No, Ma'am, That's Not History
No, Ma'am, That's Not History is a short work written by Hugh Nibley to criticize Fawn M. Brodie's biography of Joseph Smith, No Man Knows My History. Nibley accuses Brodie of inconsistency and improper historical methodology. Scholars have criticized No, Ma'am for using the same kind of hyperbole that Nibley critiques in Brodie. Nibley's defenders explain that his acerbic satire does use similar rhetorical tools as Brodie does, which is part of its attention-grabbing intent. The Salt Lake Tribune described the book as "wildly popular" in Utah.[1]
First edition cover | |
| Author | Hugh Nibley |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Subject | Mormon studies |
| Genre | Apologetics |
| Publisher | Bookcraft |
Publication date | 1946 |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 62 |
| OCLC | 4388256 |
| LC Class | BX8670.2 .B76 N42 |
Background
Fawn Brodie's No Man Knows My History: The Life of Joseph Smith (1945) had a mixed reception when it was first published.[2] Contemporary newspapers praised it as a definitive biography. In 1971, Marvin S. Hill wrote that the biography had long been considered "the standard work on the life of Joseph Smith."[2] Former Latter-day Saint and novelist Vardis Fisher wrote in 1945 that her work was an "excellent analysis" but her proposal that Smith was a self-interested fraud was pursued overzealously.[3] Latter-day Saint scholars, including Nibley, severely criticized the book.[4] No, Ma'am, That's Not History: A Brief Review of Mrs. Brodie's Reluctant Vindication of a Prophet She Seeks to Expose was published as a 62-page monograph published in 1946. Nibley wrote No, Ma'am as a personal project.[5] The work was reissued in 1959 as a pamphlet.[6] Nibley was highly educated in classical history and rhetoric. He did not specialize in American or Mormon history.[7] Nibley later wrote extensively about the "oriental" parallels of the Book of Mormon that he mentioned as an aside in No, Ma'am.[8]
Summary
Nibley accused Brodie of cherry-picking her arguments. In the case of the testimonies of Smith's neighbors, Nibley wrote that Brodie accepts their courtroom testimonies only when it suits her argument. Nibley described Brodie as misusing historical parallels and claimed that there were far better parallels to the Book of Mormon in "Oriental literature".[9]
Nibley criticized Brodie's description of Joseph Smith. He wrote that in her view, "Joseph Smith was a complete imposter... but he meant well." This was worse than an blatantly anti-Mormon view that Joseph Smith was totally depraved, because it was "more plausible".[10] Nibley wrote that "no blundering, dreaming, undisciplined, shallow and opportunistic fakir could have left behind what Joseph Smith did, both in men's hearts and on paper."[10] The proof that Brodie claimed for Joseph Smith's purported later fabrication of the first vision relied on an "argument of silence" – that newspapers had not mentioned Smith's first vision. Nibley argued that since Joseph Smith was an obscure farm boy, that it was unconvincing to expect newspapers to mention his experience at the time. He also wrote that things "of a transcendent and 'soul-shattering nature'" are not typically reported to the press.[11] He presented many counter-arguments to Brodie's arguments, using logic to show inconsistency or casting doubt on her sources.[12] He also criticized her psycho-historical method, stating that historians cannot know what hidden emotions Joseph or Emma Smith felt unless they have a source that says so.[13]
Reception
No, Ma'am positioned Nibley as a defender of the historicity of the Book of Mormon, impressing general authorities in the LDS Church.[14] The Salt Lake Tribune reports that it became "wildly popular" in Utah.[1] Outside the church, historians were not impressed with No, Ma'am. Dale Morgan, a historian who helped Brodie while she wrote the biography, found Nibley "intoxicated with his own language". Stanley S. Ivins, a critic of the Church's polygamy practices, criticized No, Ma'am for misrepresenting Brodie and Church history. Juanita Brooks stated that Nibley's zeal caused him to "make some statements almost as far fetched as [Brodie's]."[14][15] In a letter to her parents, Brodie wrote that Nibley's critique was "a flippant and shallow piece". She further stated "If that [Nibley's critique] is the best a young Mormon historian can offer, then I am all the certain that the death of B. H. Roberts meant the end of all that was truly scholarly and honest in orthodox Mormon historiography."[16]
Later scholars expressed both criticism and admiration for No, Ma'am. Writing in 1989, Mormon historian Newell G. Bringhurst states that Nibley "made some rather extreme statements of his own"; for example: "The gospel as the Mormons know it sprang full-grown from the words of Joseph Smith. It has never been worked over or touched up in any way, and is free of revisions and alterations."[17] In his analysis of Nibley's treatment of Joseph Smith, Richard Bushman notices that No, Ma'am does not defend Joseph Smith's character, but rather, attacks Brodie's "scholarship and reasoning". Bushman said that the tract, oft-criticized for its sarcasm, was "a pleasure for me to discover on rereading it how on the mark it was."[18] In David J. Whittaker's 1991 forward to Nibley's collected apologetic works, he described Nibley's approach in his apologetic work as "biting satire" which "invokes some of the critics' own rhetorical standbys, such as ridicule and caricature" that is sometimes "dismissed as flippant".[19] Whittaker explained that Nibley focused on published criticism, and that many manuscript sources have since become available from the Church History Library and correct Nibley's arguments. These manuscript sources show the various accounts of Joseph Smith's first vision, and his involvement in money digging, including his trial in 1826.[20]
According to Ronald Helfrich, author of Mormon Studies: A Critical History, No, Ma'am was "a turning point in the history of Mormon apologetics and polemics" because it used academic language in its arguments. Nibley's patronizing language, Helfrich posited, could be a reflection of Nibley's own "patriarchalism and paternalism".[15] Nibley's rhetorical style became popular with defenders of the church.[15] In 1979, Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies (FARMS) was founded and published "Nibley-style apologetics and polemics".[15] The organization published FARMS Review from 1989 until 2011. FARMS Review describes itself as helping readers to "make informed choices and judgements" about books in Mormon studies.[21] Daniel Peterson, a BYU professor of Islamic studies, a former chairman of the board at FARMS, and a writer who followed in Nibley's apologetic tradition, called Nibley "the foremost apologist for Mormonism" during the latter half of the 20th century.[22][23] Peterson described Nibley's approach to apologetics as an attitude that "the best defense is a good offense."[24] FARMS Review contained a review that Ron Priddis, who was the managing editor of Signature Books,[25] an independent Mormon publishing house, called "tabloid scholarship".[26] Signature Books published An Insider's View of Mormon Origins by Grant Palmer, a former LDS institute director; FARMS Review published five negative reviews of the book. In the book, Palmer discussed naturalistic explanations for Joseph Smith's production of scripture, including the Book of Mormon, as well as issues surrounding genetics and the Book of Mormon. In Davis Bitton's review in FARMS Review, he wondered how often Palmer attended church. Priddis called this "innuendo and character assassination" inappropriate for the venue of a scholarly review.[26][27][28]
References
- ^ a b Wolfson, Hannah (7 September 1999). "Biographer Brodie Is the Subject Of a New Book". Salt Lake Tribune. p. B4. Continued from Wolfson, Hannah (7 September 1999). "Now We Know Her History". Salt Lake Tribune. p. B1.
- ^ a b Shipps 2007, pp. 499–500.
- ^ Fisher 1945, p. 5.
- ^ Shipps 2007, pp. 500.
- ^ Petersen 2002, p. 225; Spencer 2021, p. 94
- ^ Whittaker 1991, p. xv.
- ^ Whittaker 1991, pp. xiii, xv.
- ^ Spencer 2021, p. 95.
- ^ Nibley 1946, p. 14.
- ^ a b Nibley 1946, p. 8.
- ^ Nibley 1946, pp. 21–24; Turner 2021, p. 100
- ^ Spencer 2021, p. 95Turner 2021, p. 101
- ^ "Since he betrayed nothing by look, word, or gesture of his inner feelings, we take the liberty to report that he was really thinking of a fishing trip made on his seventh birthday; there is no evidence for this, but of course his thoughts were perfectly concealed, you know."Nibley 1946, p. 40; "When Joseph Smith faced Emma for the last time, 'he knew that she thought him a coward.' So Brodie knows that Emma knew that Joseph knew what Emma thought! Is this history?"Nibley 1946, p. 54
- ^ a b Petersen 2002, pp. 225–227.
- ^ a b c d Helfrich 2021, p. 30.
- ^ Turner 2021, p. 101; Bringhurst 1996, p. 56
- ^ Nibley 1946, pp. 61–62; interpretation and quote from Bringhurst 1996, p. 56
- ^ Bushman 2010, p. 9.
- ^ Whittaker 1991, p. xiv.
- ^ Whittaker 1991, p. xvi.
- ^ "Mormon Studies Review". scholarsarchive.byu.edu. Brigham Young University. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
- ^ Peterson, Daniel C. (4 February 2010). "The need for apologetics; Hugh Nibley was foremost". Deseret News. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
- ^ Peterson, Daniel (2021). "Nibley as an Apologist". Hugh Nibley Observed. The Interpreter Foundation in collaboration with Book of Mormon Central and FAIR. p. 170. ISBN 9781890718930.
- ^ De Groote, Michael (5 February 2010). "Hugh Nibley's defense of truth". Deseret News. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
- ^ . signaturebooks.org. Signature Books. 31 October 2010. Archived from the original on 31 October 2010.
- ^ a b Priddis, Ron. . Signature Books. Archived from the original on 29 January 2007.
- ^ "An Insider's View of Mormon Origins". Signature Books.
- ^ Allen, James B. (2002). "An Insider's View of Mormon Origins". BYU Studies. 43 (2).
Works cited
- Bringhurst, Newell G. (1996). "Applause, Attack, and Ambivalence: Varied Responses to No Man Knows My History". In Bringhurst, Newell G. (ed.). Reconsidering No Man Knows My History: Fawn M. Brodie and Joseph Smith in Retrospect. Logan: Utah State University Press. pp. 39–59. doi:10.2307/j.ctt46nwv5. ISBN 0585031207.
- Bushman, Richard Lyman (2010). "Hugh Nibley and Joseph Smith". Journal of Book of Mormon Studies. 19 (1): 4–13. doi:10.5406/jbookmormotheres.19.1.0004. S2CID 254364342. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
- Fisher, Vardis (25 November 1945). "Mormonism and Its Yankee Prophet". Book Review. New York Times. p. 5.
- Helfrich, Ronald (2021). Mormon Studies: A Critical History. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc. ISBN 9781476682617.
- Nibley, Hugh (1946). No, Ma'am, That's Not History: A brief review of Mrs. Brodie's reluctant vindication of a prophet she seeks to expose. Salt Lake City: Bookcraft.
- Petersen, Boyd (2002). Hugh Nibley: A Consecrated Life. Salt Lake City: Greg Kofford Books. ISBN 1-58958-020-6.
- Shipps, Jan (September 2007). "Richard Lyman Bushman, the Story of Joseph Smith and Mormonism, and the New Mormon History". Journal of American History. 94 (2): 499–500. doi:10.2307/25094962. JSTOR 25094962 – via JSTOR.
- Spencer, Joseph M. (2021). "Standing on the (Shrugging) Shoulders of a Giant: Notes on Hugh Nibley's Contribution to Book of Mormon Studies". Journal of Book of Mormon Studies. 30: 90–110. doi:10.5406/jbookmormstud2.30.2021.0090. S2CID 254346180. Retrieved 4 January 2023.
- Turner, John G. (2021). "Sincerity, Imagination, and Mythmaking: Fawn Brodie and the First Vision". Journal of Mormon History. 47 (4): 95–109. doi:10.5406/jmormhist.47.4.0095. S2CID 246615613. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
- Whittaker, David J. (1991). "Forward". Tinkling Cymbals and Sounding Brass: The Art of Telling Tales about Joseph Smith and Brigham Young. Vol. 11. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company and Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies. ISBN 0875795161.