Daughter's Denunciation of Historian Roils Mormon Church
By T.R. Reid
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, May 8, 2005; Page A03
SALT LAKE CITY -- Although the Mormon Church is one of the wealthiest and fastest-growing Christian denominations, members of the faith often take a defensive stance toward the outside world. "Mormons of every stripe are obsessive about their image," historians Richard and Joan Ostling noted, "deeply concerned that their church appears to outsiders as a 'cult.' "
In the ongoing effort to enhance the church's image, no Mormon played a bigger role than Hugh Nibley, the multilingual teacher and scholar whose books, laden with footnotes and laced with quotations from ancient texts, make a meticulous argument that Mormon scripture reflects historic truth.
Martha Nibley Beck wrote a book criticizing the Mormons. (By Will Powers -- Associated Press)
But this spring, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been rocked by a furious attack on the beloved historian -- an attack that comes from his daughter, Martha Nibley Beck.
In an explosive memoir, Beck, 42, says that Nibley was a pedophile who abused her as a child while chanting ancient Egyptian prayers. She also says that her father's history books were fictional and that the extensive footnotes for which he was famous were simply made up.
snip
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/07/AR2005050700981.html