Customer Reviews

Approaching Zion (The Collected Works of Hugh Nibley, Vol 9)

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I have read most of the published writings of Hugh Nibley and this book is my favorite. Drawing lessons from the past, Dr. Nibley shows us exactly how far we really are from the Zion ideal and what we must do to get there. And the changes required do not leave us in our comfort zone. A must read for any person truly wanting to reach a high spiritual plane. I would rate this book as one of the great classics in LDS literature. John Walsh, Editor, All About Mormons web site.

This book is one of the keystones of my "intellectual bibliography." It has changed my thoughts, words, and deeds. I cannot praise it too highly. It deserves six or seven stars!

This book is a collection of talks that circulated underground at BYU, and were finally solidified into this terrible tome. Terrible in that you get shaken to the core, and forced to stare at your crass nakedness. The book discusses the distinctions between Zion and Babylon, and why the two will never mix.

Chapters include "Zion: a distant view," "Work we must, but the luch is free," and its follow-up"What kind of work." Also, exemplifying Nibley's scintillating humor, there is "How to get rich." And the perennial "Zeal without Knowledge" is worth the price of the book.

Non-LDS readers will seee the Latter-day Saints at theri best and worst--the best dreams, ideals, and hoped that come from their religion are elaborated. And their worst shortcomes are also held up to the light in all their uglyness. This book is a gateway into the soul of what Latter-day Saints are trying to do and trying to be.

Latter-day Saints will have the perceptions of their religion burnt, melted down, and recast. You will never hold Family Home Evening again in the same way. Your sights will be lifted and your hearty renewed and set like flint back to heaven.

!!READ THIS BOOK!!

And that title says *alot*, coming from me. Covey's book was life changing for me, but ended up proving to be merely a precursor (albeit an excellent one) to "Approaching Zion."

I agree with the above sentiments that this is a trans-denominational text (though it obviously focuses on the LDS--a.k.a "Mormons"), and, quite frankly, this book altered my view of my world as radically as "7 Habits" did; after 27 years, I finally begin to have a much more clear cut idea of what my beliefs entail-- and a real desire to follow through with those beliefs.

Over the past year, since reading it, I've felt closer to my God (as I was stimulated to live my religion more fully), and have carried through with the inspiration to seek deeper knowledge and understanding about life and its many facets.

I honestly wish I had read--and taken to heart-- "Approaching Zion" before going to college; it would have had a remarkable impact on the way I'd have gone about my education.

Top ratings for "Approaching Zion."

This is Hugh Nibley at his most personal and most challenging. Here he expresses his faith, insights, and commitment to trusting the Lord and taking his covenants most seriously. He hammers home again and again that we receive everything from the Lord and that we are blind to many of the blessings we have all around us. We refuse to take them because we are after the things of this world and are of no worth, though we have been warned to turn away from them.

Dr. Nibley implores us to begin living the Law of Consecration. He gives us no quarter. We know what it means, we know how to do it, and we know the covenants we have made. We also know the promises the Lord has made to us concerning this Law. I don't know about you, but I find this beyond what I can do understand or do in my current circumstances. Yet, I feel the need to ponder what the author is telling me and to move towards this principle of life.

These are essays and papers that were written since the 1970s. Many are published here for the first time (unless you read them as papers from FARMS). As I say, these are very challenging writings. Not because they are hard to understand, but because they are challenging in very serious ways. Dr. Nibley takes the gospel very seriously and literally. He points out to us that we have too often inverted values to our detriment. He deplores the way education has changed and that learning and thinking have been replaced by feeling and degree accumulation.

The last few essays in the book are among the most directly challenging to our present way of life. His discussion of Aristotle's notion of goods of first and second intent is wide-ranging and quite informative. The last essay on the atonement is quite beautiful and insightful. I think my favorite essay is his funeral address for one of his friends.

Nibley's plain speaking about his faith in the atonement and the challenge it presents us for our lives here on earth and in eternity is inspiring. The writings here bear careful reading and re-reading and then meditation. You will have to change your life if you take them seriously. And that is unsettling and that is what we ask teachers to do: to shake up our lives.

Dr. Nibley continues his great teaching.

"Approaching Zion" is THE most powerful book I have ever read. In it, Nibley characterizes the ideological differences between Zion and Babylon -- an unyielding quest for money, power and fame verses a single-minded devotion for gaining knowledge and wisdom. He denounces society's preoccupation with gaining wealth and our compulsion to convert and measure life, trees, animals, time and earth into cold, hard cash. He shows how we as individuals use the concepts of business, career and economy as a modern day golden calf which allow us to close our eyes to discrepancies between the things we value and the things we accept and do. The cause of poverty is not over-population or idleness, according to Nibley, but greed and the desire to be better and have more than the Jones's. After we have sufficient for our needs, we cannot in all good conscience watch others suffer from a lack of the simple necessities of life. In the eyes of Nibley every one is equal and deserves equal, regardless of intellect, strength or professional status. This book is not recommended for member's of the million dollar CEO's club and is intended primarily for member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Later-day Saints (Mormon's).

I am not LDS, but I heard great things about this book and decided to listen to it on CD. I was really surprised by what Nibley had to say! I loved this book and I think LDS Christians and other Christian denominations should make it a must-read.It is so unlike most LDS thought in print right now. Nibley challenged me on many fronts- but esp. on money and its place in Zion. He is a strong believer in the law of consecration (the LDS belief that all that we own should be dedicated to God and his kingdom- like the United Order I think). I loved listening to his interpretation of scriptural passages on this topic. He writes hard truths that we as Christians (and members of the LDS church in particular) need to act on. His vision is Radical (with a capital R!)! and beautiful! it makes you wish we could start working seriously towards building Zion as Nibley describes it...

Hugh Nibley, iconoclast extraordinaire, is at his best in this wonderful collection of essays and talks that try to shake people out of their comfort zone. This book is far and away the most readable of all Nibley's works and could be the most gripping non-fiction book I have ever read.

The basic thrust of the book is that people today (Mormons not exempt) are focused on making money, and this has led to the ignoring of more important things. Nibley has great talks on The Law of Consecration, Spiritual Gifts, and working at the right things. It is fair to say that this book has been one of the most influential of my life (I have read it several times over since first reading it 3 years ago).

Hugh Nibley, one of the greatest scholars of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons), offers teachings in Approaching Zion that truly span all religious belief. This book is not exclusively for Latter-day Saints and those who avoid it on that basis are really missing philosophies that are sorely needed in our materialistic, selfish world.

Nibley cuts right to heart of things when he discusses the need for people (again, not just Mormons) to be content in the simple things of life, to avoid the grinding process of materialism and to find solace in truly reaching out to the poor in society by literally sharing our vast monetary wealth in ways that will truly change the world.

NIbley speaks pointedly to those who somehow believe that the new car, big house, oppulent life mentality is the just rewards to professional diligence, giving lip service to appropriate charity but carefully denying the poor the levels of help that they need. Nibley states very clearly that the materialistic will find his views hard to swallow.

Look past the "mormonisms" in this book and find a wealth of ideas that will appeal to anyone who truly wants to take personal steps to implement world-changing philosophies in his or her life.

Grappling with the ideas assembled in this collection of speeches and essays is important for anyone wanting to live as Christ would have us live - but it is essential for members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Nibley explains why the economics of Babylon can never build Zion and how our attachment to them decays our souls, saps divine power from our lives and finally, destroys us. He urges readers to abandon the broken methods of the world and instead rely 100% on the merits, model and methods of Christ.

The primary subject of this very candid book bothered the author for decades. He explains that he successfully avoided writing about it for years, believing that many would find its content "odious" at best and at worst, that it would stir up anger among those it was meant to help. However, he explains, with advancing years he finally decided he would "start reading the scriptures" (anyone familiar with the author's life and works begins chuckling at this point) and, he concludes, he found he could not avoid the subject any longer.

This book will stimulate thought. As his points settle in, it may induce unsettling insights. Perhaps, if you are fortunate, it will cause you (and those you share this book with) to depart from and finally abandon the soul destroying lies of a world captivated by money, and finally free, begin to approach Zion clothed in real power.

This is Nibley's most assessable work. All are worth reading, but if you read only one of his collections, make it this one.

First of all, this book is geared to temple-endowed remembers of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. So if you want a basic book, I recommend "The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ," or "Standing For Something," by Gordon B. Hinckley, the world-leader of the Church., or "A Marvelous Work and a Wonder," by LeGrand Richards, or "Our Search For Happiness," by M. Russell Ballard. These books are designed as introductory texts, and explain our history, an what our basic beliefs are, and why we build temples.

This book, however, is written by a member for members, and has a very cutting edge to it. It is a very sharp and repeated call to live after the manner of happiness, after the united order, or, in short, after the manner of Zion.

This book is a collection of samizdat discourses that circulated underground at Brigham Young University. Dr. Nibley has the academic freedom to speak rather bluntly on the current economic order of things. He is not a communist, or a capitalist, but a third party-a consecrationist. He believes in restoring the early Christian order of things that prevailed in the primitive church (See Acts 2:32-37)

This book shakes you to the core as Dr. Nibley drives a stake thought the heart of the vampire of greed and selfishness. It it not all attack, though. This book opens your mind to focus on the things test matter, the eternal things, the peaceable things of the gospel.