Reprinted in When the Lights Went Out, 1970.

examples from the life of Joseph of Egypt

This talk is available on the BYU Speeches website.

Hugh Nibley shares some of the words of Brigham Young that demonstrate his unique character and his devotion to the goal of eternal life for the Saints.

Old Testament prophecies

Reprinted in Eloquent Witness, The Collected Works of Hugh Nibley 17. 125–41.

Addressed to “Dear Brother Burgon,” dated 29 July 1960, with a cover letter, addressed to “Dear Brother . . .,” 1 pp., dated 3 August 1960.

In this letter to a BYU graduate student, Hugh Nibley advocates the program of the school of the prophets as a way to meet the challenges of academia. He explores four obvious ways of meeting the challenges of the learned world: ignoring them, running away from them, agreeing with them, or meeting the opposition on their own grounds.

A highly satirical examination of the early criticisms of Joseph Smith.

The Improvement Era was an official magazine of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints between 1897 and 1970.

Analysis of the Liahona, especially in light of Arabic divination arrows. Proposes an etymology for this name.

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.

Reprinted in The Prophetic Book of Mormon, Collected Works of Hugh Nibley vol. 8.

Historical fiction about the possible thoughts on a day in the life of the twelve-year-old Nephi in Jerusalem.

A response to a letter by C. Sumter Logan of the Trinity Presbyterian Church in Ogden.

Nibley sets out forty arguments for the apostasy as he examines the expectation of early Christian writers of the fading of the Church. Hans J. Hillerbrand wrote a letter protesting Nibley’s thesis because, among other reasons, of the possibility that, if widely accepted, Nibley’s view would preclude one such as Hillerbrand from continuing to teach what is traditionally known as “Church history.” See Hillerbrand, “The Passing of the Church: Two Comments on a Strange Theme,” Church History 30, no. 3 (December 1961): 481–82; and a response to Hillerbrand by Robert M. Grant, “The Passing of the Church: Comments on Two Comments on a Strange Theme,” Church History 30, no. 3 (December 1961): 482–83.

Reprinted in Tinkling Cymbals and Sounding Brass: The Art of Telling Tales about Joseph Smith and Brigham Young, Collected Works of Hugh Nibley vol. 11.

Explains how Joseph Smith’s critics in the 1840s and Fawn Brodie rewrote Joseph’s story to suit their perceptions of the Book of Mormon and the First Vision.

The Improvement Era was an official magazine of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints between 1897 and 1970.

A study of claims that Joseph Smith’s first vision was a fabrication due to the time lapse between when it was written and when it was published.

The Improvement Era was an official magazine of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints between 1897 and 1970.

Looks at various summaries of Joseph Smith’s vision and how the deleted portions of these summaries make them lose all authenticity and truth.

This talked about how the dead received baptism.

A conclusion to the Joseph Smith Story series.

Circulated under the title“Literary Style of the Book of Mormon Insured Accurate Translation.“

The Church News received a letter from an interested non-member of the Church making the inquiry about why the Prophet Joseph Smith, in translating the Book of mormon, did not use contemporary English instead of using the “King James English” as found in the Bible. The Church News forwarded the letter on to Dr. Hugh Nibley, and this is his reply.

“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.

A penetrating satire on the foibles of typical anti-Mormon publications. Learn how authors of anti-Mormon materials use specific strategies to convince readers of their trustworthiness, knowledge, and lack of bias. Essentially a preview of Tinkling Cymbals and Sounding Brass: The Art of Telling Tales about Joseph Smith and Brigham Young, Collected Works of Hugh Nibley vol. 11 (1963).

Reprinted in The Prophetic Book of Mormon, Collected Works of Hugh Nibley vol. 8.

Nibley argues that if Joseph Smith was not telling the truth when he provided the world with the Book of Mormon, then he recklessly exposed his forgery and fraud to public discovery. In the course of his argument, Nibley complains about what is currently being called “parallelomania.” Everywhere in Book of Mormon criticism, as well as in the scholarly world generally, various parallels are noted, and simplistic explanations are made to flow from those supposed parallels. With the Book of Mormon, the end result is that, with those who study nineteenth-century materials and who read English literature, the tendency is to leap to the conclusion that they have discovered the sources upon which Joseph Smith presumably drew in fabricating the Book of Mormon; they are then quick to condemn the book as a forgery, or, when sentimental attachments to the Mormon community remain, they see the fabrication of fiction as a kind of inspiration, or at least as potentially inspiring, thus providing a novel and competing theory of what constitutes divine revelation.

This essay was first written in 1958 for the dedication of the London Temple. Those Church Fathers, especially of the fourth century, who proclaim the victory of Christianity over its rivals constantly speak of the Church as the competitor and supplanter of the Synagogue, and modern authorities are agreed that in ritual and liturgy the Christian Church grew up “in the shadow of the Synagogue.” This is a most significant fact. While the Temple stood, the Jews had both its ancient ordinances and the practices of the Synagogue, but they were not the same. The Temple was unique, and when it was destroyed, the Synagogue of the Jews did not take over its peculiarly sacred functions—they were in no wise authorized to do so.

This article makes clear that the sacred purposes of the Temple were understood and its ordinances practiced in dispensations before the great falling away which brought about the disappearance of these important truths.

The identity of the Jews from an LDS perspective

“Hugh Nibley’s Sounding Brass is a meticulous critique of two anti-Mormon writings. Nibley’s book is most useful for the poorly informed who do not have the background to critique sensationalistic or popular works of questionable validity, like those of Ann Eliza Young and Irving Wallace. But it is a pointed and often sarcastic essay that emphasizes in great detail flaws already evident to the knowledgeable reader. The generally uninformed but orthodox Latter-day Saint will find this type of work supportive of his beliefs, but the Mormon who is familiar with critical methodology and with history will prefer a synthesis of the events critiqued. Many scholars find this style of writing to be a sort of intellectual overkill, and it has not been particularly influential among historians.” Thomas G. Alexander, “Toward the New Mormon History: An Examination of the Literature on the Latter-day Saints in the Far West,” an essay in Historians and the American West, ed. Michael P. Malone (Lincoln, NB: University of Nebraska Press, 1983).

This book carries the subtitle “Informal Studies in the Lucrative Art of Telling Stories about Brigham Young and the Mormons” and is a response to Irving Wallace’s The Twenty-Seventh Wife (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1961). A few historians have been annoyed because Nibley pointed out some of the flaws in anti-Mormon literature.

A series of quotations by various writers on six general topics: “The Old Testament Today,” “The New Testament Today,” “The Rediscovery of the Church,” “The New Concept of Scripture,” “Revelation: No Longer a Naughty Word,” and “New Orthodoxy and the Trend to Literalism.” Introduces themes taken up more systematically in other essays.

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.

Reprinted in The Prophetic Book of Mormon, Collected Works of Hugh Nibley vol. 8.

Lists over twenty Book of Mormon points that may have seemed ridiculous in 1830 but that “appear very different” in light of modern scholarship, including transoceanic voyaging, gold plates, steel, elephants, coins, names, literary and ritual patterns, execution, and modes of prophecy and revelation.

An address originally given on 5 July 1962 to the Seminary and Institute faculty assembled at BYU.

Hugh Nibley answers some questions about the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Hugh Nibley speaks about the history and theology surrounding the highly coveted city of Jerusalem and the hope for peace there one day.

An address delivered to the BYU Tri-Stake Fireside

A discussion of what then newly discovered papyri mean for the history of Christianity.

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.

Hugh Nibley begins by showing the interrelatedness of ancient records, regardless of their origin, a phenomenon called “pattemism.” He proposes that Joseph Smith presented the world with authentic ancient records. The Prophet brought forth many of the same concepts that are found in ancient temple libraries, such as the council in heaven during the premortal period, the casting out of Satan, the doctrine of the “two ways,” the fallen nature of mankind, and the need for a redeemer. Accompanying the doctrines is a body of rites or ordinances, and Nibley gives special attention to the Nag Hammadi documents.

As we seek to understand the belief and practices of the earliest Christians, we find ordinances and doctrines quite familiar to the restored gospel.

Edited and reformatted by Gary P. Gillum, 6 May 2004.

Addresses the idea of work and when it should be done versus when time should be spent developing talents instead.

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.

“Since Cumorah: New Voices from the Dust” looks at 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.

The purpose of the somewhat labored pages that follow is to lead up to better things by giving the reader some idea of what we are dealing with, of the scope and nature of the writings that are now being read with wonder and amazement by students of religion, and of the strange doctrine and baffling problems they present.

“Since Cumorah: New Voices from the Dust” looks at 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.

Studies the Dead Sea Scrolls related to wording found in the New Testament previously thought to be peculiar to that book alone.

“Since Cumorah: New Voices from the Dust” looks at 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.

A discussion of the Christian Apocrypha as compared with the Jewish Apocrypha.

“Since Cumorah: New Voices from the Dust” looks at 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.

Studies the Logia and compares it with other early religious writings.

“Since Cumorah: New Voices from the Dust” looks at 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.

Discusses the history of keeping secrets within religions and within scriptures.

“Since Cumorah: New Voices from the Dust” looks at 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.

Continues the discussion from the previous installment.

“Since Cumorah: New Voices from the Dust” looks at 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.

A discussion of original Christian writings versus ones that replaced those when they were lost and what students of such literature might learn from looking at both.

“Since Cumorah: New Voices from the Dust” looks at 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.

The conclusion to the three part article about the secrecy in the primitive church and how that influenced it during its time and after it was lost.

“Since Cumorah: New Voices from the Dust” looks at 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.

Looks at how quickly people changed Christianity after the apostles’ deaths, especially in regards to the secret teaching God had given to the apostles while they were alive.

“Since Cumorah: New Voices from the Dust” looks at 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.

A comparison of the imagery of the “Plan“ of Salvation as found in the Book of Mormon and the Bible.

“Since Cumorah: New Voices from the Dust” looks at 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.

A comparison of the imagery of the “Plan“ of Salvation as found in the Book of Mormon and the Bible.

“Since Cumorah: New Voices from the Dust” looks at 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.

A comparison of the histor of Zenos in the Book of Mormon and an unnamed prophet of the Thanksgiving Hymns.

“Since Cumorah: New Voices from the Dust” looks at 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.

A comparison of the allegory of the olive tree with Hymn 10 of the Thanksgiving Hymns from Qumran.

Part 1 of a series on the similarities and issues between religious texts.

An article highlighting the issues that arise when comparing documents.

Part 2 of a series on the similarities and issues between religious texts.

Beginning as a continuation of part 1 of the series, this article dives more into rituals and ceremonies done in ancient times, specifically by kings and rulers, that line up with Book of Mormon rituals and ceremonies.

Part 3 of a series on the similarities and issues between religious texts.

Dr. Nibley continues with the windows that the Book of Mormon opens on strange and forgotten customs and traditions that are just now being brought to light.

Part 4 of a series on the similarities and issues between religious texts.

As new documents are discovered, the comparative study of the Book of Mormon goes forward. We continue a brief glance at some of the more important scrolls that have not yet appeared in book form nor been translated into English

Part 5 of a series on the similarities and issues between religious texts.

The scholarly study of the Book of Mormon goes forward with the discovery of ancient documents. We continue a brief glance at some of these which have not yet appeared in book form nor been translated into English.

“Since Cumorah: New Voices from the Dust” looks at 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.

Discusses recent discoveries that cast new light on the identity of the unknown prophet Zenos and are producing information “that no man dreamed of” concerning the authenticity of the Book of Mormon.

“Since Cumorah: New Voices from the Dust” looks at 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.

Suggests that any investigation of the Book of Mormon will bring up more problems, not solutions, meaning our prejudices may show answers as solutions, but we don’t always understand things correctly.

“Since Cumorah: New Voices from the Dust” looks at 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.

Continues the discussion from “Problem, Not Solutions.”

The final article in the Improvement Era series Since CUmorah: New Voices from the Dust.

A summary of the Since Cumorah series, and some final thoughts.

A continuation of “Since Cumorah: New Voices From the Dust.”

A discussion on whether Lehi and his family brought traces of Persian culture to the Americas because of Zoroaster’s influence on Jewish thought.