article

Hugh Winder Nibley (born March 27, 1910 in Portland, Oregon - February 24, 2005) was one of Mormonism's most celebrated scholars. Nibley is notable both for vigorously defending the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and for frankly discussing what he saw as the shortcomings of the LDS people and culture.

A prolific author and professor emeritus of ancient scripture at Brigham Young University, he was fluent in the Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Egyptian, Coptic, Arabic, German, French, English, and Spanish languages.

Biography

Nibley served as a missionary for the LDS Church in Germany and served as a master sergeant working in military intelligence for the 101st Airborne Division of the United States Army during World War II. He was among the force on Utah Beach that invaded Normandy on D-Day and witnessed the aftermath of Nazi concentration camps.

Nibley began studies at University of California, Los Angeles and earned a doctorate at University of California, Berkeley. While at Berkeley he reportedly perused all of the library shelves, beginning on the first floor and moving up. When a book's title struck his fancy, he would then read the book. At the request of Apostle John A. Widtsoe he became a professor at Brigham Young University in 1946.

Nibley was praised by non-LDS historians and researchers for his ability to draw upon historical sources to give evidences for Latter-day Saint beliefs. In one study the authors argued—due to Nibley's reliability and celebrated scholarship—that most of Nibley's work is reliable, encouraging anti-Mormon writers to assess and counter Nibley's research, rather than dismissing it. * Nibley's research ranges from Egyptian, Hebrew and early Christian histories, and he often took his notes in a mix of Gregg shorthand, Arabic, Hebrew, Greek, and Egyptian. Nibley "insisted on reading the relevant primary and secondary sources in the original and could read Arabic, Coptic, Dutch, Egyptian, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Italian, Latin, Old Norse, Russian and other languages at sight."

Among other topics Nibley wrote about were LDS Temples, the historical Enoch, and similarities between Christian Gnostic and Latter-day Saint beliefs. He also wrote direct responses to anti-Mormon literature—including a response to Fawn M. Brodie's No Man Knows My History, which was titled No Ma'am, That's Not History.

Nibley was strongly opposed to the United States' involvement in the Vietnam War during an era "when it was very unpopular in LDS culture to do so." * Nibley was also bothered by what he saw as the unthinking, sometimes almost dogmatic application of some portions of BYU's honor code. Nibley had no objection to requirements of chastity or obeying the Word of Wisdom, but he thought the often intense scrutiny directed at grooming (hairstyles and clothing) was misguided. In 1973, he said, "The worst sinners, according to Jesus, are not the harlots and publicans, but the religious leaders with their insistence on proper dress and grooming, their careful observance of all the rules, their precious concern for status symbols, their strict legality, their pious patriotism... the haircut becomes the test of virtue in a world where Satan deceives and rules by appearances.” (Waterman and Kagel, 153)

Often, Nibley was considered the foremost Mormon apologist, and on occasion has been referred to as "defender of the faith," a title that has been widely shared by only one other Mormon: historian and Church leader, B. H. Roberts.

Also well-known is Nibley's signature for many papers and articles: "I KNOW THE GOSPEL IS TRUE."

Prior to becoming ill, he had a little office in the Harold B. Lee Library at BYU, where he worked on his magnum opus titled, One Eternal Round, which focuses on the hypocephalus ("Facsimile 2") in the Book of Abraham. He turned over the materials for his last book to FARMS in the late months of 2002.

Students

Among the students of High Nibley whom he influenced are:

Linguistic Contributions

Nibley proposed new translations of some important words:

  • Aten - Usually translated "disk of the sun." Nibley pointed out that relief illustrations of the Aten portray it as a sphere, not a flat disk. The correct translation must be "globe, orb, or sphere." (This is even more evident when viewing such reliefs in person, not merely in photographs.)

  • Kefa - Dr. Nibley pointed out that in Arabic and Aramaic this word refers to a green crystaline stone used for purposes of divination. Its best translation is perhaps "Seerstone." In the Greek New Testament it appears as Kefas, in the English New Testament as Cephas.

  • Makhshava - This Hebrew word is usually translated as "thought," but Dr. Nibley made a case for translating it as "plan." E.g., in the book of Esther most translations say that Haman "thought" to destroy the Jewish people. It is more accurate to say he planned to exterminate them. He did not just think about it, but made a plan.

  • Shiblon - This Book of Mormon name, Dr. Nibley pointed out, is almost certainly connected to the Arabic shibl, "lion cub." Nibley's student Benjamin Urrutia went on to make the connection with the "Jaguar Cub" imagery of the Olmec people of Ancient Mexico, a theory that has been widely embraced by LDS scholars.

Leaving the Saints

His daughter Dr. Martha Beck's fourth book, Leaving the Saints, published in 2005, attracted controversy for her depiction of Nibley and Utah Mormonism. In the book Beck alleges childhood sexual abuse at the hands of her father, a charge denied by her mother and siblings.* Some critics attacked Beck for relying on recovered memories in making these accusations.

Dr. Beck also states that many of the footnotes in her father's books were altered or simply manufactured. In this she echoes complaints made by such scholars as Kent P. Jackson, who wrote in 1988 that in exploring Nibley's extensive footnotes he found many examples of "taking phrases out of context to establish points," and that "too often I was disappointed by searching in vain in them for proof for the claims made in the text" *. Kent P. Jackson wrote a review of Leaving the Saints, and in it he states that he does not believe that Nibley ever falsified sources, and mentions his own 1988 crituque of Nibley's footnotes.

He says: "Among my critiques was that Nibley often generalized excessively, saw 'things in the sources that simply don’t seem to be there,' let his 'predetermined conclusions set the agenda for the evidence,' and misinterpreted authors he cited... But the academic transgressions committed by Nibley (hardly unique to him) were the products of carelessness and wishful thinking, not of fraud and deception... Nowhere in my own examination of his research and writing did I find any hint of his making up sources for fictional references. I do not believe it happened." Jackson's Review of Leaving the Saints.

Gregory Taggart also reviewed the book, and states that he conclusively proved that many of the accounts of events given by Beck in her book are not true. See his review: Taggart's Review of Leaving the Saints.

Death

Hugh Nibley died February 24, 2005, amid controversy over his daughter's book. * He had been confined to bed by illness for over two years before his death.

The Collected Works of Hugh Nibley series

  • Old Testament and Related Studies, Vol. 1; Deseret Book; ISBN 0875790321 (Hardcover, 1986)
  • Enoch the Prophet, Vol. 2; Deseret Book; ISBN 087579047X (Hardcover, 1986)
  • The World and the Prophets, Vol 3; Deseret Book; ISBN 087579078X (Hardcover, 1987)
  • Mormonism and Early Christianity, Vol 4; Deseret Book; ISBN 0875791271 (Hardcover, 1987)
  • Lehi in the Desert/The World of the Jaredites/There Were Jaredites, Vol 5; Deseret Book; ISBN 0875791328 (Hardcover, 1988)
  • An Approach to the Book of Mormon, Vol 6; Deseret Book; ISBN 0875791387 (Hardcover, 1988)
  • Since Cumorah, Vol 7; Deseret Book; ISBN 0875791395 (Hardcover, 1988)
  • The Prophetic Book of Mormon, Vol 8; Deseret Book; ISBN 0875791794 (Hardcover, 1989)
  • Approaching Zion, Vol 9; Deseret Book; ISBN 0875792529 (Hardcover, 1989)
  • Ancient State: The Rulers & the Ruled, Vol 10; Deseret Book; ISBN 0875793754 (Hardcover, 1991)
  • Tinkling Cymbals and Sounding Brass: The Art of Telling Tales about Joseph Smith and Brigham Young Vol 11; Deseret Book; ISBN 0875795161 (Hardcover, 1991) (includes No, Ma'am, That's Not History)
  • Temple and Cosmos: Beyond This Ignorant Present, Vol 12; Deseret Book; ISBN 0875795234 (Hardcover, 1992)
  • Brother Brigham Challenges the Saints, Vol 13; Deseret Book; ISBN 0875798187 (Hardcover, 1994)
  • Abraham in Egypt, Vol 14; Deseret Book; ISBN 157345527X (Hardcover, 2000)
  • Apostles and Bishops in Early Christianity, Vol 15; Deseret Book; ISBN 1590383893 (Hardcover, 2005)
  • The Message of Joseph Smith Papyri: An Egyptian Endowment, Vol 16; Deseret Book; ISBN 159038539X (Hardcover, 2006)

Sources

  • Brian Waterman and Brian Kagel, ‘’The Lord’s University: Freedom and Authority at BYU’’; Signature Books, 1998, ISBN 1560851171

External links

Biography

1910 births | 2005 deaths | Latter Day Saints

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Hugh Nibley".

Home Page • arts • business • computers • games • health • hospitals • home • kids & teens • news • physicians • recreation• reference • regional • science • shopping • society • sports • world