Hugh Nibley

[noodle]

I hear that Hugh Nibley died today at age 94. Nibley, and daughter Martha Beck (a la Oprah's "O" magazine fame and other books) have been in the news lately because of her upcoming book due out next week entitled, "Leaving the Saints: How I Lost the Mormons and Found My Faith." You can look it up on Amazon.com, but she accuses her father of sexual abuse. Apparently the siblings vehemently deny the sexual abuse accusations. I've never read any of Nibley's stuff, but I know that he wrote "No,Ma'am, That's not History...," a rebuttal to Fawn Brodie's book. Any thoughts on this, folks? :confused:

[Born Free]

I hear that Hugh Nibley died today at age 94. Nibley, and daughter Martha Beck (a la Oprah's "O" magazine fame and other books) have been in the news lately because of her upcoming book due out next week entitled, "Leaving the Saints: How I Lost the Mormons and Found My Faith." You can look it up on Amazon.com, but she accuses her father of sexual abuse. Apparently the siblings vehemently deny the sexual abuse accusations. I've never read any of Nibley's stuff, but I know that he wrote "No,Ma'am, That's not History...," a rebuttal to Fawn Brodie's book. Any thoughts on this, folks? :confused:

It is my understanding that the most exhausting and convoluted response to the BoA exposure was mounted by Nibley.

Ultimately it was a "Bulls#it baffles brains" exercise, which convinced no one on the outside and settled the anxious sheep on the inside.

Daryl

[pseudogratix]

I hear that Hugh Nibley died today at age 94.
Some links:
http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,600114447,00.html
http://tv.ksl.com/index.php?nid=5&sid=152650
http://www.timesandseasons.org/index.php?p=1998
http://www.millennialstar.org/index.php/2005/02/24/hugh_nibley_has_passed_away
http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,600114447,00.html
http://www.hughnibleydefense.com/

[Jeff_Ricks]

Good ol' Hubert Nibley. It was his book Temple and Cosmos that was the last straw for me. It finally convinced me that the Church is not true.

I have to laugh at this statement in the press release published in our local newspaper: "His work was marked by 'brilliance, unbelievable erudition,' said Daniel Peterson, a BYU professor and FARMS review editor." Hahahahahah! I agree with Daryl's assessment. He was brilliant only as a blower of smoke. He was gifted at appearing scholarly while saying little of importance. Virtually no one outside of the Church references his works. He was a legend in his own mind and own culture. I read somewhere recently that if he wasn’t a Mormon he’d probably be a shoe salesman because he wasn’t a very good scholar.

Jeff

[peter_mary]

I know that he wrote "No,Ma'am, That's not History...," a rebuttal to Fawn Brodie's book. Any thoughts on this, folks? :confused:

I really don't want to "bash" ol' Hugh, especially at his passing. He was the quintessential appologist for the Church, and as such, I believe he sacrificed his academic integrity to protect what he believed. I have no knowledge concerning any of the allegations of his daughter, but it is my experience that victims seldom make those stories up...

But I did read "No Ma'am, that's Not My History," and I found it to be the most patronizing, marginalizing, icky book I'd read in a long, long time. In a case of classic church apologetics, he attempted to discredit Fawn Brodie rather than offer anything of real substance to counter her arguments. Sure, there were a few tired old excuses that only work if you are a believer FIRST before you are a scholar, but nothing of substance. But the tone...oh, the tone! It was belittling, humiliating and just plain mean.

Icky, icky book. :Puking

That said, my condolescences to his family, and may they find peace in knowing he lived long and well.

Paul