hugh nibley

Expect the Unexpected at the Temple

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Vision of Zacharias, James Tissot (1894)

Vision of Zacharias, James Tissot (1894)

As I’m sure you’ve noticed, I haven’t contributed much to Temple Study in recent months.  I’ve received emails from readers wondering if I’m OK.  I’m still here, but have had other priorities to attend to.  Until life stabilizes a bit, I won’t be able to get back to blogging.  Toby Palmer has offered to help keep the blog alive, and I’m interested in his insights about Hugh Nibley and the temple.
-Bryce

Guest Blogger: Toby’ s self-identifying moment came when he read a Hugh Nibley article describing the characteristics of an eschatologist—someone who loves and seeks the infinite possibilities of God beyond the veil. With this self-proclaimed title, Toby voraciously reads and writes searching the mysteries of God while building his own testimony of Jesus Christ. He proudly contributes to TempleStudy.com in hope of strengthening others. Toby lives with his wife and four children in Orem, Utah.

Many members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints seek spiritual guidance for important individual and family decisions as they attend and worship at the temple. Many times divine messages that come to the heart and mind while in these holy spaces is hardly what is expected—and sometimes even a bit surprising.

According to Hugh Nibley in Three Shrines: Mantic, Sophic, and Sophistic ((Hugh Nibley, Three Shrines: Mantic, Sophic, and Sophistic can be found at http://farmsoldsite.farmsresearch.com/publications/books/?bookid=76&chapid=955)), being surprised by revelation is exactly what should be expected. Nibley explains the mantic individual seeks revelation and the sophic person goes no further than his own learning for knowledge. To the sophic the thought of finding answers from a spiritual source is “uncontrollable, incalculable, and full of imponderables” and completely unacceptable to the cool and rational mind. Conversely, the mantic believes revelation comes in the same unexpected way. The difference between the two is the mantic has learned to trust the divine message as he bends his will to the creator.

Consider scriptural accounts of those being surprised by unexpected revelation. Gabriel’s visit to Zacharias in the temple took the wise man by surprise, the shepherds on the eve of Christ’s birth were “sore afraid” at the site of the angel—a feeling the apostles also experienced on the Mount of Transfiguration.  Even people chosen of God for great things had to do a double take during these personal spiritual experiences.

Nibley cites C.S. Lewis in reference to revelation, “That is one of the reasons I believe Christianity. It is a religion you could not have guessed. If it offered us just the kind of universe we had always expected, I should feel we were making it up…”

Next time you attend the temple seeking spiritual council, keep in mind the answer you receive may be unexpected and challenge the will to obey. Take heart with this paradox. Our faith can be strengthened by expecting the unexpected answers from Heavenly Father.

Updates about Hugh Nibley’s Centennial Commemoration

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Dr. Hugh Nibley lecturing

As I posted a few months ago, the Laura F. Willes Center for Book of Mormon Studies and the Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies (FARMS), in conjunction with Religious Education and the Harold B. Lee library, presented a weekly lecture series during the Winter Semester 2010 in honor of the 100th anniversary of Hugh Nibley’s birth, who was born on March 27, 1910.

The lecture series concluded on April 8th.  I was able to attend some of the presentations, and they were very well done.  I’m grateful to be able to get to know better the man, scholar, and saint, Hugh Nibley, and what he taught.

The Neal A. Maxwell Institute has reported that video of the lecture series presentations will be made available soon, likely on the Neal A. Maxwell website.

Transcripts of two of the lectures have already been made available:

The Institute also reports that an updated bibliography of Hugh Nibley’s works has been made available.

An article by Hugh Nibley has also been made available that has not been published in The Collected Works called “Beyond Politics.”  The talk was given on October 26, 1973 to the Pi Sigma Alpha honor society in the Political Science Department at BYU. It first appeared in BYU Studies 15/1 (1974): 3–28; and was reprinted in Nibley on the Timely and the Timeless.

I’m still curious if these articles available here are still unpublished elsewhere in The Collected Works.  If anyone knows, I’d be interested to find out if they have been published or will be published.

Buy the Complete Set of The Collected Works of Hugh Nibley

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The Collected Works of Hugh Nibley

The Collected Works of Hugh Nibley

A reader asks, “Do you know if it is possible to buy the complete writings, books, etc., of Bro. Nibley in one volume or perhaps on a CD Disc? (surely there must be a demand for this).”

It’s not possible to include all of Nibley’s writings in one volume, as the binding would be several feet thick – now that would be one big book! I also don’t know of a single CD that includes all his writings. Most of Hugh Nibley’s writings are now contained in The Collected Works of Hugh Nibley, which has become a 19 volume series of books compiled and published by the Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies (FARMS), and the Neal A. Maxwell Institute at BYU.  [Read more…]

The Universal Creation Song

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Music is a fundamental part of worship, and was even more so anciently than it is today.  Before the printed word made the sacred word so accessible to the masses, it was passed on from generation to generation orally.  But this was not just the spoken word.  In order for the word to be remembered and said the same way over and over again, over decades and centuries, a mnemonic device was employed to facilitate the reciter.  This device was music.  The sacred word, every word, was put to music.

This can be seen in the way the Bible is written in Hebrew, one of the oldest languages in the world.  In Hebrew, particularly the Hebrew Bible, there are cantillation marks that specify how the text should be sung:  [Read more…]

Nibley’s ‘One Eternal Round’ Magnum Opus Published

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Book Cover

Book Cover

I know a lot of people who have been waiting for this book for many years.  One Eternal Round is the 19th volume in The Collected Works of Hugh Nibley, and is his magnum opus, the volume of materials he worked on for a very long time until the end of his life.  The book is described thus:

One Eternal Round is the culmination of Hugh Nibley’s thought on the book of Abraham and represents over fifteen years of research and writing. The volume includes penetrating insights into Egyptian pharaohs and medieval Jewish and Islamic traditions about Abraham; Greek, Egyptian, and Mesopotamian myths; the Aztec calendar stone; Hopi Indian ceremonies; and early Jewish and Christian apocrypha, as well as the relationship of myth, ritual, and history.

The final groundbreaking chapter delves into geometry and mathematical relationships depicted on Facsimile 2. All these are woven together into a magnificent tapestry of evidence demonstrating that the book of Abraham and its facsimiles represent actual ancient materials and traditions. This book would not have come to fruition without the efforts of co-author Michael D. Rhodes. Includes illustrations by Michael P. Lyon.

I hope to soon get a copy and write my reflections about it.  The book is available from the BYU Bookstore and Deseret Book.