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The Collected Works of Hugh Nibley #4
Mormonism and Early Christianity
From the outset of his career, Dr. Hugh Nibley has been centrally concerned with primitive Christianity, especially the shadowy era between the New Testament proper and the emergence and the triumph of the Catholic Church and Holy Roman Empire. That is the era treated in the nine essays collected in this volume. The essays cover such subjects as early accounts of Jesus' childhood, the Savior's forty-day ministry after his resurrection, baptism for the dead in ancient times, the passing of the primitive church, and the early Christian prayer circle. Each essay examines the close connection between the practices and the doctrines of the early Church and the Church of the latter days. Each essay has been reedited, and all the original sources have been rechecked. Many of the conclusions and arguments in these articles will stand in future scholarship; others will be discarded. But Hugh Nibley's work has laid the foundation for all further discussion. Hard Cover.
446 pages, Hardcover
First published November 1, 1987
17 people are currently reading
343 people want to read
About the author
Hugh Nibley
152 books94 followersHugh 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
September 11, 2014
I learned a lot about early Christianity from this book, but most of all I really felt like I was discovering what the New Testament meant for those living at that time. I think today we have a natural, and justified, view of the New Testament, likening it to ourselves and taking the lessons and thoughts and applying it to our time. And since scripture can have multiple meanings and multiple fulfillment, that's completely valid. This book helped me see that the lessons I see for myself aren't what they saw.
Even though I've studied the scriptures all my life and knew about the 'Great Apostasy' I think there was a part of me that thought that the members of the early church were giving each other pep talks and trying to make it work and maybe they could last a while. But they didn't think that way because the New Testament didn't teach that. It was quite eye opening how, dare I say 'fatalistic'?, their attitude was. And yet even though they knew the truth would be lost they still did their best. I think it's a different type of courage than holding on for the greater good, knowing your cause will succeed for the others around you. These early members of the church instead knew that night would fall and the dawn wouldn't come for a long, long time.
The first half of this book seemed to go quick, filled with new insights and discoveries, but I really had a hard time with the second half. This book is filled with references of all kinds, and although I see Nibley's wit here
and there, it's a collection of scholarly works and they are, in a word, intimidating.
Even though I've studied the scriptures all my life and knew about the 'Great Apostasy' I think there was a part of me that thought that the members of the early church were giving each other pep talks and trying to make it work and maybe they could last a while. But they didn't think that way because the New Testament didn't teach that. It was quite eye opening how, dare I say 'fatalistic'?, their attitude was. And yet even though they knew the truth would be lost they still did their best. I think it's a different type of courage than holding on for the greater good, knowing your cause will succeed for the others around you. These early members of the church instead knew that night would fall and the dawn wouldn't come for a long, long time.
The first half of this book seemed to go quick, filled with new insights and discoveries, but I really had a hard time with the second half. This book is filled with references of all kinds, and although I see Nibley's wit here
and there, it's a collection of scholarly works and they are, in a word, intimidating.
September 13, 2020
My second time through this volume - Nibley presents a pretty clear and straightforward argument for the loss of the original doctrines of early Christianity and the need for a full restoration.
May 22, 2024
A very interesting collection of essays and a great companion to Temple and Cosmos: Beyond This Ignorant Present. I will have to re-digest some of it as I go through my marked passages and write notes later this week.
May 1, 2022
I'd give the first part 4 to 5 stars, while the second part (which is about 2/3 of the book) 0 to 1 stars. The first half of this collection of essays, articles, etc. (especially The Early Christian Prayer Circle and Baptism for the Dead in Ancient Times) are fascinating. The last half was really hard to get through and I, personally, didn't get much out of it.
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May 20, 2017Transferred marked passages to ebook.
May 20, 2014
First time I've read more than a page or two from Nibley. I learned a lot and got a lot of context for his thinking style. He definitely saw a lot more apostasy prediction in the New Testament than I was used to, and his coverage of the gates of hell not prevailing against the church was very interesting. I also really liked that some of the papers were written for non-LDS audiences.
That said, sometimes Nibley gets a bit like Nash in "A Beautiful Mind", drawing connections everywhere. The paper on the prayer circle got most extreme in this regard, I think. (But there were interesting, compelling things in there, too.) In "The Way of the Church" here, he even spends tens of pages talking about the extreme power that translators and historians wield, just to follow up with his own translation/interpretation/history without any meta argument for why we should trust him more. And I suspect it is somewhat possible to make hypotheses about the contents of ancient documents, giving assumptions for expected distributions of subject matter in advance and so on, and constructing semi-scientific experiments for chance correlations or not. But then again, being sufficiently familiar with the subject matter to formulate hypotheses might already bias things too much. Unless new ancient text discoveries drawn from the same distribution continue to be made, I guess. Anyway, I don't know if people do this sort of thing or not, since I'm not a historian myself.
I have to admit that it was also hard to follow every detail, since most of these articles are clearly written to an audience that knows more names and more of this subject matter than I do.
Anyway, I'm glad to have read this, though I don't expect to read more Nibley again, at least not for some while. And I find more spiritual nourishment in going out, serving, and living Gospel principles than in reading academic work. Perhaps Nibley would say the same thing, too, based on some of his comments. Still, again, I enjoyed the read overall.
A couple more items I remember liking. The allegory of the man with the fatal illness becoming "eschatological" was very insightful. Also, I liked the coverage of the one temple idea. In my own Old Testament reading long ago, I found this matter very pronounced. It made me also think of things like the Kaaba (mentioned by Nibley) and also LDS General Conference.
I was also glad I've been studying German recently, since it let me understand just a bit more than I'd have understood otherwise. Nibley doesn't always translate quotes or titles.
That said, sometimes Nibley gets a bit like Nash in "A Beautiful Mind", drawing connections everywhere. The paper on the prayer circle got most extreme in this regard, I think. (But there were interesting, compelling things in there, too.) In "The Way of the Church" here, he even spends tens of pages talking about the extreme power that translators and historians wield, just to follow up with his own translation/interpretation/history without any meta argument for why we should trust him more. And I suspect it is somewhat possible to make hypotheses about the contents of ancient documents, giving assumptions for expected distributions of subject matter in advance and so on, and constructing semi-scientific experiments for chance correlations or not. But then again, being sufficiently familiar with the subject matter to formulate hypotheses might already bias things too much. Unless new ancient text discoveries drawn from the same distribution continue to be made, I guess. Anyway, I don't know if people do this sort of thing or not, since I'm not a historian myself.
I have to admit that it was also hard to follow every detail, since most of these articles are clearly written to an audience that knows more names and more of this subject matter than I do.
Anyway, I'm glad to have read this, though I don't expect to read more Nibley again, at least not for some while. And I find more spiritual nourishment in going out, serving, and living Gospel principles than in reading academic work. Perhaps Nibley would say the same thing, too, based on some of his comments. Still, again, I enjoyed the read overall.
A couple more items I remember liking. The allegory of the man with the fatal illness becoming "eschatological" was very insightful. Also, I liked the coverage of the one temple idea. In my own Old Testament reading long ago, I found this matter very pronounced. It made me also think of things like the Kaaba (mentioned by Nibley) and also LDS General Conference.
I was also glad I've been studying German recently, since it let me understand just a bit more than I'd have understood otherwise. Nibley doesn't always translate quotes or titles.
October 11, 2015
Hugh Nibley has done more than any other scholar to demonstrate how The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a restoration of the church and gospel as established and taught by Jesus Christ. This book explores that topic brilliantly. The first four essays are especially intriguing: "Early Accounts of Jesus' Childhood"; "Evangelium Quadraginta Dierum: The Forty-day Mission of Christ--The Forgotten Heritage"; "The Early Christian Prayer Circle"; and especially interesting to me, "Baptism for the Dead in Ancient Times." I only wish that all the Latin and German in the text and footnotes had been translated for the reader who studied other languages. Extremely worth reading.
December 1, 2008
I love the essays in this book on the temple, it really helps to explain the symbolism and traditions handed down from culture to culture. He is well versed on ancient works and compares all the different works and shows you the similarities among them, which roots out the culture based traditions and reveals the actual ordinances/rites given to Adam/Eve. I found it thought-provoking but it does take a great deal of focus to get through it all, but worth it.
September 17, 2010
Although Nibley has a great sense of humor, and is extremely well-read in a number of languages, when he starts talking about proof for Mormon scripture he uses shoddy scholarship.
To understand Nibley's approach to scholarship, see:
Salmon, Douglas F. "Parallelomania and the Study of Latter-day Scripture: Confirmation, Coincidence, or the Collective Subconscious? Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 33, no. 2 (Summer 2000): 129-156.
To understand Nibley's approach to scholarship, see:
Salmon, Douglas F. "Parallelomania and the Study of Latter-day Scripture: Confirmation, Coincidence, or the Collective Subconscious? Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 33, no. 2 (Summer 2000): 129-156.
March 25, 2011
It is a lecture series in print, so it is more accessible and conversational than his other books, which most people love, and because much of the information is covered in other volumes, doesn't detract for those who love to read Nibley. It has some of the most potent and up front examples of apostolic succession issues for modern scholars that must be dealt with in any review of Catholic history or LDS ideas of apostasy.
October 26, 2011
I enjoyed reading about the works that have been found on the early church. I knew some things had been changed in the Bible, but I had no idea how many things. This gave me a much firmer grasp of how the Great Apostasy came about and what all it involved. I also enjoyed seeing the proven similarities between the early church and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
April 21, 2008
A very comprehensive look at the differences between Mormonism and Early Christanity. The beliefs of the early Christian Fathers (like Origen) were very similar to mormonism. He takes you through the dark ages and Christanity today. A must read!
December 10, 2008
I keep coming back to essays in this volume. I'm sure there are other authors that have written more up-to-date treatises, for example, on temple references in pseudographia, but Nibley has to be one of my favorites.
March 27, 2009
The question is not "are Mormons Christians", but as you study the early Church, you wonder "are Christians Mormons".
In some surprising comparisons, we marvel at the similarities between doctrines and practices between early Christians and modern day Mormons.
In some surprising comparisons, we marvel at the similarities between doctrines and practices between early Christians and modern day Mormons.
February 23, 2011
I know it is fashionable in some circles to object to Hugh Nibley's intellectual approach and style, but I always have enjoyed his books. His work sours me to further study and curiosity about my own faith as well as various ancient and modern cultures.
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September 8, 2008Excellent read!
November 9, 2008
Great book on early temple rituals and doctrines that pertain to the LDS church
July 20, 2009
Read it for yourself.
October 9, 2014
Really interesting, though at times a little "scholarly" and dry. No way Joseph Smith could have known all of this and yet so much matches up with practices and doctrine he instituted.
June 12, 2015
Difficult to push through in some parts, but gives a great understanding to those interested.
November 4, 2012
This book makes quite a case that the earlier the Christianity, the more similar it is to LDS beliefs and doctrine.
January 19, 2015
enlightening
January 2, 2016
I enjoyed this book so much and found the ideas so new and interesting that I decided to purchase it as a future reference and guide. I would love to learn to hear what the robin is saying.
June 9, 2009
Revolutionized my temple worship.
February 4, 2011
Fascinating study of early Christianity.
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews