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Temple and Cosmos: Beyond This Ignorant Present

Hugh W. Nibley; Don E. Norton (Editor), Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book Company, 1993, The Collected Works of Hugh Nibley, Volume 12, 6.75x9.25" hardbound, 597 pages. ISBN: 0875795234

In this treatment of the temple and ancient temple symbolism, Nibley explores how the temple is a symbolic microcosm of relationships between this mortal life and the eternal worlds. From the beginning of time, the temple has been the link between the chaos and dissolution of this temporal world and the beauty and permanence of the eternal realms.

In Temple and Cosmos, Nibley explains the relationship of the House of the Lord to the cosmos. In the first part of the volume, Nibley focuses on the nature, meaning, and history of the temple. In the second part he discusses the cosmic context of the temple.

Review Excerpts:

"Nibley's work on Temples, ancient and modern, are incredible. Many of the articles in this book were previously unpublished works. Others are from firesides and addresses at BYU and other places. All are generally aimed towards the LDS audience.

Scholars have, in the last 10 years, expanded on many of Nibley's proposed ideas. Scholars, LDS and non-LDS, have found similar conclusions as Nibley has proposed and have expanded on them (as one example on Nibley's One Eternal Round see Mircea Eliade The Myth of the Eternal Return (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1954) for more on "parallelism" see John M. Lundquist's The Temple: Meetingplace of Heaven and Earth and it's respective bibliography). Many students of temples of the ancient world would find few qualms with the conclusions expressed by Hugh Nibley as they relate to the temple.

This book is mostly directed toward the LDS audience. Despite this it may be informative to the beginning non-LDS student of the temple (especially as seen by the LDS mind). Other books may be suggested but many of the conlcusions would be the same." --Kevin K. Winters, 2000

"This is my favorite book in the collected works of Hugh Nibley. His insights and research on the nature and symbolism of the temple brought together ancient and modern temples in a way I have never thought of. I learned a great deal from this book and encourage anyone to read it." --Jared Smith, 2003

"This book is amazing. Nibley's grasp of the subject matter is truly astounding. While it is true that Nibley is a mormon apologist, this work is not skewed like many of his other works. This is his best effort. Whether you are mormon or not this book brings up a lot of intersting similarities with almost every ancient religion and their temple type. Zoroastrian fire temples being the most notable exception. a pure joy to read. Nibley does not go into depth concerning mormon temple ceremonies but many of the things he discuss will still be easily understood by the non-mormon reader. In addition, a large portion of the book is devoted to the actual structure of the temple as a microcosm of the universe. Also of note is his discusion of sacred vestments through the ages." --Ben Coats, 2002

Title: Temple and Cosmos: Beyond This Ignorant Present

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