1 Nephi (Book of Mormon)
10:1 - And now I, Nephi, proceed to give an account upon these plates of my proceedings, and my reign and ministry; wherefore, to proceed with mine account, I must speak somewhat of the things of my father, and also of my brethren.
10:2 - For behold, it came to pass after my father had made an end of speaking the words of his dream, and also of exhorting them to all diligence, he spake unto them concerning the Jews--
10:3 - That after they should be destroyed, even that great city Jerusalem, and many be carried away captive into Babylon, according to the own due time of the Lord, they should return again, yea, even be brought back out of captivity; and after they should be brought back out of captivity they should possess again the land of their inheritance.
10:4 - Yea, even six hundred years from the time that my father left Jerusalem, a prophet would the Lord God raise up among the Jews--even a Messiah, or, in other words, a Savior of the world.
10:5 - And he also spake concerning the prophets, how great a number had testified of these things, concerning this Messiah, of whom he had spoken, or this Redeemer of the world.
10:6 - Wherefore, all mankind were in a lost and in a fallen state, and ever would be save they should rely on this Redeemer.
10:7 - And he spake also concerning a prophet who should come before the Messiah, to prepare the way of the Lord--
10:8 - Yea, even he should go forth and cry in the wilderness: Prepare ye the way of the Lord, and make his paths straight; for there standeth one among you whom ye know not; and he is mightier than I, whose shoe's latchet I am not worthy to unloose. And much spake my father concerning this thing.
10:9 - And my father said he should baptize in Bethabara, beyond Jordan; and he also said he should baptize with water; even that he should baptize the Messiah with water.
10:10 - And after he had baptized the Messiah with water, he should behold and bear record that he had baptized the Lamb of God, who should take away the sins of the world.
10:11 - And it came to pass after my father had spoken these words he spake unto my brethren concerning the gospel which should be preached among the Jews, and also concerning the dwindling of the Jews in unbelief. And after they had slain the Messiah, who should come, and after he had been slain he should rise from the dead, and should make himself manifest, by the Holy Ghost, unto the Gentiles.
10:12 - Yea, even my father spake much concerning the Gentiles, and also concerning the house of Israel, that they should be compared like unto an olive-tree, whose branches should be broken off and should be scattered upon all the face of the earth.
10:13 - Wherefore, he said it must needs be that we should be led with one accord into the land of promise, unto the fulfilling of the word of the Lord, that we should be scattered upon all the face of the earth.
10:14 - And after the house of Israel should be scattered they should be gathered together again; or, in fine, after the Gentiles had received the fulness of the Gospel, the natural branches of the olive-tree, or the remnants of the house of Israel, should be grafted in, or come to the knowledge of the true Messiah, their Lord and their Redeemer.
10:15 - And after this manner of language did my father prophesy and speak unto my brethren, and also many more things which I do not write in this book; for I have written as many of them as were expedient for me in mine other book.
10:16 - And all these things, of which I have spoken, were done as my father dwelt in a tent, in the valley of Lemuel.
10:17 - And it came to pass after I, Nephi, having heard all the words of my father, concerning the things which he saw in a vision, and also the things which he spake by the power of the Holy Ghost, which power he received by faith on the Son of God--and the Son of God was the Messiah who should come--I, Nephi, was desirous also that I might see, and hear, and know of these things, by the power of the Holy Ghost, which is the gift of God unto all those who diligently seek him, as well in times of old as in the time that he should manifest himself unto the children of men.
10:18 - For he is the same yesterday, to-day, and forever; and the way is prepared for all men from the foundation of the world, if it so be that they repent and come unto him.
10:19 - For he that diligently seeketh shall find; and the mysteries of God shall be unfolded unto them, by the power of the Holy Ghost, as well in these times as in times of old, and as well in times of old as in times to come; wherefore, the course of the Lord is one eternal round.
10:20 - Therefore remember, O man, for all thy doings thou shalt be brought into judgment.
10:21 - Wherefore, if ye have sought to do wickedly in the days of your probation, then ye are found unclean before the judgment-seat of God; and no unclean thing can dwell with God; wherefore, ye must be cast off forever.
10:22 - And the Holy Ghost giveth authority that I should speak these things, and deny them not.
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9 Comments
I got my copy in the mail yesterday. I’ve read the first two chapters (on the BofA critics and the state of Egyptology, and the Egyptian preoccupation with death, respectively) and like what I’ve read. Much of it is a repeat of what he had written elsewhere (in his Improvement Era series and his book on the Joseph Smith papyri), but the material here is very accessible–my impression was that it is geared to the layperson. Other chapters discuss dispensations and axial periods, myth and ritual, ascension accounts, hypocephali, Alexander the Great, Hermeticism, Kabbalah, Nimrod, and sacred geometry. There are also two chapters discussing Facsimile #2 figure by figure.
Besides being Nibley’s last work, it was also largely unfinished when he passed away. Therefore, it is unique in having a co-author (as opposed to an editor). Michael Rhodes says in the introduction that he did quite a bit of polishing, adding transitions, and the like. It appears that he also added a brief summary at the end of each chapter. He admits that in contrast to Nibley’s vigorous style, his writing is more “pedestrian” (his term), and it’s not too hard to spot where he made his contribution. Still, there is plenty of the “vintage Nibley” style to satisfy. My main quibble is that apparently Nibley never got around to writing a concluding chapter to sum it all up–I find the concluding chapters in his other works to be among his most affecting and inspiring writing. Still, it’s terrific to have an actual book from Nibley, as opposed to a collection of articles and talks. It’s his first book–written as a book–since Abraham in Egypt back in 1981. I’ve been waiting some 17 years for this to come out and am devouring it. Kudos to Nibley’s family, to FARMS and Deseret Book, and to Michael Rhodes for undertaking this mammoth project. I can only imagine the challenges they faced. Rhodes’ introduction gives a good description of what he was up against in terms of sheer bulk–and the story of how he came to take it on is fascinating.
Interesting thoughts, Terry. Thank you. I can’t wait to get my hands on it.
Neither can I. I’ve been waiting for this book to be published for almost 20 years now…
I had no idea this was in the works. I am very excited. Even more so, hearing Terry’s opinion that it is “geared to the layperson”. I absolutely love the 10% of Nibley that I comprehend. Hopefully, this work – with the assistance of co-author Michael Rhodes – can raise that percentage slightly.
All I can say is, Hallelujah brother.
I got mine last week in the mail (pre-order). And I’m about the same place as Terry. It feels a little more candid that most of his writings, in my opinion. I find the citations/synthesizing are a lot more diverse than usual, which is really neat: Stephen Hawking, William Shakespeare, Ernest Becker, Soren Kierkegaard.
Has anyone read Ernest Becker’s “The Denial of Death”? Sounds intriguing…
I just got the book in Spain, on Tuesday. I have read the first 4 chapters and the last one on geometry. It is worthwhile and I agree that is more accesible than other of his books. My commendation to Rhodes for his great work and all the others that have contributed as well. Each chapter should be a whole book, this book is more of a door to open fields of study and reflection. It looks more like a summary or a synthesis of fascinating and deep subjects. One misses a deeper and more extensive treatment on several topics (like relativity physics in the treatment of Kolob, the relationship of the hypocephali to euclidean and non-euclidean geometries, the golden number, modern cosmology, etc.). I wish they would publish on the web the whole set of files Nibley produced (probably thousand of pages no doubt) for free access to all those wishing to study in depth this work of his. One feels the book is just a window on each subject. However is of great value and concentrates and stimulates your mind like very few books do.
I suggest some books to enhance the wealth of this work. It is by no means the only or best list, it is just one way of pointing to further study.
- General: Nibley’s An Egyptian Endowment, Temple and Cosmos, Abraham in Egypt, Abraham Creation Drama, Teachings of the Pearl of Great Price, Ancient State, An Approach to the Book of Abraham.
- General: The Anthropic Cosmological Principle of Frank Tipler. And of course some classics: The Iliad and The Odissey of Homer, Faust by Goethe, The Greek Myths of Robert Graves and all the books of Mircea Eliade (the Romanian foremost world scholar on religion).
- Geometry: The Road to Reality of Roger Penrose (mind boggling, but really useful on modern cosmology, and Mathematics and Physics realities, Is God a Geometrist? of Ian Stewart, The Golden Ratio of Mario Flavio, The Dancing Wu Li Masters of Gary Zukav, The Universe in a Nutshell of Stephen Hawking.
- Kabbala and Hermeneutics: The novel Foucault’s Pendulum by Umberto Eco (the hocus pocus of people in History who think they have the true secret and knowledge), The Limits of Interpretation of Umberto Eco (a great book on Semiotics, hermeneutics and signs and symbols), also his Treatise on Semiotics and In Search of the Perfect Language.
- On mind-conscience relationship the three books of Roger Penrose The New Mind of The Emperor (incidentally Roger Penrose and particularly this book is quoted by Nibley several times in his talk Abraham and the Creation Drama, and he fancied his ideas, comparing them to the Kabbala), The Shadows of the Mind and Of Great and Small Things. His latest ideas on aeons (eternities for him) and What Happened Before the Big Bang and of particular interest as well.
I also miss the inclusion and comments of some scriptures related (like 1 Nephi 10:19 and D&C 3:2), maybe they are on the original manuscripts.
Overall, a great book to have and study, and great door opener to a life of study and searching.
My thanks to Hugh Nibley, family, Rhodes and all others for this great work.
It is really significant that the latest book of Umberto Eco (Lists) starts his first chapter with Achilles’ shield and explanations on it, and the latest book of Roger Penrose (The Road to Reality) finishes up with a tale on the green light effect related to research on quantum gravity (what a happy coincidence!)
Bryce – I thought I would post a note here to my introduction to Hamlet’s Mill which Nibley quoted often in this and other works. Reading Hamlet’s Mill is perhaps more difficult than many of Nibley’s writings and is pregnant with meaning. It is possible to trace his treatment of many cosmological and mythological themes back to this book that are not documented in the collected works.