During 1988, 1989, and 1990, Hugh Nibley taught Honors Book of Mormon classes for four semesters at Brigham Young University. The lectures were video-taped and audio cassettes and printed transcripts were made of the lectures. We believe these recordings will be interesting to listen to and valuable to your Come, Follow Me study program this year. Each week, we will include the lectures covering the Book of Mormon chapters being studied that week.
This week, we have the first six lectures, covering background material for the Book of Mormon.
All 112 lectures are immediately available in PDF, audio, video, and electronic formats, as well as in paperback books that are available for purchase. Links for all of the available online sources can be found in the Complete Bibliography for Hugh Nibley at https://interpreterfoundation.org/bibliographies/hugh-w-nibley/lectures/.
Lecture 1: Book of Mormon—Like Nothing Else
An introduction to Hugh Nibley’s Teachings of the Book of Mormon class.
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Lecture 2: Book of Mormon—Nephi’s Heritage
There are certain things about the Book of Mormon that we must notice at the beginning to get off on the right foot. . . . The opening of the Book of Mormon concerns our people, and it concerns also our world. To start, this lecture looks at the biographical nature of 1 Nephi and moves on to Nephi’s heritage and legacy.
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Lecture 3: Book of Mormon—Geopolitics 600 BC
Also called “Geopolitics and the Rule of Tyrants, 600 B.C.“
There is nothing more remarkable about the Book of Mormon than its cultural history. It is loaded with details that give us an insight into the culture of a particular people. It describes three distinct cultures, and it describes them vividly. A look into why 600 B.C. is considered by historians to be the “pivotal year“ and what that means for the Book of Mormon.
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Lecture 4: Book of Mormon—600 B.C.: Setting the Stage
One thing to make a short remark about is the evidence for the Book of Mormon. They talk so much about archaeological evidence that always comes up where the Book of Mormon is mentioned. If you want proof of the Book of Mormon, you must go to the Old World. You won’t find it in the New World.
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Lecture 5: Book of Mormon—Jeremiah and Solon: Lehi’s Contemporaries
Also called “Insights from Lehi’s Contemporaries: Solon and Jeremiah.“
Lehi and his great contemporaries started a lot of chain reactions. We don’t mention them just because they were interesting curiosities, or anything like that, but because we are still living on their capital.
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Lecture 6: Book of Mormon—1 Nephi 1 and Jeremiah 29, Lehi’s Jerusalem.
Also called “Souvenirs from Lehi’s Jerusalem.“
Lehi had full baggage. Remember, his people were especially prepared to transfer the culture from one world to the other. We want to find out first what happened to Jeremiah because that’s very much in the story of Lehi. The reason we are bringing this up is that there are some marvelous documents that have appeared “out of the blue“ right from Lehi’s day.
Nothing quite like a visit with Hugh Nibley about the Book of Mormon. We owe him more than we can say. He has shown us the way and taught us to revere this singular book–The Book of Mormon. I hope this year’s come follow me will a source of rich spiritual value for all who study alone, in the family, and in church. We are a blessed people.
Agree 100%. After reading his book “Lehi in the desert”, I was able to find so much more in 1 Nephi … just to mention one example. I also appreciate what other scholars have shared afterwards.