neal a. maxwell institute

TempleStudy.com Fireside Discussion – Introduction

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Welcome to our first fireside discussion at TempleStudy.com!  This discussion is taking place with a new innovative tool from Google called Hangouts, and specifically Hangouts on Air.  This allows up to ten panelists to take part in a discussion with full video/audio of each participant.  The “on air” portion means that it is streamed live to the world, and will be recorded also for later for viewing.  It will be streamed live on TempleStudy.com, and wherever else it is embedded.  See the original post about the idea.

The text we will be using as a springboard for our discussion in these firesides is Temple Worship: 20 Truths That Will Bless Your Life, by Andrew C. Skinner.  Deseret Book and BYU Religious Education note Dr. Skinner’s background:

Andrew C. Skinner is a professor of ancient scripture at Brigham Young University, was dean of Religious Education and the first executive director of BYU’s Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship. He holds master’s degrees in Biblical Hebrew and Jewish Studies and a Ph.D. in Near Eastern and European History, specializing in Judaism.  He is the author or co-author of over 100 publications.

We will have several great panelists participating in our discussion tonight, including myself, Frederick M. Huchel, Gary N. Anderson, Steve Reed, and Tevya Washburn. I thank them sincerely for participating in tonight’s discussion.  Thank you for coming!

The Rise and Fall of FARMS

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The Rise and Fall of FARMSI’m sure many of you are by now aware of what happened this past week at the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship at Brigham Young University.  I don’t want to rehash everything again here (you can read about it here, here, here, here, here, and here).  Suffice it to say that I am extremely disappointed, deeply saddened, and frankly appalled at the actions of one M. Gerald Bradford, Executive Director of the Maxwell Institute, as well as others at the Institute (some unknown), most specifically for the unimaginably rude and utterly undeserved public firing of Daniel C. Peterson, Editor of the Mormon Studies Review (formerly the FARMS Review), who has served fervently and with untiring dedication for the past twenty-three years since its inaugural issue in 1989, as well as his entire team of associate editors, including Louis C. Midgley, George L. Mitton, Gregory L. Smith and Robert White (some of whom are out of the country and may still not even know yet that they’ve been summarily handed their coats).  There aren’t words to describe how unprofessional, uncalled for, and how exquisitely ungrateful these actions are towards these devoted scholars, and the many other FARMS scholars who have been a part of the organization since 1979, and who in many ways have given their lives in sustaining and defending the kingdom of God.  For that, this is the curt note they got.

One view that has been mentioned several times by those involved is how these inconceivable few days of events has in reality arrived as the exclamation point on a very long internal struggle at the Institute over the last decade in defining its core mission.  That mission has consequently evolved in recent years.   [Read more…]

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…]

New Lecture Series Announced: The Work of Hugh W. Nibley

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Hugh W. Nibley (1910-2005)

Hugh W. Nibley (1910-2005)

A couple weeks ago The Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship announced a new series of lectures that will be given at BYU in honor of Hugh Nibley, on the 100th anniversary of his birth:

The Laura F. Willes Center for Book of Mormon Studies and Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, in conjunction with Religious Education and the Harold B. Lee library, will host a weekly lecture series on Thursday evenings during Winter semester of 2010. More information on this event will be posted soon.

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