The World and the Prophets

In 1954, Hugh Nibley delivered a series of weekly lectures on KSL Radio. The series called “Time Vindicates the Prophets,” was given in answer to those who were challenging the right of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to call themselves Christians.

Just as the Church’s beliefs and institutions were under attack when these lectures were first given, so today’s critics are again attacking the Latter-day Saints’ conception of God, their claim to continuous revelation, their belief in Joseph Smith as a prophet of God, their acceptance of the Book of Mormon as a true record, and their insistence that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the true church of Jesus Christ. The answers given by professor Nibley then are as valid today as they are timely.

Dr. Nibley writes: “We make no attempt to argue out the position of the Church . . . Here we are simply indicating briefly that for better or worse, the Mormons consistently find themselves in a company of ancient Saints and, accordingly far removed from the ways of conventional Christians… It is an historical, not a theological or philosophical, vindication of our prophets.” But Professor Nibley does far more than point out identities of doctrines, practices, and institutions between Latter-day Saints and Christians.

He also describes with great clarity how the Church changed from an organization with inspired prophets into a thoroughly different and alien institution built upon the learning of men. He shows how prophecy was replaced with self-induced mystical experience, and how the magical wonder-making of the pagans was substituted for the gifts of the spirit.

About the Author

Hugh Nibley

A new "Nibley Library" page is currently under construction that will feature Nibley treasures untold. In the meantime, here's a list of Nibley's contributions to FARMS and the Maxwell Institute over the years. Hugh Nibley was one of the most gifted scholars in the LDS Church. He graduated summa cum laude from UCLA and completed his PhD as a University Fellow at UC Berkeley. He taught at Claremont College in California before serving in military intelligence in World War II. From 1946 until his death in 2005, he was associated with and taught at Brigham Young University.