It also traces the provenance of his stones once they left his possessions. In poetry in the book of mormon sorenson 1991, richard rust claims that rearranging passages of prose text in the book of mormon into poetic form makes its structure apparent and reveals features characteristic of old testament poetry. The mere fact that the church has made the decision to distant itself from the controversy surrounding the authenticity of the book of abraham, by attaching less importance to itis the direct cause of mormon critics who have shined the bright light of truth on the bogus book of abrahamand it is that truth that has caused the mormon. We focus our petrifying gaze on the essay titled, translation and historicity of the book of abraham, the lds churchs official statement on this challenging piece of mormon scripture.
Episode 105 book of abraham logical pt 1 naked mormonism. These covered various topics from polygamy to the book of abraham. Most of those citations are the seven verses in abraham 3. Response to claims made on mormonthink page the book of abraham jump to subtopic. Lds essay a careful study of the book of abraham provides a better measure of the book s merits than any hypothesis that treats the text as a conventional translation. The official publication for news media, opinion leaders and the public article, church provides context for recent media coverage on gospel topics pages. How do mormons explain the book of abraham when many scholars. When the translation was complete, joseph smith claimed that the papyrus was the writings of abraham while he was in egypt, called the book of abraham, written by his own hand, upon papyrus. In more recent times the halfdozen leading egyptologists who have been asked to examine the facsimiles agree that. A range of articles and resources to assist the investigation of joseph smiths controversial claim that he discovered and translated a lost record of the biblical patriarch abraham. Now the church has removed most of those teachings of gods from the 2009 gospel principles and conference topics.
The lds church believes that the book of abraham was written by the hand of abraham about his life. The book of abraham hope, faith, and reading glasses. The book of abraham is a book of lds scripture that joseph smith translated from a collection of ancient egyptian papyri the church purchased. Think joseph smith could have gotten that right by sheer chance. As a heavenly being, moroni eventually directed joseph smith to their location in the 1820s. The church of jesus christ of latterday saints the mormons. An explanation and overview of the joseph smith papyri and their connection with mormon scripture. The book of abraham was used extensively to prove the preexistence and plurality of gods. The most recent jsp revelations and translation vol. After he died in a great battle, moroni was resurrected, becoming an angel. Debunking fairmormon letter to a ces director book of abraham. It described pharaoh and the egyptians as descendants of ham and canaan the progenitors of the negro race, and under the curse of canaan and disqualified from the priesthood abraham 1.
The previous description of the book of abraham read, a translation from some egyptian papyri that came into the hands of joseph smith in 1835, containing writings of the patriarch abraham. The book of abraham papyri were thought to have been lost in the 1871 great chicago fire. The book of mormon is the only explanation for this scripture. This book discusses the origins of joseph smiths seer stones and explores how joseph used them throughout his life in a way that goes beyond translating the book of mormon. Explores the joseph smith papyrus and demonstrates that joseph smiths claim that he had translated the book of abraham from it was a fabrication. Criticism of mormonismwebsitesmormonthink fairmormon. Joseph smith came across some old ancient egyptian papyri that the church purchased in 1835. Dec 25, 2005 new book on joseph smiths seer stones 8 august 2016. Current claims the book of abraham was not translated from the papyri deny over 150 years of mormon teaching on the subject and the very words of joseph himself. Dec 12, 2017 originally asked as, how do mormons explain the book of abraham a completely fabricated, false document translated by joseph smith. If the catalyst theory is correct, then god must be responsible for instructing smith to record verses in the book of abraham that incorrectly refer to. They are now referred to as the joseph smith papyri.
The book contains a narrative about some of abrahams life as well as visions he had concerning the premortal life and the creation. A translation and commentary, which was the second volume in the series entitled studies in the book of abraham by the foundation for ancient research and mormon studies farms at brigham young university. For many mormons, an examination of the book of abraham and its true history. Sep 03, 2019 while the existing fragments can be shown to correspond to joseph smiths translation work on the boa, they do not match up in any way that a 21st century person would call a translation. May 31, 2018 download here on this episode, we jump into the logical deconstruction of the book of abraham. Reposted from richard packhams site news reports say that governor romney. The relationship between the book of abraham and the joseph smith egyptian papyri continues to. In the book of abraham, facsimile 2, figure 7, joseph smith identified the ithyphallic egyptian god min as representing god sitting upon his throne. In 1836, smith taught that the curse of ham came from god, and that it demanded the legalization of slavery.
Disproves lds claims that joseph smith received the book of abraham through revelation and proves that joseph smiths source for his translation was a pagan egyptian text, the book of breathings. The correct translation of the small sensen is completely different from the book of abraham 36. Little fanfare was made of these essays and they remain largely unread by the church membership. Book of abraham mormon stories mormon stories podcast. We deal with the apologetic arguments made to claim the book of abraham is historically plausible. Mormon handbook the book of abraham since abraham lived before moses, who authored the torah the first five books of the old testament, it would make the papyrus older than the book of genesis. Includes color photos of the surviving joseph smith papyri, articles by mormon and nonmormon egyptologists, and free download of a 240page book that surveys the history of the book of abraham controversy. In this video, i look at the last phase of joseph smiths creation of the book of abraham in nauvoo in 1842 and explore how his lessons in hebrew in early 18. They were an attempt by the church to satisfy those with challenging questions about certain aspects of history and doctrine. Mormonthinks the lost 116 pages of the book of mormon source quotes without critical or apologetic commentary this is the no spin version of the web page. There are 3 facsimiles, one specifically that supposedly show abraham sacrificing his son on the altar.
Growing up mormon part 4 finding out about the book of abraham. An inspired translation of the writings of abraham. Can someone summarize whats wrong with the book of abraham. What follows is an unbalanced, critical, but honest examination of a deceptive website. Book of abraham manuscript mormonthink book of abraham issues. Criticism of mormonismwebsitesmormonthinkthe book of abraham. The specific source of the book of abraham is the breathing permit of hor, misunderstood and mistranslated by joseph smith. Dec 23, 2015 the introduction to the book of abraham still maintains it was translated from the papyrus, by joseph smith pearl of great price, the book of abraham, introduction.
The book of abraham also says the curse came from noah. The book says that moroni compiled the epic story of his people, the precolumbian nephites, on gold plates. We provide all of the complete primary and secondary source quotes without any critics comment, apologetic rebuttal or our thoughts or editor comments sections. Criticism of mormonismwebsitesmormonthinkthe book of. Jun 07, 2018 download here on this episode, we wrap up our logical deconstruction of the book of abraham. Historically plausible doesnt mean probable or authentic, so what does it really mean.
The veracity and value of the book of abraham cannot be settled by scholarly debate concerning the book s translation and historicity. How the book of abraham exposes the false nature of mormonism. The book of mormon documentary examines and compares genetic evidence identifying the dna fingerprints of the jewish populations and american indian populations, and presents the testimony of several dna experts in seeking to answer the question, are israelites the principal ancestors of native american indians. The above donut chart shows percentages of the book of abraham section of letter to a ces director that fairmormon is in agreement, disagreement, and neutral on if one assumes that fairmormons undisputed silence is acceptance of the facts, fairmormon agrees with 90. This book was also later canonized as mormon scripture. Joseph smith and the lds church for over 170 years have claimed that the book of abraham is a translation of a portion of the papyri scrolls.
Episode 106 book of abraham logical pt 2 naked mormonism. The book of abraham is a work produced between 1835 and 1842 by joseph smith based, he said, on egyptian papyri purchased from a traveling mummy. Lds and nonlds egyptologists and both groups have indicated clearly that the scrolls are funerary texts that have nothing to do with abraham. The church acknowledges in its gospel topics essay. The recently modified description creates ambiguity regarding the origin and nature of the text. The book of abraham was used to justify polygamy which is now cause for excommunication. Mormons just deny that the book of abraham is what it obviously is a completely fabricated document create. How could there be so many witnesses of the book of mormon and the plates and not one of them deny their testimony even when some of them became bitter toward joseph smith. Growing up mormon part 4 finding out about the book of. Translation and historicity of the book of abraham. Antimormonism is discrimination, persecution, hostility or prejudice directed at members of the latter day saint movement, particularly the church of jesus christ of latterday saints lds church.
The book of abraham the book of abraham is a book of lds scripture that joseph smith translated from a collection of ancient egyptian papyri the church purchased. However, in 1966 several fragments of the papyri were found in the archives of the metropolitan museum of art in new york and in the lds church archives. Apr 28, 2018 the most recent jsp revelations and translation vol. But the problem with the book of abraham should be a major issue for everyone in terms of hard evidence and also reason and rationality. The only truly ancient sources in the book of abraham are the many reworked hebrew passages from genesis, as outlined explicitly by h. Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on youtube. The book of abraham issues translation problems mormonthink. On 5 september, 2016, a book entitled joseph smiths seer stones written by michael hubbard mackay will be available to the public.
It is evident that the writings of abraham while he was in egypt, of which our printed book of abraham is a copy, must of necessity be older than. Rhodes published his ninetysevenpage book, the hor book of breathings. He warned those who tried to interfere with slavery that god could do his own work. Mar 20, 2019 enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on youtube. The author s of mormonthink make s the following claim. The book of abraham is not central to the restored gospel of christ. Egyptologist robert ritner with a devastating new takedown of the book of abraham essay update to mormonthink response. Lds egyptologist backpeddling on the book of abraham.
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