Hugh Nibley, 94, an outspoken Mormon historian, professor and defender of the faith, died Feb. 24 at his home in Provo, Utah. No cause of death was reported, but he had been bedridden for two years.
Dr. Nibley, a history and religion professor at Brigham Young University, was widely known in the Mormon world for his teachings and writings.
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In his work as a defender of Mormon doctrine, he made critical observations about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its faithful that, if made by an outsider, would have angered people.
He was opposed to secular materialism, which he saw pervading American culture, and he used his stature to push for greater involvement by the church in issues affecting the environment and social justice, said John W. Welch, founder of the Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, a BYU law professor and general editor of Dr. Nibley's collected works.
Welch said Dr. Nibley's experiences during World War II, as well as his father's work clear-cutting redwood trees in Oregon, shaped his advocacy of humanitarian action and conservation.
His legacy became clouded recently when one of his children, Martha Beck, a sociologist and therapist, accused him of molesting her as a child.
Beck made the allegations in a book, due in stores next month, called "Leaving the Saints: How I Lost the Mormons and Found My Faith." She said memories of the abuse were recovered in therapy sessions.
Dr. Nibley denied the accusations, family members said. "We are saddened by the book's countless errors, falsehoods, contradictions and gross distortions," Nibley's seven other children said in a statement this week.
Dr. Nibley was a native of Portland, Ore., and a summa cum laude graduate of UCLA. He received his doctorate in classics in 1938 from the University of California at Berkeley.
He taught at Claremont College in California before serving in Army intelligence in Europe during World War II. He joined BYU in 1946, retired in 1975 and continued to teach, research, write and publish until recent years.
His books included "Lehi in the Desert and the World of the Jaredites" (1952), a study of the early chapters of the book of Mormon in an ancient Bedouin context, and "Approaching Zion" (1989), a collection of his articles and speeches on social and religious ideals and values.
Dr. Nibley wrote more than 150 pieces, many of which are available in collected works published by the Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies housed at BYU.
Survivors include his wife, Phyllis Draper Nibley, and eight children.
