In this letter to a BYU graduate student, Hugh Nibley advocates the program of the school of the prophets as a way to meet the challenges of academia. He explores four obvious ways of meeting the challenges of the learned world: ignoring them, running away from them, agreeing with them, or meeting the opposition on their own grounds.

Hugh Nibley begins by showing the interrelatedness of ancient records, regardless of their origin, a phenomenon called “pattemism.” He proposes that Joseph Smith presented the world with authentic ancient records. The Prophet brought forth many of the same concepts that are found in ancient temple libraries, such as the council in heaven during the premortal period, the casting out of Satan, the doctrine of the “two ways,” the fallen nature of mankind, and the need for a redeemer. Accompanying the doctrines is a body of rites or ordinances, and Nibley gives special attention to the Nag Hammadi documents.

Hugh Nibley discusses Reverend F. S. Spaulding’s handling of the booklet Joseph Smith as a Translator, concluding that Spaulding was partial in his method of consulting the opinions of the great Egyptologists of 1912 concerning the book of Abraham. An examination of their comments reveals inadequacy and inconsistency This paper anticipates the first section of the series A New Look at the Pearl of Great Price.

With characteristic energy, Hugh Nibley describes the character of Brigham Young and discusses his teachings. The issues explored in this essay include the problem of evil and the power of the devil, temptation and necessary opposition, consequences of sin, and truth obtained by the light of Christ.

John Sorenson proposes a plausible chronology for the Jaredites based on what is known of ancient American cultures through archaeology.

Ancient texts are too often approached using modern assumptions. Among those assumptions obstructing an understanding of ancient texts is the modern emphasis on originality and on writing as intellectual property. Ancient writers relished repetition—stories that were repeated in succeeding generations—over originality. The Bible is full of repeated or allusive stories, and the Book of Mormon often reinscribes this biblical emphasis on repetition. One such biblical reverberation in the Book of Mormon is Nephi’s ocean voyage, which evokes biblical stories of origination: creation, deluge, and exodus. These three stories of beginnings are carefully alluded to in Nephi’s own foundational story, exactly as we would expect to find in an ancient Hebraic text.

Economic systems are distinguished by their emphasis on equity and efficiency. Market controls are justified because of the need for equity. Free markets are justified because of the need for private incentives and efficiency. Most countries of the world today have adopted a combination of controls and free-market incentives. The Book of Mormon teaches that only through caring can equity and efficiency be simultaneously achieved.