Teachings of the Book of Mormon, Semester 1

by Hugh Nibley

Transcripts of lectures present to an Honors Book of Morman class at BYU,1988-1990Has the smallest print I have every seen!!

Genres: Religion, Lds, Nonfiction, Church, History

473 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Hugh Winder Nibley was one of Mormonism's most celebrated scholars. Nibley is notable for his extensive research and publication on ancient languages and culture, his vigorous defense of doctrines of 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 of ancient scripture at Brigham Young University, he was fluent in over ten languages, including Classical Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Egyptian, Coptic, Arabic, German, French, English, and Spanish languages. He also studied Dutch and Russian during World War II.

In addition to his efforts as a scholar, Nibley was well known for writings and lectures on LDS scripture and doctrinal topics, many of which were published in LDS Church magazines. His book “An Approach to the Book of Mormon” was used as a lesson manual for the LDS Church in 1957.

Reviews

[Christopher Angulo · Rating 4 out of 5]

(I actually listened to the lectures). Love his style of teaching, and the recordings are just so much better. He speaks quickly and then you can speed it up even faster. The dream. His wit is great and his love for the BofM has been more influential on me than anything I've yet to encounter.

[Geoff · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved every bit of it. Being a transcript of his Book of Mormon class at BYU, it is rough and very free-form compared to his other edited and academic writings. If you are a fan of Nibley as I am, you will enjoy watching his train of thought unfold, warts and all. There are times when he misquotes things, looses a train of thought, but always comes around to the big picture, interjected with anecdotes and his unique social commentary.

Best served alongside your own personal reading of the Book of Mormon, putting yourself in the shoes of his students. Can't wait to continue on to the other parts.

[Don Gubler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great insights and background.

[Ryan Thompson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nibley is an intellectual powerhouse. This lecture series is like his greatest hits from his previous writings. You might be best served checking out his published works about the Book of Mormon though, as this is transcripts from his lectures and they can be hard to follow at times. Nibley was really old at the time of this course and was leaning hard into the absent minded professor persona. Great info, but hard to read.

[Marsha · Rating 5 out of 5]

The four books in this series are amazing. They are the transcripts, word for word, of a series of Book of Mormon classes Professor Hugh Nibley taught at BYU. Professor Nibley is so brilliant, clever, funny and insightful--I learn something on every page. These books actually make me look forward to studying the Book of Mormon. I am on my second reading of the set--almost done with book 2 again--and they are just as enjoyable this time through. Prof. Nibley is so well read and knows so many languages and so much history that he makes connections I would never make.

[Brice · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting (but sometimes rambling) view into Old World civilizations. These are just lecture transcripts, so he talks about maps he's drawing on the board but there's no accompanying picture. Also, he sometimes mis-speaks and only later would he possibly correct himself. Still, he covered a lot of interesting ground, which makes for fairly good reading.

Most striking feature: my wide-spread ignorance of archeology/anthropology, despite a class or two. I'll probably move from this to read some current academic works on ancient civilizations.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent book to use in your daily scripture study of the Book of Mormon. I had never read any of Hugh Nibley's books before. I am now a big fan. I want to continue my scripture study under his tutoring. I plan to collect his other books. I have learned so much while reading this book. My book and my scriptures are now filled with my thoughts and insights. This is a great book for a slow, in depth study of The Book of Mormon. I highly recommend it.

[Brad]

I was reading this on GospeLink when I had free access at BYU. I'll probably take this out of my currently reading list as I haven't made any progress in it for over 2 years. I'd like to give it another shot, though, as I really appreciated Nibley's insights.



08/09/2009: page 343, 71.16%

[Allyson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thought-provoking, insightful, and full of the kind of historical and cultural background that helps me to better understand the Book of Mormon. (These are the transcripts, word-for-word, of Hugh Nibley's classes... and he tends to go off on tangents! They are interesting and worthwhile, but they are definitely tangents!)

[Jenny Webb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Taking this class would have terrified me, but reading it—it's pretty fun. It's not as readable as one of his essays, but I've enjoyed "taking the class" so to speak as I read through the BoM this year for Gospel Doctrine.

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dr. Nibley has an amazing knowledge of ancient scripture, civilizations, cultures and languages and this was a delightful book to read. He gave these lectures from 1988-1990 and they are just as applicable today as they were then.

[Damon Thueson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just don't believe there is another accompanyment out there that is so huge is perspective and brings in so much "other" stuff to relate to and ponder concerning the Book of Mormon. WOW...simply mind blowing.

[Paula Bothwell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hugh Nibley is a genius. I am not a genius. It took me forever to read this book, not because it was boring, but because half of the time I was not even familiar with what he was writing about. I think it is a good reference book to have.

[Heidi Gosar · Rating 4 out of 5]

That Hugh Nibley knows ALOT!

[M S · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lots of insight on the Book of Mormon. It would be interesting to have heard Nibley give his lectures.

[Jean · Rating 4 out of 5]

Meaty. I really enjoyed his insight.

[Shannon Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was heavy and took me forever to read I could only take it in small amounts but what I learned and the increase of testimony is priceless.