Wonderful book for individual reading or your small adult study group. A translation of some ancient records, that have fallen into our hands from the catacombs of egypt. Monson, corporation sole, by an english magistrate to address charges of fraud by two former mormons was led by a former managing editor, tom phillips. Both variations of the first category of answers miss a crucial implication. Jan 21, 2020 to answer your question literally and frankly, yes. Quorum of the fraud mormon apostles know its a fraud. 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. Joseph also originally published the book of abraham in the times and seasons newspaper which he owned in different parts. As viewed by critics, the book of abraham was a fraud, but a safe one for joseph smith since scholars of the day lacked the ability to verify the accuracy of his work. They will lose a lot more members of they are honest about the first vision, the fact that there were no golden plates, that the book of abraham wasnt a translation of the papyri, that the jst is a copy of adam clarkes bible commentary, etc.
Two views of the mormon book of abraham bible query. Excellent documentation for the egyptian scholars and book of abraham can be found at. Mar 15, 2020 but it turns out that was just an example of me moving my belief goalposts. In october, 1880 the book of abraham was canonized by the lds and included in the pearl of great price. The book of abraham bofa is a part of the pofgp, and thus one of the lds scriptures although it is not recognized as scriptural by other branches of mormonism, including the secondlargest group, the reorganized church of jesus christ of latterday saints. An explanation and overview of the joseph smith papyri and their connection with mormon scripture. The book is broken up into a well written explanation of abrahams significance and importance to three of the worlds major religions and though different, explains how much they have in common in abraham. According to 34 year veteran ces teacher and author of an insiders view of mormon origins, grant palmer, 100% of the book of abraham motifs come directly from four sources. Jan, 2017 the man who wrote the lds essay on the book of abraham was a fraud. Debunking fairmormon letter to a ces director book of abraham.
Cuts 1 and 3 are inaccurate copies of well known scenes on funeral papyri, and cut 2 is a copy of one of the magical discs. Critical appraisal of the book of abraham wikipedia. The source of the book of abraham is an occultic book. Lds egyptologist backpeddling on the book of abraham. This video addresses these problem and responds to. One lawyers case against mormonism each of us has to face the mattereither the church is true, or it is a fraud. Historicity of the book of abraham, the lds church suggests the relationship of these documents to the book of abraham is not fully understood. Some time later the lds lost trace of the papyri and it was presumed that they had been destroyed in a fire in chicago in 1871. I noticed that most of the people that condemned the book of mormon the loudest, had never even read the book. Mormon and nonmormon egyptologists agree that the characters on the fragments do not match the translation given in the book of abraham.
Having faith in and through the book of mormon brant gardner duration. In 1842, smith published the book of abraham and facsimiles in the churchs times and seasons newspaper. Dec 30, 2017 what do egyptologists say about the book of abraham. The book of abraham is a work produced between 1835 and 1842 by the latter day saints lds movement founder joseph smith that he said was based on egyptian papyri purchased from a traveling mummy exhibition. The original editor of this section of mormonthink declared to his current bishop that he does not believe the book of mormon, the book of abraham or that joseph smith was a prophet and has not been subjected to disciplinary council or excommunication proceedings and is, in fact, assisting in the primary organization in his ward. Heres the link of church policy to keep its salacious history under wraps. How the book of abraham exposes the false nature of mormonism. A translation of some ancient records that have fallen into our hands from the catacombs of egypt.
Translation and historicity of the book of abraham a. Dec 25, 2005 the video, as well as kays book an american fraud. Joseph smith used the papyri that he claimed related to the book of abraham to earn his family money. The book of abraham is a book of lds scripture that joseph smith translated from a collection of ancient egyptian papyri the church purchased. The writings of abraham while he was in egypt, called the book of abraham, written by his own hand, upon papyrus. He has been very helpful to me and to the group at mormonthink almost since its foundation when i asked him some questions about his book an insiders view of mormon origins. The only reasonable explanation is that joseph smith used the facsimiles as visual cues to fabricate the parts of the book of abraham story that were not already described in the book of genesis.
Scholars recognized similarities between the drawings in the book of abraham and paintings discovered in egyptian tombs. The lds church admits on their website that the book of abraham is not a translation of the papyri joseph claimed it was a translation of. Abraham refers to a picture in the text of the book of abraham abr. Esther hicks, however is a real person and she is not a fraud. Sacred books claimed to have been given divinely to the first prophet are shown to be taken from old egyptian originals, their translation being a work of the imaginationwhat a comparison with metropolitan museum treasures shows.
The facts are that he mistranslated portions of the bible, as well as the book of abraham, the kinderhook plates, and a greek psalter. He claims that the book of abraham was put in secret code as the book of breathings so that the egyptians would not destroy it. For years, egyptologists examined these illustrations and believed josephs interpretations were false. Among the early book of abraham relatedmanuscripts that have survived from the days of joseph smith are a number of papers collectively referred to as the kirtland egyptian papers kep. Dec 18, 2019 it is a name found in early manuscripts of the book of abraham but it did not make it into the printed version. The book of abraham comes first on my list, because ultimately the divinity of josephs calling rests upon it. This is the first of five videos soon to be 6 where dan vogel discusses the egyptian translation documents the lds church has in its possession. After his death, the church canonized the book of abraham in 1880. The ones who see the book of abraham for the fraud it is are the ones willing to put aside their mormon confirmation bias and really look at and weigh all the evidence and facts. Since i knew that validity draws fire, it made me want to read it more and dig deeper into the topic. Lucy mack smith, josephs mother, charged tourists a quarter to view the egyptian antiquities. When overt foundational claims are made while there is a policy to conceal the real ugly history that constitutes fraud. A fairmormon analysis of claims made on the critical website mormonthink. The lds church issued a new article on the book of abraham on its official website in 2014, arguing that it does not matter that the text of the book of abraham does not match the text of the papyri joseph smith said he had translated.
Well the book was derived from a set of egyptian papyri purchased by the joseph smith in 1835 from a traveling mummy show. Although no formal training in egyptology, joseph smith created a translation of part of the papyri, and the work was published called the the book of abraham. Growing up mormon part 4 finding out about the book of. When i started looking around, it seemed like there were people everywhere saying that the book of mormon was a fraud. Smith completed his translation of the book of abraham. Joseph smiths family owned an 1830 edition and this is the source of chapter 1 of the book of abraham. Jan 25, 2018 the book of abraham has been a continuous problem for the veracity of joseph smiths claims which led to the formation of the mormon church. Ironically, antilds website mormonthink thinks it is exposing joseph smith as some sort of fraud by describing egyptus as an anachronism. The book of mormon if the book of abraham was a fraud, is. Later the key was lost, but joseph smith supernaturally translated or decoded it. Book of abraham latest video by dan vogel 1, may 2018. One lawyers case against mormonism which we read, offers a very compelling argument that a legal case could me made against the lds church for fraud based on how the lds church misrepresented the foundationl facts of mormonism apparently in order to gain converts and keep members believing. 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. Grant palmer is an author of mormon books, a former ces director and most importantly a friend of mine.
Joseph smiths interpretation of these cuts is a farrago of nonsense from beginning to end. I return herewith, under separate cover, the pearl of great price. Although tom acts on his own behalf in this case, we want to clarify our role and position. In this article, egyptologist robert ritner responds to that article.
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. Almost nothing was known of the egyptian language at the time, but knowledge of egyptian progressed over the ensuing decades. Ritner refers them hold a mindset and worldview like brian hauglids. The truth about the book of abraham mormonism disproved. The truth about the book of abraham perhaps the most concrete evidence against the mormon faith, the joseph smith papyrus, the source document for joseph smiths translation of the alleged book of abraham, was rediscovered in 1966 in the metropolitan museum of art in new york. In 1912, a letter about the book of abraham was published by arthur cruttenden mace, assistant curator in the department of egyptian art in new yorks metropolitan museum of art. Criticism of mormonismwebsitesmormonthink fairmormon.
Death blow to mormonism the book of abraham is a fake. Explores the joseph smith papyrus and demonstrates that joseph smiths claim that he had translated the book of abraham from it was a fabrication. Quorum of the fraud mormon apostles know its a fraud youtube. The man who wrote the lds essay on the book of abraham was a. Did egyptologists debunk the book of abraham is a fraud. It would appear that fergusons statement above was prophetic in its own right.
If he in fact translated an ancient record of the patriarch abraham through the power of god, he must have been the prophet and seer he claimed to be. The book of abraham, it is hardly necessary to say, is a pure fabrication. Dec 23, 2015 he placed these drawings in the book of abraham and provided explanations for what they represented. It introduces what scholars call a catalyst theory to hypothesize how smith created the text through revelation from god, being inspired by the papyri artifacts. Joseph smith did not try to translate any text in the facsimiles, and the scroll that he used for the book of abraham. It is the church and kingdom of god or it is nothing. Well at least the conclusion that the book of abraham has. Any scholar who is worth anything will tell you they dont know if the book of abraham is legitimate, because the source for the text was lost and the context of the facsimiles is different than the egyptian source.
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