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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I’m still curious if these articles available here are still unpublished elsewhere in The Collected Works.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.

Hugh Nibley Weekly Lecture Series Beginning Tonight at BYU

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Dr. Richard Bushman

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, are hosting a weekly lecture series that begins tonight, January 14th, 2010, at 7:00pm, and extends through Winter Semester 2010 on Thursday evenings in the Harold B. Lee Library Auditorium at BYU.

This lecture series is in honor of the 100th anniversary of Hugh Nibley’s birth this year.  Hugh Nibley was born on March 27, 1910.

The presenters at these lectures will include Richard Bushman, Robert Millet, Terry Ball, Daniel Peterson, Zina Petersen, Ann Madsen, Alex Nibley, Bert Wilson, John Welch, Marilyn Arnold, Eric Huntsman, and Gaballa Ali Gaballa.

Tonight’s lecture is by Richard Bushman, biographer of Joseph Smith (Rough Stone Rolling), and an editor of the Joseph Smith Papers Project.  His topic is “Nibley and Joseph Smith.”  Next week’s lecture, January 21st, will be by Robert Millet who will present on “Nibley and the Church.”

I’m looking forward to these lectures.  Hugh Nibley catapulted LDS scholarship and apologetics into a new dimension, and his work will affect many generations of Latter-day Saints to come.  His work on the temple has particularly influenced me, and many others I know.

Update 1/15/10: The lecture was wonderful last night.  And there’s good news!  There were three cameras there filming it, which I think they will continue for the series, which means that they are planning on putting it all on TV or making it available somehow for later viewing (perhaps online).  They also gave the rest of the series schedule of lectures:

  • 14 Jan – “Nibley and Joseph Smith” – Richard Bushman
  • 21 Jan – “Nibley and the Church” – Robert Millet
  • 28 Jan – “Nibley’s Early Education” – Zina Petersen
  • 4 Feb – “Nibley as Apologist” – Daniel Peterson
  • 11 Feb – “Nibley and the environment” – Terry Ball
  • 18 Feb – “Graduate School through BYU” – Alex Nibley
  • 25 Feb – “Nibley on the Bible” – Ann Madsen
  • 4 Mar – “Folklore on Nibley” – Bert Wilson
  • 11 Mar – “The Lasting Legacies of Hugh W. Nibley” – John W. Welch
  • 18 Mar – “Nibley and Classical Scholarship” – Eric Huntsman
  • 25 Mar – “Nibley on the Book of Mormon” – Marilyn Arnold
  • 1 Apr – “Nibley the Mentor” – Wilfred Griggs
  • 8 Apr – “Nibley, Egyptology & the Book of Abraham” – TBA

These lectures will all be held in the Harold B. Lee Library Auditorium (Level 1) at 7:00pm.  This is a great lineup!  If you plan on coming to these lectures, make sure you come early to get a seat, as the room was filled to overflowing last night.

Attaining the Resurrection in Mortality

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Margaret Barker

Margaret Barker

The use of those two words together, resurrection in mortality, appears to be perfectly incongruous at first glance.  In our common parlance in the Church we understand resurrection to be something that can only happen after mortality.  The resurrection “consists in the uniting of a spirit body with a body of flesh and bones, never again to be divided” ((“Resurrection.” LDS Bible Dictionary. http://scriptures.lds.org/en/bd/r/28)).  This is an event which happens only after there has been a separation of the spirit body from the mortal body through the process called death.  In my reading over the weekend, however, I came across a fascinating perspective from Margaret Barker which gives added meaning to the word resurrection, and our understanding of it, a meaning which can apply to us while still in our mortal estate. [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.

To keep up to date on news from the Maxwell Institute, follow their RSS feed.

The Lord Speaks Again: Ancient Temple Patterns in D&C 124

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William Weeks Nauvoo Temple architectural plan. (Click for larger view)

William Weeks Nauvoo Temple architectural plan. (Click for larger view)

It is my honor and pleasure to introduce a new guest blogger to TempleStudy.com, Matthew B. Brown.  Many of you may already be familiar with the great work of this historian, scholar, and author.  If you are not, I heartily recommend his work to you. One of my favorite books on the temple is by Br. Brown, The Gate of Heaven: Insights on the Doctrines and Symbols of the Temple.  A big thanks to Br. Brown for sharing his insights with us here on TempleStudy.com.  -Bryce

Guest Blogger: Matthew B. Brown holds a degree in history from Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. He is the author of ten books and has published articles with the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship at BYU (aka FARMS). Matthew serves as a volunteer researcher, editor, and respondent for The Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research (FAIR) and has spoken at several of their annual conferences. He has also been featured on TV and radio programs as well as at a number of seminars and symposiums.

On 19 January 1841 the Lord issued an important revelation through the Prophet Joseph Smith which is now known as Doctrine and Covenants section 124.1 There are many verses within this revelation where the Lord describes concepts associated with the Nauvoo temple. These concepts can be placed under five general categories so that they can be more easily evaluated: The Lord’s People, The Lord’s Commands, The Lord’s House, The Priesthood, and The Ordinances. This article is calculated to help students of the past more accurately understand what (and how much) the Lord revealed about the temple in Nauvoo, Illinois by the first month of the year in 1841. It is also designed to show intriguing connections between the Mormons who lived in the first half of the nineteenth century and what took place among the covenant people of the biblical period.  [Read more…]