The book of mormon is a sacred text of the latter day saint movement, which adherents believe contains writings of ancient prophets who lived on the american continent from approximately 2200 bc to ad 421. Wilford woodruff recorded in his diary on february 19, 1842 that the book of abraham was literally written by abraham himself. He claimed to be able to translate these fragments, and the book of abraham is the result. The prophet joseph smith said that the book of abraham exhibited mormonism in its true light history of the church 5.
These pages were written while the saints lived in kirtland, ohio, and were recorded in the general time frame that joseph was translating the book of abraham. The book of abraham is a work produced between 1835 and 1842 by joseph smith based. Resources on the book of abraham from ubwv549s site. Joseph smiths interpretation of these cuts is a farrago of nonsense from beginning to end. The book of abraham, it is hardly necessary to say, is a pure fabrication. An account written by the hand of mormon upon plates taken from the plates of nephi, who claimed that it had been. He has been a prominent book of abraham apologists, publishing in farms and other byu outlets. Why doesnt the translation of the egyptian papyri found in 1967. Book of abraham mormon stories mormon stories podcast.
This occurred after his resurrection from the dead in jerusalem. Lds apologists have a pretty bad reputation among nonlds, and its not just a good vs evil thing. How the book of abraham exposes the false nature of mormonism. The book of abraham is a book of lds scripture that joseph smith translated from a collection of ancient egyptian papyri the church purchased. Credible sources would be nonmormon egyptologists free of confirmation. Ashments book, the use of magical papyri to authenticate the book of abraham. He talks about lds apologetics how lds members defend the book of abraham. Bad book of mormon apologetics lds church is true blog. The book of abraham missing scrolls, catalyst theories, and bad apologetics part 2 today we explore the book of abraham in radio free mormon style. Updated 122395 includes the smithsonian letter on the book of mormon. Until recent years, it was used to justify the racist policies of the mormon church. Foundation for ancient research and mormon studies, 7, no.
Brian hauglid is a professor of ancient scripture at byu. Thousands of mormons left the church as the result of this discovery, while thousands more are completely unaware of this important piece of evidence. In october 1835, mormon prophet, joseph smith, claimed to have translated the book of abraham from an ancient egyptian papyrus containing hieroglyphics which he had previously purchased a few months prior. 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 exhibition. The most prominent of these organizations is the foundation for ancient research and. Debunking fairmormon letter to a ces director book of. Nibley 19102005 taught at byu from 1946 until 1994 and produced an astonishing body of scholarship, mostly in defense of the book of mormon, the book of abraham, and lds theology. Share this video so that more people can be set free from the tangled lies of joseph smith. The foundation for apologetic information and research. The papyri are found to everyones surprise, in 1966 the papyri were rediscovered in one of the vault rooms of the new yorks metropolitan museum of art.
See my linebyline debunking of apologetics in the book of abraham section of debunking fairmormon. Mormons apologists now argue the papyri are later transcriptions and copies of the ancient scrolls written by abraham. The book contains several doctrines that are unique to mormonism such as the idea that god organized eternal elements to. It was first published in march 1830 by joseph smith as the book of mormon. In a recent video, kwaku attempts to prove the book of abraham is true. It is also accepted as scripture by the reorganized church of jesus christ of latter day saints and dozens of other lds splinter sects note 1 the other books considered to be scripture by the lds church are. The book of abraham is noteworthy for its description of socalled abrahamic astronomy. The concern we have with the lds apologists is that they do not look at the book of abraham issues objectively. Contemporary book of mormon apologetics really began with two lengthy series of articles from 1950 to 1952 by nibley on the book of mormon, published in. Although some mormon apologists defend its authenticity, no other scholars regard it as an ancient text.
Hugh nibley, one of the lds churchs most prolific apologetic authors. Apologetics press the book of mormon and the ancient. In october of 1880, the pearl of great price, a collection of writings, which contained the book of abraham, was recognized as scripture by the mormon church. A mormon apologist has informed me that many of the original references to abraham in the first publishing of the book of abraham were abram, but that they were changed to abraham when it was published by the latter day saints publication, the millennial star, in england. The book of abraham was not translated, it was fabricated. It was eventually canonized by the church of jesus christ of latterday saints in 1880 as part of the pearl of great price, and 7 years later it continues to serve as a major. That version, according to him, is what is used today, but he had no. This would make the book of abraham the only existing original copy of a scriptural book. Yeah sure, just as soon as mormon apologetics admit that the book of abraham is a fraudyour getting close to doing sobut come on just come clean and admit it. Smith once called the book of mormon the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion smith, 1902, 4.
The book of abraham is part of the pearl of great price, which mormons consider scripture. Accompanying this release and renewed interest in the topic. Lds apologists argued that, because many of the egyptian experts had pointed out that the facsimiles were. Translation and historicity of the book of abraham university of.
Although not a part of the book of mormon, the book of abraham has a bearing on the translation of the book of mormon. I think i have proof that mormonism is not true youtube. Second, the critics do not deal with the issues arising from the book of abraham that latterday saints care about. Joseph smith said that the book of mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to god by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book history of the church, vol. In the introduction of the book of mormon, smith states that it is the record of gods dealings with the ancient inhabitants of the americas, which also contains the fullness of the everlasting. 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. G iven abrahams prominence in judeochristian and muslim faiths, one would expect that the book of abraham would be of great interest. According to smith, the book comprised ancient records.
Thousands of years ago, the prophet nephi learned that one purpose of the book of mormon was to establish the truth of the. His book was republished four times by the year 1905. 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. Finally, whereas the book of mormon has people wearing the name christian in about 73 b.
Christian heimburger and robin scott jensen discuss the process that gave us the book of abraham, giving. While translating the book of mormon, he used the urim and thummim rather. This december, he and robin jensen, from the church history department, released the joseph smith papers volume dedicated to the book of abraham. In fact, radio free mormon publicly exposed this very apologetic. The false translation of the book of abraham, therefore, casts serious doubt on the book of mormon as well, forever debilitating josephs claim he was a true, inspired prophet of god. Index of articles on mormons, mormonism,the church of jesus christ of latterday saints, joseph smith, book of mormon, book of abraham, modern revelation, archeology, science, history, faith, christianity, judaism, apologetics, nature of god, council of gods, faith, dna and the book of mormon, cataclysm of 3rd nephi, signs in the sky. 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. Thanks especially to the internet, several latterday saint lds, mormon apologetics groups have made it their business to actively defend the historicity of the book of mormon and the book of abraham as well as uphold the integrity of early mormon leaders. Confusion about what the bible teaches is the result of many plain and precious things being removed from the bible, resulting in widespread apostasy in christianity 1 nephi 14. Chapter 3 of the book of abraham, along with facsimile 2, contains this astronomical portrait, which is not always easy to understand.
Among the early bookofabrahamrelatedmanuscripts that have survived from the days of joseph smith are a number of papers collectively referred to as the kirtland egyptian papers kep. The most recent jsp revelations and translation vol. Scholars looking at the text have articulated at least three different models for interpreting this chapter. In this chapter we will examine another book of the mormon scriptures called the book of abraham. In the last chapter, we saw some of the problems mormonism faces with the book of mormon and archaeology. How the book of abraham exposes the false nature of. The book of abraham is an 1835 work produced by latter day saints lds movement founder joseph smith that he claimed were translated from egyptian papyri purchased from a traveling mummy exhibition. It would also date the record of abraham about 2,000 b. G iven abraham s prominence in judeochristian and muslim faiths, one would expect that the book of abraham would be of great interest.
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. The theology of the book of mormon an introduction to the. The book of mormon is one of four books accepted and promoted by the church of jesus christ of latterday saints lds the mormon church as scripture. The book of mormon claims to be an additional revelation to jesus christ. A portion of the papyri used by joseph smith as the source of the book of abraham. The crowning event in the book of mormon is the ministry of jesus christ among the nephite people. Bill reel and radiofreemormons podcast parts 1, 2, and 3 introduction to book of abraham manuscriptsjoseph smith papers. In 1835, joseph smith acquired a collection of papyrus fragments from a travelling egyptian show. Apologetics press the bible versus the book of mormon. Blacks formerly were not allowed to hold the priesthood. Many people accuse lds apologists of lying for the lord. Hugh nibley, one of the lds churchs most prolific apologetic authors, ironically quipped, the air of mystery and romance that has always. Robert ritners epic takedown of the lds churchs book of abraham essay.
Two professors in january 2019 shared their insights on the book of abraham based on their years of study in preparing a major volume on the subject for the joseph smith papers project. The papyri which joseph smith said he translated the book of abraham from have been exposed to be nothing more than funeral texts from ancient egypt at least eight egyptologists and semitists have studied the papyri and. Rhodes never comments on how his english translation of the egyptian texts supports or does not support the book of abraham. Today we explore the book of abraham in radio free mormon style. I was recently contacted by a member of the church who was ready to abandon his testimony after listening to a seminar at byu from the neal a.
They win points with the uninformed, but they hurt us more in the long run. Critical appraisal of the book of abraham wikipedia. However, we have an opportunity here to verify or not verify the book of abraham through facsimile no. The book of abraham issues translation problems mormonthink. I found something which was refreshing to read from an lds member, dr. According to smith, the book was a translation of some ancient records. See mormonthinks thorough overview of the book of abraham. But in doing so, kwaku employs a well known apologetic trick. The book of abraham unlike the book of mormon, which merely dull or silly, depending upon how much coffee one has been drinking, the book of abraham has a rather unpleasant side. Consider the following list of teachings of the book of mormon, all of which were part of the angloamerican cultural context in which joseph lived.