Daughter's Denunciation of Historian Roils Mormon Church

[norml]

Daughter's Denunciation of Historian Roils Mormon Church

By T.R. Reid
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, May 8, 2005; Page A03

SALT LAKE CITY -- Although the Mormon Church is one of the wealthiest and fastest-growing Christian denominations, members of the faith often take a defensive stance toward the outside world. "Mormons of every stripe are obsessive about their image," historians Richard and Joan Ostling noted, "deeply concerned that their church appears to outsiders as a 'cult.' "

In the ongoing effort to enhance the church's image, no Mormon played a bigger role than Hugh Nibley, the multilingual teacher and scholar whose books, laden with footnotes and laced with quotations from ancient texts, make a meticulous argument that Mormon scripture reflects historic truth.



Martha Nibley Beck wrote a book criticizing the Mormons. (By Will Powers -- Associated Press)

But this spring, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been rocked by a furious attack on the beloved historian -- an attack that comes from his daughter, Martha Nibley Beck.

In an explosive memoir, Beck, 42, says that Nibley was a pedophile who abused her as a child while chanting ancient Egyptian prayers. She also says that her father's history books were fictional and that the extensive footnotes for which he was famous were simply made up.




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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/07/AR2005050700981.html

[Bruce McAuley]

1. Well, they ARE pretty strange, as well as wealthy...

"Mormons of every stripe are obsessive about their image," historians Richard and Joan Ostling noted, "deeply concerned that their church appears to outsiders as a 'cult.' "
Always have been obsessive, ask a Mormon some time about their "Magical Undergarments" and see what kind of answer you get!
LOL

Bruce

[oscar111]

2. arent they also always RW ? any know for sure?

i could be wrong, maybe they have a LW branch or two.

let me know

[Name removed]

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[Slyder]

5. Can't the footnotes be checked?

Having lived as a gentile in Utah, I also think the LDS Church is a bit weird. Can they truly be called Christian if they believe "as man is now, God once was; as God is now, man may become"? But in all fairness, can't the historian's sources and footnotes be checked? I mean, peer review and the ability to reproduce results is what scholarship is about, even religious scholarship.