Our Daily Dead

NY Times
ugh W. Nibley, a Mormon religious scholar who was one of the most active and outspoken defenders of Mormon writings and teachings, died yesterday at his home in Provo, Utah. He was 94.

A spokesman for the family, Chris Thomas, said Dr. Nibley had been in declining health in recent months.

Though not a member of the formal hierarchy of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Dr. Nibley, a professor emeritus of ancient scripture at Brigham Young University, was regularly called on by senior church officials to research and respond to questions about or criticisms of Mormon teachings.

Unlike many previous Mormon defenders, Dr. Nibley used his training as a historian to support Mormon beliefs, making academic examinations of the origins and documentation of events and people in Mormon history. He focused his expertise on the Mormon Church’s most sacred texts, particularly the Book of Mormon and the Pearl of Great Price, a collection of the writings of Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism.

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