Hugh Nibley

One word to describe him would be eccentric. Hugh Nibley and his family lived very meagerly (near poverty level). As a father, I understand the Bro. Nibley was very distant (literally almost unreachable, as if he were in his own little world). As a BYU professor I understand that he could be difficult to follow. Like a cross between someone who is much smarter than you talking way above your level and an old man that is rambling and going down different unrelated tangents.

I understand that he was an apologist (church defender) first and foremost. One of the tactics that he would employ I believe is called parallelism. In studying ancient cultures you might come across something that bears some resemblance to a practice mentioned in the BoM. Even if the ancient culture is unrelated to BoM people’s – like say ancient China – you could still make the claim that this similarity bolsters the BoM claim to an ancient origin.

To make matters somewhat worse, I understand that some have criticized him for criticized Nibley for misusing or misrepresenting sources, and for sloppy citations. I do not believe that he was necessarily being deceptive, just that his main purpose was to build the faith of the rank and file in the truth claims of the church and not especially to produce work that would stand up to a rigorous peer review. He pushed the interpretations in favor of the church and was less than meticulous in “showing his work”. Kent P. Jackson, Former dean of Religious Education at BYU said the following about this criticism against Bro. Nibley, “”Nibley’s greatest skill as a scholar was his ability to see the big picture, not his ability to finesse the fine details.”

I believe that he filled a niche that the church needed at that time. When new things came up to challenge the orthodox narrative of the BoM and the BoA people could rely on his expertise. They could say to themselves, “Well I’m no Egyptologist, but Bro. Nibley has looked at this stuff. He is way smarter than me. If he still believes then so can I.”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Nibley

I have read many of Brother Nibley’s books and have met him. Once I attended a BYU symposium about Egyptian languages where a professor from UCLA was the speaker and I accidentally sat right next to Hugh Nibley in the audience. It was very interesting to see his reactions. The speaker was not unsympathetic to our faith and said that Egyptology changes constantly and more than scholars want to admit, which Nibley liked.

No doubt that Nibley was an apologist but I wouldn’t put in him the same category as General Authority apologists. I’ve heard Nibley criticize church culture very openly and in ways which would probably anger 80% of members and leaders alike. I’ve read quotations which nearly criticize General Authorities. He unabashedly defends the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith and Brigham Young.

I’ve heard the apocryphal story that it was Nibley who created a final by placing people in need all over the BYU campus so that students taking the final had to pass people needing help in some way. When they arrived at the final he told the students they had all failed. I don’t know if it was Nibley who did that or not but I find it plausible. My father dislikes Nibley because he preached against the gun and hunting culture of many LDS men. A General Authority on my mission told me the two best ways to understand the temple are to a) become a temple worker b) read Hugh Nibley’s books.

I find myself begrudgingly admiring the man. I don’t think he pandered to the Utah LDS population and he had zero interest in becoming wealthy or a church leader. His son’s book about Hugh Nibley’s time in the 101st Airborne on Dday is fascinating – and even if half true – and paints the picture of a brave man effectively defending his country in WWII.

I always found this quotation by Nibley to be enlightening:

“

Apostasy never came by renouncing the gospel but always by corrupting it. No one renounces it today, and so we have the strange paradox of people stoutly proclaiming beliefs and ideals that they have no intention of putting into practice.

1. Every Sunday we thank God for our beautiful surroundings, which in many neighborhoods are being systematically destroyed by developers all around us.

2. We seek knowledge as our greatest treasure, while the poverty of most of our manuals and handbooks defies description.

3. As a Church authority commented to me after the last Conference, the President’s keynote address on the Book of Mormon was hardly mentioned during the rest of the Conference.

4. For years we hailed the Welfare Plan as a living demonstration of continued revelation—and then phased it out in deference to the private sector.

5. Since the days of Joseph Smith, presidents of the Church have made resounding pronouncements against the wicked practice of needlessly killing animals and birds for pleasure, and have been unheeded; we have just passed a law permitting fourteen-year-olds the pleasure of killing big game.

6. A great and inspired bicentennial message by one we called our prophet was instantly swept under the rug.

7. The oldest and best testimony to Joseph Smith’s first vision has received no attention whatever by the Latter-day Saints since its discovery in 1969, and so it goes.

8. The prophet Joseph studied biblical languages with dedicated zeal to help him understand the scriptures, but such studies are frowned upon by too many in our religious institutions.

“One Eternal Round,” CWHN 12:395-96

Thanks for the quote, Roadrunner. I like that.