Mormons and Catholics

To day I would like to report on this biography of a man who has my vote to qualify as a “Doctor of the Church” if a Mormon equivalent of the Catholic designation were to exist. A Consecrated Life was written by son-in-law Boyd Peterson (see a FARMS review of ACL here) and is a delightful saga covering 95 years of Mormon history through the eyes of an absent-minded professor. In my opinion, Peterson has written the best biography of a 20th century Mormon figure, although Sherie Dew’s and Gregory Prince’s coverage of Presidents Hinckley and McKay, respectively, deserve honorable mention. Dr. Hugh Nibley was the foremost Mormon intellectual, yet paradoxically always stressed the superiority of revelation over reasoning. I was saddened by his departure from this life last year as was Dr. Louis Midgley in his glowing tribute A Mighty Kauri Has Fallen.

Peterson alternates between presenting chronological chapters and chapters built around covering certain themes, such as surveying a what Nibley has written on specific topic. I have only read a small fraction of Nibley’s works and didn’t realize how much over the map they were. In addition to his writings on early Christianity (which I hope to get the Catholic side of the story in the future), he has written about ancient parallels found for Mormon scriptures and temple ritual, has written apologetically against anti-Mormon histories, and has written social criticism cutting against the grain of Mormon culture on pacificism, protecting the environment, and against pursuit of wealth.

The book has provided some good material for a few family conversations. My parents attended BYU during the heyday of star basketball player of Kresimer Cosic and of course were big fans. The country he was from now have their national basketball tournament named in his honor. My parents didn’t know the story of his conversion to the Mormon faith or Hugh Nibley’s involvement, which is covered in the book. Hugh Nibley also served as an intelligence officer during World War II and I have a brother who studies history, but more especially military history. Nibley had a number of narrow escapes into the adventures are more thoroughly covered in Sergeant Nibley, Ph.D. Relating some of the anecdotes prompted a family to go out and buy a copy, which I’m sure I’ll be borrowing here at some point.

What I liked most about the book though, was that Nibley navigated the challenges of maintaining his faith despite all the intellectual challenges to it. While some Mormon intellectuals, like Sterling McMurrin were taking a secular approach to Mormonism and using their influence to expand their cultural circle, Hughes stood his ground in asserting the primacy of the mantic over the sophic as he put it. When McMurrin asked him to explain his philosophy, Dr. Nibley chose rather to explain his experiences and testimony or “the situation [he] found [himself] in.” I was fascinated by the account of him as a young college student struggling with doubts. A reinstated former apostle, spontaneously approached him after a meeting and blessed him to soon receive answers. A week later, Nibley had a near-death experience, which resulted in a strengthening of his beliefs.