Approaching Zion by Hugh Nibley


Connie
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KerryShirts,

I wouldn't waste your time on Barter Town. That user got banned. He kept beating the anti-Mormon drum, even after many warnings to knock it off. I doubt he even comes here anymore.

Obviously, you would agree with me when I say that Hugh Nibley was an exceptionally intelligent person. In my own estimation of his style of discourse, I would say that he was a lot like a talking doll hooked up to a car battery. He just never could seem to talk fast enough to convey all the things he knew. I've watched him go on and on about some ancient ruins he'd personally examined, and it seemed there just wasn't enough time given to him for him to tell all that he knew, hence, he spoke so quickly.

I hope it's not inferred that I'm measuring his IQ by the velocity of his speech. I'm just trying to make the point that this guy accumulated more information in his brain than the vast majority of people ever have. He was nothing less than a genius, in my view.

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  • 7 months later...
Approaching Zion is a collection of speeches and articles from the 1970s and 1980s strongly criticizing the materialism and obsession with wealth in contemporary LDS culture. It is a call for a return to the principles of the Law of Consecration. Nibley's argument is that even if the LoC isn't formally followed by the Church, we have individually made sacred covenants to live those principles, and we are therefore obligated to do so. It is tempting to dismiss Nibley's views as extreme and unrealistic (he more or less states that it is sinful to live much beyond a subsistence level), but his arguments are strongly supported by the scriptures (especially the D&C) and the teachings of Joseph Smith and Brigham Young. There is a lot of overlap and repetition of themes in the book, and I have found it best to read the essays individually and digest each one before moving on to the next. Of all of Nibley's works, this is perhaps the most essential for us to read and understand--especially today, when the sustainability of the way we have been living has been a more urgent issue. (By the way, you can read Approaching Zion here--"Work We Must, But the Lunch is Free" is a must-read.)
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  • 6 months later...

I just recently finished reading the book and I think it is truly amazing. It has totally changed my view on economics, money and the way society should function. The subject matter was well researched by Nibley, and draws on so many scriptural passages and teachings of prophets it is impossible to ignore the message he is trying to get across. I would love to see some one even try to form a rebuttal against what is written in the book, because it seems that scripturally, doctrinally, and what the prophets have spoken agree very much in what is presented in the book.

I too would like to hear what others have thought of the book and if it has affected the way they live or view the world.

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  • 11 months later...
  • 3 months later...

I highly recommend Approaching Zion. I am a huge Nibley fan. Although I admit I have often been too lazy to read him as much as I would like. Lately I have been listening to audio of his lectures, which is a much easier way to absorb it, I find.

The thing about Nibley is that you know he has a solid testimony and is a faithful member. He does criticize church culture sometimes. But I have never heard him criticize the prophet or apostles directly. He gave a lecture about this topic titled "Criticizing the Brethren" - as in, don't do it. He sustained his church leaders, which is the mark of a faithful Mormon. Do we as members have room for improvement? Oh yes, we sure do, myself included. Nibley is great at pointing out ways in which we follow Babylon culture instead of living the gospel. Approaching Zion points this out very clearly.

He always realized that faith comes foremost. Despite a lifetime of scholarship, he said it that wasn't actually the most important thing: "We're just sort of dabbling around, playing around, being tested for our moral qualities, and above all the two things we can be good at, and no other two things can we do: we can forgive and we can repent" (Faith of an Observer, 1985 FARMS film).

Nibley was a great LDS scholar, as others have commented. The continued support of the BYU Neal Maxwell Institute (formerly FARMS) is evidence enough of that.

I happen to have known some of the students who fact-checked Approaching Zion when it was published. One or two commented that he sometimes took some liberties with his sources and/or didn't fully cite them. But their overall opinion seems to have been that he was a good scholar, and that he had blazed many paths that others would later pursue further.

For me, Nibley is a model scholar-saint. He is both, as we should all be, not just one or the other. Nibley shows us how it's done.

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