Brother Brigham Challenges the Saints

This is the 13th collection of writings of Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS) author Hugh Nibley. All of his collected writings are worth reading, although some can be fairly esoteric (such as his writings on the Pearl of Great Price and Joseph Smith Papyri). I consider this his second best collection (just behind his masterful "Approaching Zion"). And I would never use the word "intellectual" to describe Nibley because so much he wrote condemned so-called intellectuals caught up in their love of academic robes, titles and disdain for the rest of inferior humanity. The author was a scholar of the first rank - fluent in over 20 modern and ancient languages. He wrote many academic and popular articles published in both scholarly and religious periodicals. He spent most of his life as a Professor of Religion at Brigham Young University where he received just about every possible teaching honor. He influenced countless current scholars in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. There is an excellent biography written by Boyd Petersen (see my review). He was fairly controversial at times with his prescient pro-environment and anti-war opinions. One of his many children recently stirred up some muck by retrieving absurdly false memories of abuse that have been proven as false as any such charges can be by everyone involved. This collection includes writings over the entire span of Nibley's writings. Some portions of the included articles are redundant as Nibley often used the same quotes and portions of previous writings in his articles. Nevertheless, these articles are excellent compilations of the teachings of the LDS church's second prophet, Brigham Young. These articles are divided into 4 sections: Environment, Politics, Education, and Leadership. In all of these, Nibley chastises complacency and points out needed improvements. The unifying theme of all these writings is that Nibley transmits the ideas and quotations of Brigham Young. Although Brigham Young only went to school 11 days, his wisdom is nearly unmatched and Nibley uses Young's writings to good effect. By the end of the book, I had identified some 2 pages of quotes that I found memorable - about evenly split between those by Brigham Young and those by Nibley. Highly recommended.

Of the multi-volume series of Hugh Nibley compilations (all pretty good, actually), this is the most consistently accessible...probably because, like Brigham himself, these articles tend to focus on real-world, less academic issues than his highly technical theologial writings. Of particular interest are the articles concerning the environment, which (perhaps inadvertently) make a compelling argument that both Brigham Young and Joseph Smith were early exemplars of what we today call environmentalism. I believe that these writings can and will contribute to new phenomenon in the Mormon world: The gradual evolution of a new LDS environmental ethic.

Nibley's work on Brigham Young proves to be thought-provoking in a day when a lot of the books paraded before us are simply kitsch. Nibley does an excellent job in bringing out classic words from Brigham Young that have too long collected dust. The sections on education, patriotism, the environment, and the media deserve reading and re-reading. Nibley has that rare strength of being able to take material that is hundreds and even thousands of years old and making it relative to our own time and our own situation. This book is no exception and is money well spent.