicate to the General Authorities in an occasional brash and self-appointed newsletter (called a ‘G-2 Report’) items of interest dealing with new discoveries which I considered significant. My boldness was not ill-received.” —Quoting a letter from Nibley to Elder Bruce R. McConkie, 2 October 1979.
A series of handouts prepared in the fifties and early sixties for distribution to various audiences. This report includes excerpts from the Expository Times by Nibley in the form of a G-2 Report. 14 pages, s.s., 1984. Most excerpts deal with the state of Christianity in 1983 and 1984.
““Years ago, it was my custom to communicate to the General Authorities in an occasional brash and self-appointed newsletter (called a ‘G-2 Report’) items of interest dealing with new discoveries which I considered significant. My boldness was not ill-received.” —Quoting a letter from Nibley to Elder Bruce R. McConkie, 2 October 1979.
Two topics or reports are included. Includes various quotations from the Expository Times on Old Testament biblical research. See “New Age of Discovery” in Since Cumorah, Collected Works of Hugh Nibley vol. 7.“
A series of handouts prepared in the fifties and early sixties for distribution to various audiences.
“Years ago, it was my custom to communicate to the General Authorities in an occasional brash and self-appointed newsletter (called a ‘G-2 Report’) items of interest dealing with new discoveries which I considered significant. My boldness was not ill-received.” —Quoting a letter from Nibley to Elder Bruce R. McConkie, 2 October 1979.
A series of handouts prepared in the fifties and early sixties for distribution to various audiences.
““Years ago, it was my custom to communicate to the General Authorities in an occasional brash and self-appointed newsletter (called a ‘G-2 Report’) items of interest dealing with new discoveries which I considered significant. My boldness was not ill-received.” —Quoting a letter from Nibley to Elder Bruce R. McConkie, 2 October 1979.
Topics include the flood, the patriarchal age, the Old Testament as history, the Old Testament in its Near Eastern setting, patterning, language of the Old Testament, and the integrity of the text.“
A series of handouts prepared in the fifties and early sixties for distribution to various audiences.
“Years ago, it was my custom to communicate to the General Authorities in an occasional brash and self-appointed newsletter (called a ‘G-2 Report’) items of interest dealing with new discoveries which I considered significant. My boldness was not ill-received.” —Quoting a letter from Nibley to Elder Bruce R. McConkie, 2 October 1979.
The bulk of these materials appeared in the Improvement Era between 1950 and 1952. The original illustrations and some other materials were not included in the book.
The original publication of the series of talks.
In 1954, Hugh Nibley delivered a series of weekly lectures on KSL Radio. The series called “Time Vindicates the Prophets” was given in answer to those who were challenging the right of members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to call themselves Christians.
In 1954, Hugh Nibley delivered a series of weekly lectures on KSL Radio. The series called “Time Vindicates the Prophets” was given in answer to those who were challenging the right of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to call themselves Christians.
Reprinted in The World and the Prophets, Collected Works of Hugh Nibley vol. 3.
30 pamphlets, weekly radio addresses from 7 March to 17 October.
This series was to have been continued but was actually abandoned. The materials were eventually used in “The Passing of the Church,” Church History 30, no. 2 (June 1961): 131–54; reprinted in When the Lights Went Out (1970): 1–32; in BYU Studies 16, no. 1 (1975): 139–64; in Mormonism and Early Christianity, The Collected Works of Hugh Nibley 4. 209–322; and as “The Passing of the Primitive Church: Forty Variations on an Unpopular Theme,” in When the Lights Went Out (2001), 1–47.
The essays cover such subjects as early accounts of Jesus’ childhood, the Savior’s forty-day ministry after his resurrection, baptism for the dead in ancient times, the passing of the primitive church, and the early Christian prayer circle.
A discussion on the question: “Was the church Jesus founded expected to remain upon the earth for a limited time only, or was the ‘apostolic church’ destined ‘to remain firm and steadfast until the end of the world’?”
Part of a series in the Improvement Era, entitled The Way of the Church.
The first article of the series, beginning with a question and going into evidence to answer the question.
Part of a series in the Improvement Era, entitled The Way of the Church.
The second article of the series, addressing the idea that controlling the past controls the present, and the latter controls the future.
Part of a series in the Improvement Era, entitled The Way of the Church.
The third article of the series, describing what censorship has done to the Bible and what that means for readers.
Part of a series in the Improvement Era, entitled The Way of the Church.
Power lies in translation, but there are also follies that go with it.
Part of a series in the Improvement Era, entitled The Way of the Church.
The follies of translation continue, and the ups and downs of electronic translators.
A series of articles in three sections printed in 12 parts running from January 1955 through December 1955.
A discussion of the three main arguments modern claimants fall back on to save at least the tattered remnants of the true church: (1) the perfectly irrelevant “gates of hell” passage, (2) the “simple fact” that the church has persisted in the world unintermittently for nigh onto two-thousand years, and (3) that God simply would not allow a comoplete dissolution of his church.
This series was to have been continued but was actually abandoned. The materials were eventually used in “The Passing of the Church,” Church History 30/2 (June 1961): 131–54; reprinted in When the Lights Went Out (1970): 1–32; in BYU Studies 16/1 (1975): 139–64; in Mormonism and Early Christianity, CWHN 4:209–322; and as “The Passing of the Primitive Church: Forty Variations on an Unpopular Theme,” in When the Lights Went Out (2001), 1–47.
A discussion of the three main arguments modern claimants fall back on to save at least the tattered remnants of the true church: (1) the perfectly irrelevant “gates of hell” passage, (2) the “simple fact” that the church has persisted in the world unintermittently for nigh onto two-thousand years, and (3) that God simply would not allow a comoplete dissolution of his church.
This series was to have been continued but was actually abandoned. The materials were eventually used in “The Passing of the Church,” Church History 30/2 (June 1961): 131–54; reprinted in When the Lights Went Out (1970): 1–32; in BYU Studies 16/1 (1975): 139–64; in Mormonism and Early Christianity, CWHN 4:209–322; and as “The Passing of the Primitive Church: Forty Variations on an Unpopular Theme,” in When the Lights Went Out (2001), 1–47.
A discussion of what true success is: the heavenly kingdom, the second coming, the judgment, and the resurrection.
This series was to have been continued but was actually abandoned. The materials were eventually used in “The Passing of the Church,” Church History 30/2 (June 1961): 131–54; reprinted in When the Lights Went Out (1970): 1–32; in BYU Studies 16/1 (1975): 139–64; in Mormonism and Early Christianity, CWHN 4:209–322; and as “The Passing of the Primitive Church: Forty Variations on an Unpopular Theme,” in When the Lights Went Out (2001), 1–47.
A discussion of the fact that the church is not immune to corruption, nor are its members. It also goes through how the true church had become corrupted in previous dispensations.
This series was to have been continued but was actually abandoned. The materials were eventually used in “The Passing of the Church,” Church History 30/2 (June 1961): 131–54; reprinted in When the Lights Went Out (1970): 1–32; in BYU Studies 16/1 (1975): 139–64; in Mormonism and Early Christianity, CWHN 4:209–322; and as “The Passing of the Primitive Church: Forty Variations on an Unpopular Theme,” in When the Lights Went Out (2001), 1–47.
A discussion of the “primitive church” and how one might make certain divisions in church history.
A series of articles in three sections printed in 12 parts running from January 1955 through December 1955.
A discussion of eschatology and how it relates to and influences religion.
“In any bibliography of present-day studies on the Christian religion, historical or doctrinal, the word eschatology looms large. . . . What is eschatology?”
“However deplorable the maladjusted state of mind called ‘eschatological’ may be, there can be no denying that it was the prevailing attitude of the early Christians.”
“Reprinted as part three of “Lehi in the Desert”; “The World of the Jaredites”; “There Were Jaredites.” The description of the Jaredite boats seem to resemble the boat of Ut-Napitshtim, who was the Sumerian counterpart of Noah. Old Jewish and even older Indian sources record the use of shining stones that protect the owner beneath the water. These have been traced back to Babylonian tales of the deluge. Since the Jaredite record reports that their boats were patterned after Noah’s ark, ancient myths that surely have their foundation in real events help to provide greater understanding of the book of Ether. The book of Ether meets all the criteria of epic traditions of heroic societies. The remains of heroic societies are difficult to identify.
This wide-ranging series discusses the “epic milieu” of the second millennium B.C. and places the Jaredites in their historical context alongside the Babylonians, Egyptians, early Greeks, and others. It makes a comparison between the book of Ether and ancient writings of Babylon, Egypt, Sumer, and others.
Part 1 of 5.
An exploration into the book of Ether and its ties to Egypt told via a fictional account.
Part 2 of 5.
An exploration into the book of Ether and its ties to Egypt told via a fictional account.
Part 3 of 5.
An exploration into the book of Ether and its ties to Egypt told via a fictional account.
Part 4 of 5.
An exploration into the book of Ether and its ties to Egypt told via a fictional account.
Part 5 of 5.
An exploration into the book of Ether and its ties to Egypt told via a fictional account.
A critique of Jakeman’s claim to have found and interpreted a stone depicting Lehi’s dream of the Tree of Life. This can be compared with Jakeman’s response to Nibley’s treatment of amateur archaeology, which was circulated in the form of a review of Nibley’s “An Approach to the Book of Mormon,” in UAS Newsletter 40 (30 March 1957): 1–11. [This was the newsletter of the University Archaeology Society at BYU.] Jakeman’s criticisms of Nibley’s remarks about archaeology seem to have led to Nibley’s review of Jakeman’s claims made about a stone presumably depicting Lehi’s dream of the Tree of Life, which are called into question in this review.
Reprinted in When the Lights Went Out, 1970.
Reprinted in When the Lights Went Out, 1970.
See also the series entitled “Censoring the Joseph Smith Story,” published in 1961 in the Improvement Era. Compare with “Censoring the Joseph Smith Story” in Collected Works of Hugh Nibley vol. 11.
Nibley sets forth various reasons for believing that there had been suppression of the story of the initial vision of Joseph Smith by his enemies between 1820 and 1838.
A response to a letter by C. Sumter Logan of the Trinity Presbyterian Church in Ogden.
“The Doctors’ Dilemma” and “The Return of the Prophets?” were added in this edition, though they were not part of the original series of radio addresses and have a somewhat different style.
In 1954, Hugh Nibley delivered a series of weekly lectures on KSL Radio. The series called “Time Vindicates the Prophets” was given in answer to those who were challenging the right of members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to call themselves Christians.
One important key to understanding modern civilization is a familiarity with its ancient background. Many modern principles and practices—social, political, and even economic—have clear parallels in antiquity. A careful study of these forerunners of our traditions, particularly as they contributed to the downfall of earlier civilizations, may help us avoid some of the mistakes of our predecessors. The Ancient State, by Hugh Nibley, is a thought-provoking examination of assorted aspects of ancient culture, from the use of marked arrows to the surprisingly universal conception of kinship, from arguments of various schools of philosophy to the rise of rhetoric. Author Hugh Nibley brings his usual meticulous research and scholarship to bear in this enlightening collection of essays and lectures. It has been said that only by learning the lessons of history can we hope to avoid repeating them. For scholar and novice alike, The Ancient State is a valuable source of such learning.
75 pp. plus an additional 7 lettered pages and a 14-page bibliography of sources cited, ca. 1963.
Originally published in 1957.
This edition contains a “Preface to Second Edition” by Hugh Nibley and one new chapter, entitled “Strange Ships and Shining Stones,” which is reproduced from a 1959 publication. The questions appended to each chapter in the 1957 edition have been deleted and the pagination of the two editions is different.
These materials were reprinted in Since Cumorah (1967/1970), with two large additions and a deletion; and reprinted again, with corrections and a collation of materials with those published in the book, as Since Cumorah, The Collected Works of Hugh Nibley 7. The changing attitudes of biblical scholars toward basic questions about scripture allow room for claims made by the Book of Mormon.
Discusses external evidences, the primitive church, Lehi, Zenos, the olive tree, and the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Reprinted as “The Haunted Wilderness,” in Nibley on the Timely and the Timeless (1978).
“On the Pearl of Great Price,” 34 pp.
See “Leaders to Managers: Fatal Shift.”
30 pamphlets, weekly radio addresses from 7 March to 17 October.
30 pamphlets, weekly radio addresses from 7 March to 17 October.
30 pamphlets, weekly radio addresses from 7 March to 17 October.
30 pamphlets, weekly radio addresses from 7 March to 17 October.
30 pamphlets, weekly radio addresses from 7 March to 17 October.
30 pamphlets, weekly radio addresses from 7 March to 17 October.
30 pamphlets, weekly radio addresses from 7 March to 17 October.
“Fact and Fancy in the Interpretation of Ancient Records.” 55 pp.
Alexander T. Stecker reviewed “Since Cumorah” in BYU Studies 8, no. 4 (1968): 465–68. Robert Mesle provided a critical RLDS reaction to it (Courage 2, no. 1 [September 1971]: 331–32). For a sympathetic commentary on the last seventy pages of Since Cumorah, the portion of the book that did not appear in the original series in Improvement Era; see Louis Midgley, “The Secular Relevance of the Gospel,“ Dialogue 4 no. 4 (1969): 76–85. A complaint was registered against Nibley’s position by Duane Stanfield. See the exchange of letters between Stanfield and Midgley, “Letters to the Editor,” Dialogue 5, no. 2 (1970): 5–7.
At the time he published this review, Mesle was a student at the Graceland College in Lamoni, Iowa, where he now teaches religion and philosophy. Mesle granted that Nibley appeared to be a “very competent scholar in the field of ancient documents and their languages” but observed that Nibley is not “at all objective or critical in the sphere of his own religion.” The reason for this observation is that Nibley takes the Book of Mormon seriously as an historically authentic ancient document. Mesle, who claims that in order to be properly objective and sufficiently critical, one must hold that the Book of Mormon and the gospel are fraudulent and spurious rather than authentic and genuine, claimed that Nibley’s work is “trite and naive”; it is “both confident scholarship and the tritest of religious defenses,” though he neglected to indicate what in Since Cumorah was either hackneyed or unsophisticated.
A quick introduction to Hugh Nibley followed by an annotated list of his works.
Reprinted in Studies of the Books of Moses and Abraham, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book.
Some 10 pages of this item consist of questions and answers.
Reprinted in Brother Brigham Challenges the Saints, Collected Works of Hugh Nibley vol. 13.
s.s., 3 pages. Reprinted in Hugh Nibley: A Consecrated Life (2002), 427–30. Reprinted in Eloquent Witness: Nibley on Himself, Others, and the Temple, The Collected Works of Hugh Nibley vol. 17, 142–47.
Sterling M. McMurrin was at the time working on a book of essays on Mormon philosophy and had apparently invited Nibley to contribute an essay. The book that McMurrin had in mind was never published. In his letter, Nibley proclaims to his scholarly antagonist that his “present religious mood is an all-out literalism.”
Also printed in the United States under the same title in Concilium: Theology in the Age of Renewal 30 (1968): 170–73.
A summary statement of the content and purpose of the Book of Mormon prepared for Concilium, a journal devoted to an examination of the Christian scriptures. Explains it as an ancient record, a companion to the Bible with revealed Christianity before Christ and 40-day literature from the appearance of Christ among the Nephites.
Also circulated as “Teachings from the Dead Sea Scrolls.”
A survey of teachings in a large number of apocryphal, pseudepigraphal, and patristic writings.
The Improvement Era was an official magazine of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints between 1897 and 1970.
This booklet is a compilation of essays on the book of Abraham published in the Improvement Era. It contains three broad sections. First, Hugh Nibley reviews the controversy that broke out in 1912 when a Protestant minister in Salt Lake City solicited the opinions of the leading Egyptologists of the day concerning the viability of Joseph Smith’s translation of the book of Abraham. The second seciton refers to the Egyptian milieu of Abraham’s time and shows how the text of the book of Abraham and the first facsimile have plausible ties. Third, Nibley discusses legends about Abraham from early Jewish and Christian apocrypha that can be compared to the book of Abraham.
The Improvement Era was an official magazine of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints between 1897 and 1970.
A comparison of the stories of Heracles and Abraham to show them both as legends in the category of Victims of Procrustes.
Two slightly different versions of this have been preserved and circulated.
Kitsch in the Visual Arts [an interview in Lori Schlinker’s “Kitsch in the Visual Arts” (BYU, August 1971), 60–64; augmented by the inclusion of some miscellaneous comments made by Nibley in a panel discussion on the arts in Letters to Smoother, Etc. . . . Proceedings of the 1980 Brigham Young University Symposium on the Humanities, ed. Joy C. Ross and Steven C. Walker (Provo, UT: BYU Press, 1982), 102–4; 111–12]
The writer’s reason for making this study is a felt lack of taste and a general misunderstanding and misuse of the visual arts in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. She is convinced that art, generally considered as a matter of personal taste, is actually a matter of professional judgement. A characteristic of our time is the “do-it-yourself“ trend and to make up ones own mind about everything without any consultation of authorities and also a loss of feeling for integrity in productions of the human mind and hand which broke down the fences against kitsch and opened up the way, not only into man’s environment, but also into his thinking. May the reader find in this study a help towards a better understanding and a greater awareness of the problem of kitsch.
Reprinted from the Commissioner’s Lecture Series, 1972.
An examination of writing as a gift from God and as a vehicle for the preservation and communication of knowledge of divine things.
A home evening lesson.
“Nibley’s remarks might be compared to the more extensive, though still limited, review of reviews of Brodie’s book on Jefferson by Louis Midgley, “The Brodie Connection: Thomas Jefferson and Joseph Smith,” BYU Studies 20, no. 1 (1979): 59–67, and also by Jerry Knudson, “Jefferson the Father of Slave Children? One View of the Book Reviewers,” Journalism History 3, no. 2 (1976): 56–58, who examined a somewhat larger sample of the reviews of Brodie’s book than did Midgley, though with similar results. Knudson concluded that professional historians had been highly critical of her scholarship.
Brodie responded (Journalism History 3, no. 2 [Summer 1977]: 59–60) to Knudson by citing, as examples of historians who had written favorable comments on her book, the advertising blurbs that were provided by her historian friends for W. W. Norton, her publisher. The conclusions found in the Midgley and Knudson essays can be checked against and updated from the more than seventy separate reviews of her Jefferson book, most of which have been assembled in the Brodie Papers in Special Collections at the Marriott Library, University of Utah.“
Brief comments by Nibley on two reviews of Fawn Brodie’s Thomas Jefferson: An Intimate History (New York: Norton, 1974). He calls attention to similarities between features of his 1946 review of Brodie’s No Man Knows My History and criticisms of her Jefferson by David H. Donald in Commentary 58, no. 1 (July 1974): 96–98, and Gary Wills in the New York Review of Books 21 (18 April 1974): 26–27.
Written by an associate member of the Institute for Ancient Studies at Brigham Young University.
A discussion of Hugh Nibley’s book The Message of the Joseph Smith Papyri and its contributions to the understanding Latter-day Saints have of the papyri today.
Baer was an eminent Egyptologist and former teacher of Hugh Nibley, then teaching at the University of Chicago. From 1962 to 1975 letters were exchanged between the two friends. This copyrighted correspondence is part of the University of Chicago’s Klaus Baer Archives.
Nibley provides a listing of various reasons why one should give careful consideration to the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. He deals with Joseph Smith’s version of the book of Enoch, with the Book of Abraham, various compelling elements of the Book of Mormon, and the role of prophetic warnings to the Saints.
Republished in 2005 in a richly illustrated volume with new format and additional material as Message of the Joseph Smith Papyri, The Collected Works of Hugh Nibley 16. For reviews, see C. Wilfred Griggs, “A Great Fuss about a Scrap of Papyrus,” Ensign, October 1975. 84, and Eric Jay Olson, “A Hint of an Explanation,” Dialogue 9, no. 4 (1974): 74–75.
A translation and commentary on the so-called “Book of Breathings” that turned up among the Joseph Smith Papyri, containing parallels with early Christian materials.
Hugh Nibley’s sixty-fifth birthday in the Varsity Theater, Brigham Young University, in connection with the 1975 Annual Welch Lecture Series by Klaus Baer and others.
This essay was published as part of the section in Ensign called “I Have a Question.”
Questions about the facsimiles in the Book of Abraham, answered for guidance, not as official statements of Church policy.
Examines three approaches to the Book of Abraham: ask the experts; examine Joseph Smith’s work in some broad and general aspects; and take a closer look at some particulars. Part 1 constitutes the first 8 pages and Part 2 the remainder of the manuscript. These materials were circulated in response to inquiries concerning the debate over the authenticity of the Book of Abraham, with a cover letter addressed to “Dear Brother, Sister, Friend,” which discussed the charges brought against the Book of Abraham by Dee J. Nelson, who advertised himself as a trained Egyptologist and a Latter-day Saint. Nibley raises questions about Mr. Nelson’s credentials, which were later shown to be bogus. For an exhaustive debunking of Mr. Nelson and his attack on the Book of Abraham, see Robert L. and Rosemary Brown, They Lie in Wait to Deceive, vol. 1, ed. Barbara Ellsworth, rev. ed. (Mesa, AZ: Brownsworth, 1982). For an example of uncritical use of Mr. Nelson’s “work” on the Book of Abraham, see Fawn M. Brodie’s “Supplement” to No Man Knows My History, 2nd ed. (New York: Knopf, 1971), where, preliminary to an attack upon Nibley’s views on the Book of Abraham (424), the reader is urged (on 423) to consult “Mormon scholar Dee Jay Nelson’s translation, The Joseph Smith Papyri, Parts I and II, and Joseph Smith’s Eye of Ra (Salt Lake City: Modern Microfilm, 1969).” Brodie and others anxious to find “authorities” who would assert that the Book of Abraham was fraudulent and hence that Joseph Smith had been involved in crafting false historical documents made somewhat uncritical use of both of Nelson’s essays.
Reprinted in Approaching Zion, The Collected Works of Hugh Nibley 9. 63–84. This lecture is one of Nibley’s most famous.
Touches upon the sensitive theme, “If ‘The Glory of God Is Intelligence’ might there not be some possible connection between intelligence and spirituality?”
Original version of this book.
The essays in this volume, including four on today’s world, were selected by a panel of Hugh Nibley’s colleagues. They are singular in their penetration, their originality, and their vitality. Reaching from the apocalyptic visions of original “treasures in heaven” down to the climax of history, they are more than mind-stretching. The delight of Nibley’s brilliant and sometimes biting prose style imparts a sense of the agelessness of what he calls the “three-act play” of human existence. Written specially for this book, the author’s own “intellectual autobiography,” together with his introductory paragraphs for the various chapters, complete the work of making the book a fitting and permanent record of one of the past outstanding historians
Reprinted from Nibley on the Timely and the Timeless (1978), xix–xxvii. When sent a copy of this item, Fawn M. Brodie indicated that she “found the mini-autobiography fascinating in every way. This man surely had a touch of genius, and a great linguistic talent. What a pity that he was emotionally trapped by his allegiance to Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. The final paragraph of the ‘Self-Portrait’ suggests to me that there must be grave deterioration in Nibley at the moment. But it may be that he is not really much changed from what he has been all through the years. What a pity that we never sat down and talked to each other.” Letter from Fawn M. Brodie to Everett Cooley, dated 23 August 1978, Brodie Papers, Box 4, Folder 6B, Special Collections, Marriott Library, University of Utah.
A response to each of the essays in Tinkling Cymbals (privately printed, 1978), which was a collection of essays honoring Nibley.
During 1978, 1979, and 1980, Hugh Nibley taught a Doctrine and Covenants Sunday School class. Cassette recordings were made of these classes and some have survived and were recently digitized by Steve Whitlock. Most of the tapes were in pretty bad condition. The original recordings usually don't stop or start at the beginning of the class and there is some background noise. Volumes vary, probably depending upon where the recorder was placed in the room. Many are very low volume but in most cases it's possible to understand the words. In a couple of cases the ends of one class were put on some space left over from a different class. There's some mixup around D&C90-100 that couldn't be figured out so those recordings are as they were on the tapes.
Portions of this essay are reprinted as a supplement to the essay entitled “The Book of Mormon: True or False?” in The Prophetic Book of Mormon, The Collected Works of Hugh Nibley 8, no. 29. 232–42.
Hugh Nibley notes that variations within stereotyped images, such as a person about to be sacrificed on the lion couch, can have widely divergent interpretations, thus leaving room for Joseph Smith’s interpretation of Abraham on the altar.
This presentation contains suggestions for interpreting various features found in the Pearl of Great Price facsimiles.
Contains a new comprehensive index by Gary P. Gillum.
Reprinted in Eloquent Witness: Nibley on Himself, Others, and the Temple, Collected Works of Hugh Nibley vol. 17, 73–79.
An interview in which cosmological issues are discussed.
Reprinted in Eloquent Witness, The Collected Works of Hugh Nibley 17. 80–82.
Johnston, a staff reporter for the Deseret News, conducted a series of interviews concerning the reading habits of prominent Utahns. This was the eighth in the series. Nibley listed, as his favorite books, the following: (1) Shakespeare, Complete Works; (2) Book of Mormon; (3) Homer, Odyssey; (4) Goethe, Faust; (5) Gaius Petronius, Satyricon; (6) Jean Froissart, Chronicles. Nibley also said that by age thirteen, he knew Macbeth by heart and tried to learn Hamlet but found it too long.
Republished in 2000 in a second edition with new materials and illustrations as Abraham in Egypt, The Collected Works of Hugh Nibley vol. 14.
Nibley examines the Book of Abraham’s striking connections with ancient texts and Egyptian religion and culture.
Reprinted in a revised and expanded format, with updated references as Of All Things! Classic Quotations from Hugh Nibley, 2nd ed., Salt Lake City: Deseret Book and FARMS, 1993.
An in-depth review of Hugh Nibley’s book Abraham in Egypt.
Miscellaneous comments in a panel discussion on the arts. With Eliot Butler, Robert Rees, Dennis Smith, and Eugene England (arbitrator), “BYU Faculty Panel.”
Reprinted in Approaching Zion, Collected Works of Hugh Nibley vol. 9.
Social commentary on reminding the Saints of the good things God has blessed them with and the law which must govern the use of such gifts; several addresses of this nature were given in 1982 and thereafter.
Reprinted in Approaching Zion, Collected Works of Hugh Nibley vol. 9, 178–201.
An examination of the blessing and cursing formulas found in the Deuteronomic materials in the Old Testament, with applications for our day.
Talk given at the services for Donald M. Decker on 11 August 1982.
A series of haunting reflections on the stages of life and the meaning of the experiences that each affords an individual as they pass from one stage to another, including death.
A review of Avraham Gileadi’s The Apocalyptic Book of Isaiah, A New Translation and Interpretative Key (Provo, UT: Hebraeus Press, 1982).
Included as part of the foreword to The Prophetic Book of Mormon, The Collected Works of Hugh Nibley vol. 8.
A 36-page typescript, with an additional 8 pages of figures.
The Egyptian delegates were visiting Utah on occasion of the Ramses II exhibit at BYU during 1985 and 1986. The dignitaries were His Excellency Ismail Abd El-Moeti; Consul General of the Arab Republic of Egypt; Dr. Gamal El-Din Mohktar, 1st Undersecretary of State, Former Chairman and Member of Executive Board of Directors of Egyptian Antiquities Organization; Dr. Ibrahim E.-Nawawy, Director General of Egyptian Museums, Egyptian Antiquities Organization; Dr. G. A. Gaballa, Vice Dean, Faculty of Archaeology, Cairo University, Member of the Executive Board of Directors of the Egyptian Antiquities Organization; General Fouad Alaam, Director of Tourism Police; and Mrs. Diane Smith Kadry, wife of Dr. Ahmed Kadry, the First Undersecretary of State and Chairman of the Egyptian Antiquities Organization.
This address was delivered during the Ramses II exhibit at BYU to a number of dignitaries from Egypt. cf. with “Perennial Egypt.” 19 pp., s.s., n.d., possibly given in connection with the Ramses II exhibit at BYU in 1985 and 1986.
Reprinted in Eloquent Witness: Nibley on Himself, Others, and the Temple, Collected Works of Hugh Nibley vol. 17, 271–311.
The positive response generated by publication of Nibley’s “Bird Island“ (Dialogue X, No. 4) encouraged us to offer additional popular Nibley samizdat. Nibliophiles will be delighted to learn that events have overtaken us in this plan, and a volume of classic Nibley essays now has been published by BYU’s Religious Studies Center.* This collection, which begins with a new “intellectual autobiography” and ends with a comprehensive bibliography, includes such popular essays as “Educating theSaints,” “Beyond Politics” and “Subduing the Earth,”—as well as “Zeal Without Knowledge,” the Nibley classic reprinted here with the permission of the Religious Studies Center.
A study of utopias and attempted utopias throughout time and where they failed or succeeded to give an idea of how the ultimate utopia, Zion, will be.
Perhaps same as Gillum’s “Alaska: Joseph Smith’s Contributions: Scriptural, Institutional, Doctrinal, and Historical.” 19 pages, d.s., n.d. (given in Alaska after March 1983).
A talk in which the accomplishments of Joseph Smith are set forth and defended. Contributions mentioned include the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, the restoration of the priesthood, and temples.
Topics include Utah, the economy, the dangers of money, and Nibley’s grandfather Charles W. Nibley.
Reprinted in Eloquent Witness: Nibley on Himself, Others, and the Temple, The Collected Works of Hugh Nibley vol. 17, 238–51.
The talk is essentially a commentary on certain portions of the Gospel of Matthew.
This could be Gillum’s “Mormons and the Environment” (a 23-page transcript of a talk given 19 September 1987); cf. “Man’s Dominion,” “Brigham Young on the Environment,” and “Stewardship of the Air.”
Reprinted in Approaching Zion, Collected Works of Hugh Nibley vol. 9, 524–53.
Even after forty years of research, new insights are still to be found in the Book of Mormon. Examples come from the episode at the waters of Sebus, wordprinting, Enos and the princes of India, Isabel as a Phoenician name, the Zoramites as dissenters, and clear statements about God and man, riches, economics, and repentance.
This concerns pollution of Geneva Steel in Orem.
Reprinted in Brother Brigham Challenges the Saints, The Collected Works of Hugh Nibley 13. 278–97.
A look into Hugh Nibley’s path toward becoming a scholar and teacher.
Essays in Honor of Hugh W. Nibley on the Occasion of His Eightieth Birthday, 27 March 1990.
Essays based on what people have learned from Hugh Nibley.
A four-part series that emphasizes that the Book of Mormon teaches the correct principles of the Atonement. The power of resurrection is provided only by the Savior. Only the Book of Mormon teaches the fulness of the truth of the Atonement, why life is as it is, and how one may approach God to be at one with him. Since all fall short, the blood sacrifice of the Savior was the indispensable step. Atonement is both individual and collective and so God’s people must be “of one heart and one mind.” “The Atonement is one of the grand constants in nature.”
Originally part of a Sunday School lesson. Reprinted in Eloquent Witness, CWHN 17:252–58.
Reprinted in Brother Brigham Challenges the Saints, Collected Works of Hugh Nibley vol. 13.
Reprinted in Brother Brigham Challenges the Saints, The Collected Works of Hugh Nibley 13. 380–404.
Discusses the nature of satire.
Linda Hunter Adams expressed gratitude for Nibley’s article.
Verse-by-verse elucidation on D&C 109.
Student Review once managed to interview Hugh Nibley; one of his students performed the interview for us in his office some Saturday. The guy came up with all sorts of questions, and Hugh answered them all. We all listened to the tape several times over; it was cool stuff. We ran it as “An (Almost) Uncensored Interview with Hugh Nibley,” from which my favorite line was a comment he made when asked about the BYU administration (as it existed circa 1994): “Lawyers! Lawyers everywhere! Nothing but lawyers!” Also, he called Supreme Court Justice Scalia “just plain stupid.” (from a comment at TimesandSeasons.org)
Reprinted in Expressions of Faith: Testimonies of Latter-day Saint Scholars.
Lays out answers to criticisms about Joseph Smith.
An article written about Brother Nibley’s acceptance of the 1995 Frankie and John Kenneth Orton Award for LDS Literature.
Personal letters written by Hugh Nibley during his youth show the fundamental consistency of his personality, style, beliefs, concerns, and penetrating perceptions throughout his lifetime.
An analysis of personal letters written by Hugh Nibley during his youth.
A thorough review of Hugh Nibley’s book The Ancient State: The Rulers and the Ruled.
Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought is an independent quarterly established to express Mormon culture and to examine the relevance of religion to secular life.
This article looks at some of the ways parallels have been used by Nibley in the exposition of latter-day scripture, the types of parallels employed, and some of the problems that arise from this comparative exercise.
A tribute to Hugh Nibley around his 90th birthday.
A letter of protest about the South Campus Area Master Plan signed by Hugh and Phyllis Nibley and other individuals.
These essays were originally published together in the 1970 Deseret Book publication by the same title and are all included in Mormonism and Early Christianity, The Collected Works of Hugh Nibley 4. 10–44, 168–208, 391–434.
Three of Nibley’s important essays on the fate of the primitive Christian church and its institutions and beliefs previously available only in academic journals in 1959-60, 1961, and 1966 are reprinted and indexed for the Mormon audience.
A look into Hugh Nibley’s life.
An article written in praise of Hugh Nibley.
The Deseret News is a newspaper published in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States.
Describes Boyd Petersen’s experience collecting material for and writing Hugh Nibley’s biography.
A report on Boyd Petersen’s lecture at Brigham Young University, during which he shared with students the many ways Hugh Nibley has and continues to impact the Church and Brigham Young University.
Reprinted in Hugh Nibley Observed.
A thank you to Hugh Nibley and his contributions to scripture study.
A brief overview of Hugh Nibley’s life as a tribute after his death.
An obituary for Hugh Nibley.
This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2005, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Praise for Hugh Nibley and some details about his life.
A reflection on Hugh Nibley’s contributions to scholarship, as well as a look into some of his other accomplishments.
Found in the “Utah” section of the newspaper.
A brief discussion of Hugh Nibley’s life and the influence he had inside and outside of the Church.
A quick obituary-like article that focuses on Hugh Nibley outside the Church proper, including some controversy and some remarks about his work.
An overview of Hugh Nibley’s life as a tribute after his death.
An article written the day after Hugh Nibley’s death, in memoriam.
The Deseret News is a newspaper published in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States.
An overview of Hugh Nibley’s life as a tribute after his death.
Hugh Nibley is remembered as a brilliant scholar, loving father, and humanitarian.
A report of Hugh Nibley’s funeral and of those who will continue to remember him.
Found in the “Utah” section of the newspaper.
A description of Nibley’s personal history and his impact on the Church.
Attendees paid tribute through speech, craftsmanship, and music.
A tribute to Hugh Nibley.
Thoughts about Hugh Nibley’s passing.
This article can now be found in the Deseret News archives.
A summary of Boyd J. Petersen’s remarks at a Utah Valley University conference on “outmigration“ and some thoughts about the address.
This article can now be found in the Deseret News archives.
A summary of Hugh Nibley’s article “The Christmas Quest.“
A detailed list of works by and about Hugh Nibley with commentary.
Describes the true meaning of the word apologetics and how Hugh Nibley used it to strengthen the Church.
This article can now be found in the Deseret News archives.
A look at Hugh Nibley’s works through an apologist lens.
This article can now be found in the Deseret News archives.
A reflection on Hugh Nibley’s feelings about the environment and humankind’s responsibilities as stewards of the earth.
This article can now be found in the Deseret News archives.
A report on a lecture given by Alex Nibley as part of a series commemorating the centennial of Hugh Nibley’s birth.
Found in the “Faith” section of the journal.
An explanation of what questions Hugh Nibley would ask and what types of things he would look for in his studies.
Found in the “Faith” and“Mormon Times” sections of the journal.
A discussion of what truths may lie behind the many stories about Hugh Nibley and what we can learn from each of them.
How influential Hugh Nibley was, and a list of his most notable works.
Describes Hugh Nibley’s passion for the Book of Mormon and how he defended it.
This article can now be found in the Deseret News archives.
Comparing Hugh Nibley to Socrates.
This article can now be found in the Deseret News archives.
Reflections about how Hugh Nibley’s book One Eternal Round was completed after his death.
Part of the “Mormon Times” section of the newspaper.
A look into the friendship between Hugh Nibley and Kresimir Cosic and how that friendship led to Cosic’s conversion.
How Hugh Nibley should be remembered by rising generations.
A collection of blog posts written about Hugh Nibley and his works.
A collection of conversations with various people about Hugh Nibley, his works, and his impact.
FARMS Collection
In 1998 Jordan Vajda wrote a remarkable master’s thesis at the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology in Berkeley, California, entitled “‘Partakers of the Divine Nature’: A Comparative Analysis of Patristic and Mormon Doctrines of Divinization.” The thesis is remarkable both for what it has to say and, perhaps even more strikingly, for who is saying it: Jordan Vajda is a Dominican Catholic priest.
Norman’s study of Athanasian soteriology was written as a dissertation for Duke University in 1980 and was previously available only through University Microfilms International or private photocopies. In this study, Norman examines St. Athanasius’s views of deification, or the doctrine that “God became man in order that man might become God.” Many scholars have dismissed this doctrine as a euphemism for humanity’s im mortality and fleshly incorruptibility in the resurrection. Norman argues, however, that Athanasius’s idea of deification was that individuals could become like God in every way.
Includes three papers: \"Who Controls the Water? Yahweh vs. Baal\" (Fred E. Woods), \"Justice and Mercy in the Book of Deuteronomy (Is There Mercy in the Old Testament?)\" (Jared W. Ludlow) and \"Garment of Joseph: An Update\" (Brian M. Hauglid).
Book of Moses Collection
A series of handouts prepared in the fifties and early sixties for distribution to various audiences.
“Years ago, it was my custom to communicate to the General Authorities in an occasional brash and self-appointed newsletter (called a ‘G-2 Report’) items of interest dealing with new discoveries which I considered significant. My boldness was not ill-received.” —Quoting a letter from Nibley to Elder Bruce R. McConkie, 2 October 1979.