In a lecture to his students at Brigham Young Unversity, Hugh Nibley asked, ”Is it possible that nobody is doing what he should be doing?” In other words, are we all doing things that are just wasting our time, or do we have good intentions but are they still the wrong things we should be doing in life?
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Hugh Nibley said this in the lecture to his students:
“Now the shocking thought comes to us: Is it possible that nobody is doing what he should be doing? The answer is yes. It’s not only possible; that’s the situation. When the Lord Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith in the Grove, according to the oldest and best account of all—that of Frederick G. Williams, written in 1832-33 and dictated by Joseph Smith when he was only 26 years old. It’s different from the one we have in the Pearl of Great Price here because the Lord speaks in the first person. In the account we have here, it’s an indirect quotation (what the Lord told Joseph), but here the words to the Prophet when “he was only fourteen years old are, “The world at this time lieth in sin, and there is none that doeth good—no not one. Mine anger is kindling against the inhabitants of the world to visit them in this ungodliness.” There are those who do well and have good intentions, but that is not what it means. It means to do what they should be doing—the best possible thing. If you break an arm, I might with the best of intentions try to mend it, but I could be doing a lot of damage. I’m not doing any good. I’m doing more harm probably, though I mean well and get credit for that. The fact is we are not in a condition where anybody can do what he should be doing because we are not living by the heavenly order anymore. We are not living by the order for which the earth was designed and created; we are a million miles away from it, completely independent. So the Lord says, “There is none that doeth good, no not one and mine anger is kindling.”
Excerpt From Nibley’s Commentary On The Book of Mormon Volume 1 Hugh W. Nibley
The Lord to the Prophet Joseph Smith said, ”The world at this time lieth in sin, and there is none that doeth good—no not one. Mine anger is kindling against the inhabitants of the world to visit them in this ungodliness.”
In other words, He said that no single person on the earth was doing good – not a single one. The Lord went on to clarify this when he said, ”There is none that doeth good, no not one, and mine anger is kindling.”
Looking at it from the outside, it may seem harsh that the Lord said no one is “doing good.” Of course, the world has good in it, but like the question Hugh Nibley asked, ”Is it possible that nobody is doing what they are supposed to be doing?” Or are we wasting our lives away doing things that are not eternally important?
Do we spend our lives on pursuits that do not matter? Is that what our lives are filled with? This is a question that we can all ponder in our own lives.
Hugh Nibley then went on and said:
“ The thing is that this is where the Book of Mormon comes in. It’s like nothing else. It’s the only answer you are ever going to get to that question [why read the Book of Mormon] in this dispensation. In reading the Book of Mormon no one is ever doing something he shouldn’t be doing. Most of the time he would be doing probably the best thing he could possibly be doing. If it is not itself the best thing to be doing, it will quickly put you onto the best thing to be doing because it will “have a direct effect on you. It will change you; it will work on you. It is a personal, intimate document. It will hit you. You can’t just read the Book of Mormon and nothing else. It immediately puts you on the high road to what you should be doing, like no other book. And it will lead you directly into a course of thought or a course of action of the greatest significance to yourself and to the world you live in. In other words, it will enable you to break loose as nothing else can. Only the Book of Mormon breaks loose because it does break loose. It’s like nothing else. Now we have the direct revelations in the Doctrine and Covenants, etc., but the Book of Mormon was brought by an angel, a tangible thing. He gave it to Joseph. He gives this clinical description of how the angel was. This is something completely different.”
Excerpt From Nibley’s Commentary On The Book of Mormon Volume 1 Hugh W. Nibley
Why Read The Book Of Mormon?
Hugh Nibley, in answer to his question, ”Is it possible that nobody is doing what they are supposed to be doing?” went on to say that one thing we could be doing is reading the Book of Mormon.
He does not mean that we need to sit all day and do nothing but read the Book Of Mormon, but instead challenges us to look at why the Book of Mormon should be an essential part of our daily lives.
Reading The Book Of Mormon – You Are Doing What You Should Be Doing
When you read the Book of Mormon, you are doing what you should be doing. It is that simple that reading and studying the Book of Mormon each day is a good and worthy thing to be doing. It is our doing “what we should be doing.”
The Book Of Mormon Will Lead You To Do The Best Thing
Reading the Book of Mormon is the best thing for you; it will help guide you to do the right thing in life. As you read the Book of Mormon, you will get inspiration for your life that will help to get you on the path to doing the right thing.
The Book of Mormon Will Lead You On The Right Course In Life
The power of the Book Of Mormon lies in that it will help you to get on the right course in life. As you read the Book of Mormon, you will get inspiration and direction for your life – it will help you start doing what you should be doing.
Reading The Book Of Mormon Will Change Your Life
As you read the Book Of Mormon, it will help you to change your life. That change happens as the Book Of Mormon is a book that was brought to this earth by an angel from God.
The power in the Book Of Mormon can help us change and direct our lives for good and help us get on the right path. As Hugh Nibley has implied, reading the Book of Mormon will help us “to do those things that we are supposed to be doing in life. ”
If you are feeling lost or unsure what you should be doing, pull out the Book Of Mormon and start reading from its pages. The answers and directions may not come immediately, but eventually, all your answers will come because you are doing what you should be doing – reading God’s Word.
The Nibleys Commentary website is dedicated to the teachings of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the scriptures, including The Bible, The Book of Mormon, the Doctrine of Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price. To review these gospel teachings and scriptures, we will use many of the teachings of Hugh Nibley and refer to the book Nibley’s Commentary Volume 1 and 2 that Sharman B Hummel edited.
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This website is not an official publication of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. If you want to know more about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we recommend you go directly to their website by clicking here.
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