Temple and Cosmos: Beyond This Ignorant Present

The Collected Works of Hugh Nibley #12

by Hugh Nibley, Don E. Norton (Editor)

Temple and Cosmos- Beyond this Ignorant

Genres: Religion, Lds, Nonfiction, Church, History, Spirituality, Theology

597 pages, Hardcover

First published April 30, 1992

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

[Sirpa Grierson · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is not that I love Hugh Nibley's writing style so much; but he is the ultimate historio-archeological packrat and has researched every topic of interest to him to the nth degree of what is available in the scholarship of the world at a given time. Fascinating and fabulous romp through the world of ideas. He additionally leaves you to draw your own conclusions, which I appreciate!

My favorite chapters (now that I am finally done with all 600 pages) are 3 & 7. What a gift to be trusted by an author to make the connections yourself.

p. 534 (talking about C.S. Lewis) ". . . the test of the Christian is not to conform with the commandments and accept teachings which are perfectly right and sensible to any normal way of thinking; if the gospel consisted only of such convenient and unobjectionable things, we could be quite sure we were making it up ourselves. It is the very contrariness and even the absurdity of the Christian teachings that provide, for him, the highest proof of their divinity--this is not man's doing." Why else are we commanded to seek for answers if they are too easily accessible? The terrible questions that Nibley raises are "Strange doctrines" indeed! This book invites you to step beyond "the ignorant present."

[Joe Hunt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this is one of the finest religious books ever!

And it goes through everything--a ton of stuff...

fr/ an apocalyptic excerpt about Abraham seeing a star born or dying. And he's like "What's going on? This is spooky."

And of course a lot on temples. An interesting piece on how it can be a circle and a square at the same time. (I think Picasso talked about that: "Squaring the circle.")

But, so, a temple can be the center of the world--but, then, you can have more than one. And they're like little sparks that get sent out.

I think Nibley's a genius. (Read a lot of him.) Has a nice, easy-going manner. Sometimes you wished he went deeper in, instead of just skimming over. B/c he covers so much ground.

One nice section about the invention of language--how it's dumb to think it started, like from a picture of the sun, and then turned into an O.

No. That it had to arrive in one piece, inspired. B/c it is abstract, to have little scratches mean things. (But he explains it better than me.)

I would recommend this book, yes!

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

yeah - too much for me to handle as a whole. This is one to pick up every once in awhile and read another chapter - especially because it wasn't designed as a book. It's a collection of his speeches and essays -but put in an order that would make the most sense - so it's slightly repetitive.

[Bookwyrmgyrl]

Bravo! What a phenomenal writer. Reading NIbley is like enjoying a fantastically rich dessert. You take small bites and just savor! In this volume I particularly enjoyed the chapter entitled "Do Religion and History Conflict?" His numbered points were so well-stated that I cheered out loud. I hope to read many more of his works.

[Richard Bracken · Rating 5 out of 5]

Take a stroll around a beautifully manicured Latter-Day-Saint temple and you might notice intricate details and depictions of things like suns, moons, or stars carved onto walls, benches, fences, not to mention the building itself. None of it is accidental, of course, and such markings go far beyond mere decoration.

If you’re reading this review you’re not an interstellar accident. You’re part of the cosmos to be sure, but you’re conscious and here for a reason. The temple is designed to remind a person of this, for according to Nibley:

“The temple is..the place where all time, space, and humanity come together...a sort of halfway house between heaven and earth…[a] sacred observatory, like the tabernacle for the camp of Israel, and at the same time a kind of planetarium, a model of the cosmos”.

But what goes on inside an LDS temple, you may ask? And why aren’t such things openly discussed? After all, Anna, from the New Testament never left the temple, and “one cannot help but wonder what those people did who spent all their time in the temple. Fasting and prayer were not full-time activities”.

According to the LDS church,

“temples are houses of the Lord, where members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints regularly go to worship. Inside these holy buildings, faithful Church members make promises with God, feel His Spirit, and come closer to Him through sacred ceremonies called ordinances”.

Sacred vs Secret

But why does it all seem so hush hush? According to Nibley, there’s a marked difference between secret things and sacred things, for a person’s authentic relationship with God is exceptionally personal.

“Ordinances are not deep, dark secrets to be kept as such from the world.” They are individual. “I do not reveal these things, they must remain sacred to me”. ... “For my covenants are all between me and my Heavenly Father”... “only I know exactly the weight and force of the covenants I have made - I and the Lord with whom I have made them”.

Nibley goes on to say that the point is never to keep things absolutely secret, “but to keep these sacred things from becoming “halal”, that is vulgar, popular, the subject of everyday discussion, in a word, trivia..taking holy things lightly. Even at its most innocuous, the bringing up of such matters in public can only lead to their cheapening”.

Nibley likens the handling of sacred things to the scriptural passage cautioning against casting pearls before swine.

“When the Lord speaks of giving precious things to the dogs and pearls to the swine, it is not with contempt for those creatures, but with the futility of such things for all concerned - the dogs would find no value in precious things, which would be thrown away into dirt and trodden under foot”.

Symbolic Clothing

A few years ago I was introduced to an interesting excerpt from an ancient apocryphal text called the Book of Thomas. It contains a portion referred to as the Hymn of the Pearl.

In the Hymn of the Pearl, a prince is raised in the court of his father, the king, and mother, the queen. He’s instructed by his parents that he needs to leave the kingdom to accomplish a mission of sorts and return to them (recovering a pearl and returning it to the kingdom). He’s instructed and prepared beforehand. Upon departure he changes out of his royal robes and into worldly clothing. Away from the kingdom he’s give a drink by people in the city, which causes him to forget he’s a prince, where he came from, and what he’s supposed to do. Fortunately, though he’s forgotten everything, his father doesn’t forget him, sending messengers and guides to help him remember. Eventually he does, and upon recovering the pearl (it’s unclear what the pearl represents, exactly) he comes to the gate of his father’s kingdom where he takes off his worldly clothes and changes into royal garments before re-entering into his fathers presence. The imagery of changing clothes to enter or depart from the king’s presence seemed remarkable to me.

Nibley has interesting things to say about the significance of symbolic clothing in worship.

“Yesterday...immediately upon entering you removed your street clothes. And that was the image of putting off the old man and his works”. He quotes a man from antiquity, Cyril of Jerusalem, “and may that garment, once out of, never be put on again!”...“like a garment, you come to resemble the son of God”.

Nibley says that according to a very old account, the resurrected Christ told Mary not to touch him: “I’m going to my father and receive the garment that is waiting for me”. Nibley makes other interesting references to clothing in the scriptures, ”clothed upon with glory”, for instance. “It is the garment that gives confidence. In the presence of God; one does not feel too exposed”... “I was clothed upon with glory, and I saw the Lord”. (Moses 7:3-4)... “and I looked at myself, and I looked like one of the glorious ones”.... . Being no different from him in appearance, he is qualified now, in the manner of initiation. He can go back and join them because he has received a particular garment of glory”. Interesting stuff!

Temple and Cosmos caused me to reflect more deeply upon the sacred and personal relationship I have with God. It’s me and him. Mano y mano. I became more certain that the depth and breadth of that relationship is entirely up to me.

[thethousanderclub · Rating 4 out of 5]

For Latter-day Saints, Hugh Nibley is a household name. He was a prominent Mormon scholar for decades and is probably still the most well-known. His writing and speeches are works of sometimes dizzying intellect. I was very excited to read one volume of his collected works series, Temple and Cosmos. After having been fairly underwhelmed by W. Cleon Skousen's The First Two Thousand Years, it was wonderful to read a book of both doctrinal and intellectual significance as interesting and provocative as Temple and Cosmos.

Of all Latter-day Saint doctrine and practice, there is perhaps none more mysterious and enigmatic to non-members and outside observers than our temple worship. (This is also the case for some members of the Church who have not been able to experience the temple endowment and sealing yet or have and still find it all inscrutable). Nibley's academic work on tracing the origins of the temple, not just Latter-day Saint temple worship but temple practices and rituals around the world and throughout all civilizations, provides a valuable perspective on how central it was and is to the human experience. In many ways, reading Temple and Cosmos was very similar to reading Joseph Campbell's challenging but remarkable The Hero with a Thousand Faces. There are commonalities between cultures, between peoples, between rituals that are so striking they cannot be ignored. There are patterns on earth within the human experience which are continually being played out. The tantalizing question is where the pattern originates from? Nibley, while focusing on the central importance of the temple, attemps to answer that question with exhaustive research and references from ancient writings and evidences. The academic work showcased within this one volume of his collection is staggering.

Therein lies one of the problems with a book like Temple and Cosmos. These collected writings are culled from speeches, academic papers—some previously unpublished—which aren't exactly written for a lay audience. Nibley's writing, much like his speaking, moves at a breakneck speed. You've barely had a moment to digest a particularly interesting quotation or comment, and he has already thrown four more at you. It's difficult to keep up. In addition, with very little background in ancient cultures or civilizations, a reader like me can't actually compare a statement by Nibley with a contradictory statement by another scholar; I wouldn't even know where to look. However, Nibley does a fine job, much better than Skousen ever thought of doing in The First Two Thousand Years, of presenting some opposing viewpoints. It is true he mostly does this to create a springboard from which to disprove the statement; however, it's serviceable nonetheless.

Although this volume, which is the twelfth in the series, is titled Temple and Cosmos and mostly focuses on that topic, it does take some odd deviations. (Of course this doesn't really have anything to do with Nibley since these are his collected works, which I'm assuming were put together without any direction from Nibley). Having said that, some of those "deviation" chapters proved to be some of the most valuable. Nibley's essay Does History and Religion Conflict is one of the finest I have ever read. I consumed it ravenously and will forever consider it a high-water mark of academic commentary and critique. Nibley, although steeped in academia, appears to have had a healthy distrust of it, which I can certainly appreciate (see my commentary Academic Humility).

Temple and Cosmos is wonderful. From a Latter-day Saint perspective it is an unbelievably valuable addition to our personal libraries and to our understanding of the temple ordinances; in fact, for someone who has "gone through" (common Mormon vernacular) the temple, Temple and Cosmos may make you feel a tad bit uncomfortable at times as it describes in some detail ancient patterns of temple worship. Those patterns and other details, as delineated in apocryphal writings, show why our scripture would describe the gospel as being "new and everlasting." I will absolutely read Nibley's other volumes of collected works. In regards to Temple and Cosmos, it is a significant and important academic achievement which Latter-day Saints should take special interest in.

http://thethousanderclub.blogspot.com/

[Keith · Rating 5 out of 5]

This morning [March 2, 2014] we went to the Gilbert Temple Dedication. I came home with lots of thoughts running through my head. After pondering for a few minutes, I decided to begin reading the book Temple and Cosmos, one of the volumes of the collected works of Hugh Nibley.

The first chapter was fascinating. The first four chapters are on temples. The balance, and majority of the book is on Cosmos.

"In 1816, the apocrypha were outlawed by the American Bible Society (which had great influence). So they came to have no prestige, were not read, were not know at all. They were not published in this country; little was known about them. The apocrypha sank to their lowest level in 1945, when H. H. Rowley, the last surviving person to study the apocrypha said, 'We'll just close the door now and forget about these. Nobody's reading them anymore. It is so.' And then, bingo, next year the whole thing broke loose again, and everyone was embarrassed, because no one knew anything about apocrypha. The new discoveries caught them completely off guard. (Page 258-259)

"The way these writings talk about these matters is extremely interesting it certainly beats science fiction. ... Since the ideas are nothing but conscious or unconscious plagiarism of biblical and apocryphal ideas ... why do these works have so much greater appeal than the originals? Because the originals, as they are given in the Bible and the apocrypha, have been systematically denatured. ... science fiction - 'folk scripture' - has taken the place of real scripture. (Page 275-276) The science fiction chapter is quite a bit later in the book.

"A wonderful passage from Socrates says, 'When I was a kid and went to school, science knew all the answers' ... "Plutarch talks about the same thing. He says the new physics taught people 'to despise all the superstitious fears which the awe-inspiring signs in the heavens arouse in the minds of those who are ignorant of the real cause of things.' (Page 516) And on and on it goes, with the 20th and 21st century getting the same anti-god rhetoric as millennium ago. The conflict between good and evil has not changed, and will continue.

[Phillip · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of essays provides a smorgasbord of samplings from the ancient records that have been uncovered in the Mid-Eeast and other areas since World War II. Hugh Nibley's emphasis is on finding the commonalities between various ancient religious practices and beliefs.

While it is enlightening to hold his findings up against the template of the restored gospel, it becomes equally fascinating to be exposed to the broad variety of cultures that have peppered earth's history.

As the essays were not written as components of a single publication the reader will notice some duplication of material, but the nuances of explanation surrounding these repeated references generally expand the understanding of the principles at hand.

One is also refreshed, while in the midst of these scholarly musings, to hear him bearing firm testimony of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, and then, with clear headed thinking, cut to the bone of spiritual matters.

[Jared · Rating 3 out of 5]

Way to go Hugh! I put this book down for a while and came back to it, but I was delighted to see how quickly I became attached to it again. Dr. Nibley is full of very philosphical points that are very powerful when it comes to defending the church and attacking it's critics. In many of the chpaters(?) of this book Nibley explores the temples in the ancient world and finds several common threads with the modern day LDS temple. Learning about past cultures and their temple worship gave me valuable insight into getting more meaning out of my own temple attendance. Be careful when you read this however, remember that Nibley got his degree in history and at times has so much evidence that backs up what he is saying that at times you loose track of his point with all his qouting of ancient manuscripts and creation stories.

[Carolyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am rereading Temple and Cosmos. Whenever I want to have questions answered about early manuscripts, metal plates and papyri, Christian and non, I turn to Nibley for in-depth (and very detailed) answers. He loves explaining very early pre-Chist writings for those of us who do not have and never will have access to them.

I am always fascinated with the idea that the temple, including clothing and ceremonial rites were many thousands of years old before Christ. Also how intertwined are temple and ceremonial rites among various cultures, especially Jewish and Egyptian.

I remember well a lecture by C. Wilfred Griggs when he explained how early Christians were buried in their leather garments (with certain markings) in excavations in which he had participated. Nibley explains this well.

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fabulous book. I always assumed Nibley would be above my level of understanding, but I actually found his style very approachable, probably because I believe these are basically speeches he gave, or material that was meant to be presented in speech form. So, I'm not sure if other works of his will be like this, but this book was pretty easy to digest. I read this before I went to the temple for the first time (along with the proverbial Packer "The Holy Temple"), and I think it helped me digest what I was experiencing and learning when I first went, so much so that the temple didn't seem strange to me at all, but more like an extension of what I had already learned about the Gospel. I highly recommend it!

[Eric · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lots of great essays on the topic of the temple and the view of the cosmos from ancient and modern perspectives. As always, Nibley does a great job of taking the esoteric and grounding it into the things we do and think about every day. In a way, that is the fundamental point of this book- that the cosmology of our religion should be as tangible and real as the things of this world. All through history, professors subscribing to the philosophies of men have pushed religious concepts into the realms of the abstract and immaterial. Ancient writings show that inspired people of the past believed what Joseph Smith taught us in recent times- heaven is a real place, with real beings who really interact with us in our world.

[Jeanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an enlightening read!!! If you are a temple-attending Mormon, you will see the mounds and mounds of ancient evidence pointing to this truth: that Mormon temple rites are restored from the ancient religion that Jesus Christ established.

How did Jospeh Smith come up with all the exact rituals of ancient Christianity? Answer: he couldn’t. This book proves that those rituals had to be revealed to him.

No one knows what to do with temples. Only the Mormons know the true purpose of the temple, which Peter and other apostles continued to visit even after Christ’s resurrection. Modern Christianity has to dismiss the temple because they don’t know it’s purpose. There was a lot of cover up in ancient times, but the true temple worship was restored.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nibley was brilliant and this book reflects that brilliance. It's not only fascinating, but also enlightening. There were often times when I felt almost overcome by the profoundness of his insights. I think some people are bothered by the not infrequent tangents that Nibley indulges in, but I didn't find any of them bothersome because they were always productive and most often led to more valuable insights (even though they weren't directly related to the topic at hand). Since Nibley was such a prolific writer, I look forward to reading many more of his works.

[Doris · Rating 4 out of 5]

So many deep teachings in this book. I know that Nibley was no prophet, but the Spirit confirms so many of the things in this book. It has helped broaden my perspective and understanding of the gospel. It has also helped me understand there are many things I will not understand in this life. Oddly, this gave me some peace. I won't try quite so hard in the future. I will still study and search and learn, but I won't stress when there's something I don't understand. I'll learn as I go, bit by bit, and I'm okay with that. It's definitely a book I'll come back to again and again.

[Michael · Rating 2 out of 5]

A line from page 64 aptly summarizes Nibley's work: "It is because others are engaged in the work that we know that we are not just imagining it." It's been said that metaphysics is the finding of bad reasons for what we believe upon instinct, and that's mostly what I found here. He frequently cherrypicks his evidence, resorts to ad hominem attacks, and, in the sections originally delivered orally, uses an exasperating tone. Clever, yes; erudite, without question; useful in answering the Great Questions, not very--at least not for me.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I won’t even pretend that I understood everything discussed in this book, but the parts that I could puzzle through were incredibly fascinating and stimulating. It was absolutely worth working through for the insights that I gained and one that I would love to read again down the road.


I loved this thought from the author and it definitely encouraged me to keep reading...

“It is better to be ignorant and interested than ignorant and not interested, and there's no third alternative here. We're ignorant in any case, so you might as well be ignorant and interested in these things.”

[JJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

For me the most interesting of the Nibley books. Nibley surveys religious temples throughout the world and history drawing parallels among the key functions and rites associated with them.

The consistencies among the various temples leads the reader to believe there may be one central source, either historical, geographical, or spiritual behind the various temple cultures in history.

This book launched me into an enduring fascination with ancient texts and ancient ritual.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a volume for the ages. Scholars of Hugh Nibley compiled a lifetime worth of learning regarding God's temple and it's connecting ability for humankind to the presence of God of the cosmos. This book stands as a witness, not only for Dr Nibley's research prowess, but more importantly as a testimony of the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ through the Prophet Joseph Smith. Take it slowly or the book might overwhelm you. I loved every succulent minute of it.

[Bubba · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mind Expanding

This book was an incredible read from start to finish. It opened my eyes to ancient texts and reaffirmed that the ordinances and symbolisms employed in modern temples are the same as those done anciently.

Absolutely a worthy book for any gospel collection.

[Hyrum · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great insight into ancient civilizations and their view of the temple. Wide references sited. Many things learned are intentionally not spelled out in the text.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kind of interesting. "The temple is a point of reference, a place where you take your bearings on the universe (p. 141)."

[Rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like any heterogenous collection of essays, some parts of Temple and Cosmos were better than others. Being a retrospective of a career, there was even a fair bit of overlap. Those weaknesses acknowledged, there were still interesting nuggets to be mined--especially regarding the cosmo-centrism of certain parts of the apocrypha. These were often dismissed as "gnostic" heresies, but often had very little to do with gnostic beliefs--just a way for the early canonizers to tidy up doctrinal controversies.

It would be interesting to revisit some of these subjects with up-to-date research--especially consensus views, as I'm worried that sometimes the minority view was chosen to support a thesis.

[Tyler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of the essays and lectures in this book were fantastic and very interesting, and others less so. I was really fascinated to read the quotations from various ancient documents that contain very clear parallels to the temple and the scriptures as revealed in the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. I was also fascinated to learn some about the roles that temples played in ancient societies and the parallels that ancient temples have with modern temples in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Brother Nibley has an interesting and sometimes very different but valuable perspective about the gospel of Jesus Christ and I enjoyed reading about some of his ideas.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dense, dense material. It's a collection of lectures, I think. I'm not sure quite what I expected. One thing will stick with me forever, though.

He said something to the effect of:
I need the Savior on my best day as much as I do on my worst. Whether I go 10 miles or 100, when the journey is a million miles long, I'm going to need His help to complete it.

That resonated deeply with me. He's right. It's the reason that comparing "progress" between individuals is a game of pride. None of us have "less need" of the Savior's atoning power and grace.

[Marla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a pleasure to read a work that links ancient knowledge and practice with the present. The story of the world beautifully told and preserved through art, architecture, astrology, and language. There is so much connecting us with early cultural all over the world and Hugh Nibley helps us connect the dots. Particularly interesting to see the connections with the discovery and understanding found in the Dead Sea Scrolls.

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

I find Hugh Nibley fascinating and at times confusing. This book was powerful in his revving of so much ancient literature that alludes the temple and how so much of the temple ordinances are found across this literature. It is a heavy ready as Nibley can be, but I found it definitely worth the perspective.

[Daniel Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent collection of talks about civilizations', even the Babylonian's, customs and rituals that resemble the creation story and the temple. As always, backed up with extensive notes and citations from this scholar with a knack for bringing together themes that reflect modern religion.

[Leigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book took me a loooong time to get through (over a year at least, maybe longer) but it was very interesting. I wouldn’t say Hugh Nibley is easy to read, but I learned a lot about a lot of things. I already feel like I should start reading it again because it was very insightful.

[Anne Cabaniss · Rating 5 out of 5]

If I had a year or two, I'd like to read this book again while looking up all the references.