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. Lds apologetics and the battle for mormon history christian. Answers about mormons and mormon beliefs lds faq latter. The book of abraham comes first on my list, because ultimately the divinity of josephs calling rests upon it. The prophet joseph smith said that the book of abraham exhibited mormonism in its true light history of the church 5. 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. Dec 29, 2017 in this mormon stories podcast episode, we interview millennial apologist jaxon washburn. Finding the truth about the book of abraham is not mysterious, complicated or impossible. Book of abraham wikipedia the lost book of abraham. If the events it records did not happen, and if it is actually modern rather than ancient in origin, then the book of mormon cannot be the word of god. Hugh nibley later proposed some fantastic theories in an attempt to divorce the egyptian papyri from the book of abraham, at a meeting held at the university of utah on may 20, 1968, he frankly spoke of the fact that, the very definite fact. 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 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. Is there enough evidence in behalf of it to make it plausibly true.
Debunking fairmormon letter to a ces director book of. The mormon apologist john gee, a researcher for the foundation for ancient research and mormon studies f. Abraham refers to a picture in the text of the book of abraham abr. 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. 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. Both lds and nonlds scholars agree the pieces of papyrus scroll we have today were those possessed by joseph smith and used to produce the book of abraham.
In this chapter we will examine another book of the mormon scriptures called the book of abraham. Hauglid has acknowledged that most of my concerns and questions presented in the book of abraham section of the ces letter are legitimate questions and concerns. The book of mormon purports to be an inspired and accurate translation of an ancient historical narrative covering more than a thousand years. In a recent video, kwaku attempts to prove the book of abraham is true. Hugh nibley, one of the lds churchs most prolific apologetic authors. Eldon tanner, sent out for the translation, expecting it to prove smiths true translation abilities.
Official response of the mormon church to the book of abraham. 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 mormon church hoped the book of abraham would vindicate joseph smith as a true prophet of god. Brief overview of the history of the book of abraham why the critics say it is problematic what workarounds apologists have created to deal with those criticisms why those. Its validity as scripture depends on its being historically authentic. 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. Thousands of years ago, the prophet nephi learned that one purpose of the book of mormon was to establish the truth of the. Fairmormon is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing welldocumented answers to criticisms of the doctrine, practice, and history of the church of jesus christ of latterday saints.
Jaxon was introduced to issues of mormon faith as his mother lost belief in and left the lds church, while his father remained faithful to the church. There are passages in the text of the book of abraham which are attributed to abraham and which refer to facsimile 1 abr. Another early work of smith is the lectures on faith 183435. There is a reason why there is not one single respectable nonmormon egyptologist past or present who confirms joseph smiths translations of the papyri and facsimiles. An example is that he contends the book of abraham is gods true doctrine but on the other hand it. In fact, radio free mormon publicly exposed this very apologetic. This is why mormon apologists have had to come up with the bizarre notion that joseph merely used the papyri to channel gods revelationbecause the book of abraham is nowhere close to a translation of the egyptian characters found on the papyri.
How the book of abraham exposes the false nature of. A translation of the apparent source of the book of abraham, dialogue. In the last chapter, we saw some of the problems mormonism faces with the book of mormon and archaeology. Book of abraham mormon stories mormon stories podcast. The book of abraham skinny frequently, when reading a discussion on the lds problem of the book of abraham, the apologists and critics beat around the bushconfusing the reader. For purposes of this exercise, i want to admit everything the church says about the translation process of the book of mormoni. Critics say it is a work of fiction created by smith, while some mormon apologists. It would also date the record of abraham about 2,000 b. Apologetics book of mormon doubt faith crisis lds mormon mormon apologetics mormon matters neoapologetics 804805. An overview of mormon apologetics and neoapologetics mormon stories october 12, 2017 apologetics, church history, joseph smith 32 comments. 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. This would make the book of abraham the only existing original copy of a scriptural book.
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. Accompanying this release and renewed interest in the topic. The book contains a narrative about some of abrahams life as well as visions he had concerning the premortal life and the creation. The bogus book of abraham is one of four canonized books of mormon scripture. But in doing so, kwaku employs a well known apologetic trick. The foundation for apologetic information and research. An account written by the hand of mormon upon plates taken from the plates of nephi, who claimed that it had been. For instance, on a webpage previously housed at byu, a farms author avoids the most obvious question that any lds person would have regarding facsimile 2. It was translated from some ancient egyptian papyrus by joseph. Mormon scholars seem to be very worried that larsons book will cause members to lose faith in the book of abraham. The book of mormon also makes a strong point for gods spiritual and eternal unity see alma 11. Critical appraisal of the book of abraham wikipedia. Three difficult questions for mormons catholic answers.
Wilford woodruff recorded in his diary on february 19, 1842 that the book of abraham was literally written by abraham himself. Do you find problems with the translation process, text, or doctrine. The book of abraham, providing a brief history of the text and reaction from egyptologists since 1860. Theyre mormon apologists whose life mission is to defend mormonism at all costs. Brian hauglid is a professor of ancient scripture at byu. As a result, the book of abraham has been the source of significant controversy. Thousands of mormons left the church as the result of this discovery, while thousands more are completely unaware of this important piece of evidence. 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. Rfm is releasing this special edition podcast to answer some questions that have been raised relating to that podcast, and to clarify some additional issues.
Many people accuse lds apologists of lying for the lord. 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. Debunking fairmormon letter to a ces director book of abraham. A journal of mormon thought, 3 3, retrieved 20080201. It is not a sign of the prophetic calling of joseph smith this is a clear attempt to say that it doesnt matter if the book of abraham is true or not, and insinuating that it might not be. Fairmormon faithful answers to criticisms of the lds church. The book of abraham, an apologist s analysis of the book of abraham. At that time, church president gordon hinckley said, farms represents the efforts of sincere and dedicated scholars. The man who wrote the lds essay on the book of abraham was. Mormon and nonmormon egyptologists agree that the characters on the fragments do not match the translation given in the book of abraham, though there is not unanimity, even among nonmormon scholars, about the proper interpretation of the vignettes on these fragments. The book of abraham is not like the book of mormon. The lds church has admitted in its official essay the book of abraham translation has nothing to do with what is on the papyri. 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.
In the case of josephus, the similarities are not close enough to conclude that joseph plagiarized josephus in creating the book of abraham. An immediate response from many of them is that it is a word with negative connotationsthat people are apologizing for the church. Supporters of the book of mormon claim it uses chiasmusa figure of speech utilizing inverted parallelismand claim it is evidence to support the books ancient origin. He has been a prominent book of abraham apologists, publishing in farms and other byu outlets. It was translated from some ancient egyptian papyrus by joseph smith.
That version, according to him, is what is used today, but he had no. 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. Jaxon is 19 year old, premission mormon apologist attending arizona state university. Ultimately, however, rfm puts kwaku squarely on the horns of a dilemma. For purposes of this exercise, i want to admit everything the church says about the translation process of the book of mormon i.
Translation and historicity of the book of abraham the university. While translating the book of mormon, he used the urim and thummim rather. Last time i checkedit wasnt the critics that canonized the book of abrahamit was the members of the mormon church. Hauglids essay, i would like to note here that i appreciate mr. Why doesnt the translation of the egyptian papyri found in 1967. In the entry on the facsimiles from the book of abraham in the encyclopedia of mormonism we are told that the prophets explanations of each of the facsimiles accord with present understanding of egyptian religious practice. Jun, 2019 there are bad book of mormon apologetics. The damning evidence is there for anyone to evaluate. Solving the mystery of the joseph smith papyri, salt lake. John gee, the lds apologist who originally published this image in relation to the book of abraham, recognizes these problems and admits these texts tell us nothing directly about abraham, edward h. Of course, i hold to my conviction that the book of abraham is not a fraudulent invention at all, but an authentic scriptural record that joseph brought forth by the gift and power of god. Unlike controversial and less respected mormon apologists, mr. Disagreement with current or past prophets and leaders on various subjects is not uncommon.
Could the books of jasher and josephus have helped joseph. Bad book of mormon apologetics lds church is true blog. This is a remarkable statement in view of the fact that nonmormon egyptologists who have commented on joseph smiths interpretation of the facsimiles uniformly agree. 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. Credible sources would be nonmormon egyptologists free of confirmation. They are now referred to as the joseph smith papyri. 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. May 20, 2017 life after death experience nde with steve gardipee, vietnam war story one of the best ndes duration. The book of abraham is considered modern scripture by the mormon church. Book of abraham f or many mormons, an examination of the book of abraham and its true history becomes the most significant stumbling block to joseph smith s claim as a prophetic translator of ancient languages. First, the association of facsimile 1 with the book of abraham cannot derive from abraham, since facsimile 1 dates to approximately 100 b. Dec 23, 2015 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. For many mormons, an examination of the book of abraham and its true history.
I am working on a project on the book of abraham and am curious what the general apologistcritic think the books greatest strengths and weaknesses are. The word apologist is often seen by members who are just learning about the issues found on mormonthink. Includes color photos of the surviving joseph smith papyri, articles by mormon and non mormon egyptologists, and free download of a 240page book that surveys the history of the book of abraham controversy. This some people includes the mormon church, which under the direction of apostle n. This december, he and robin jensen, from the church history department, released the joseph smith papers volume dedicated to the book of abraham. Mormon and non mormon egyptologists agree that the characters on the fragments do not match the translation given in the book of abraham, though there is not unanimity, even among non mormon scholars, about the proper interpretation of the vignettes on these fragments. May 27, 2012 the book of abraham is considered modern scripture by the mormon church.
The book of abraham is a book of lds scripture that joseph smith translated from a collection of ancient egyptian papyri the church purchased. Brief overview of the history of the book of abraham why the critics say it is problematic what workarounds apologists have. According to smith, the book comprised ancient records. Bill reel once again joins us and we proceed to lay out the following. Lds apologists have a pretty bad reputation among nonlds, and its not just a good vs evil thing.
Book of abraham archives mormon discussions podcasts. The book of mormon and the book of abraham may be viewed as inspired, but not necessarily as literal historical records. The book of abraham, a website devoted to the idea that the book of abraham. How the book of abraham exposes the false nature of mormonism. Turns out that three scholars baer, parker, and wilson published in dialogue, the journal of mormon thought in 1968 coming to the conclusion that it was a funerary text the breathing permit of hor. Today we explore the book of abraham in radio free mormon style. The book of abraham papyri were thought to have been lost in the 1871 great chicago fire. Book of abraham archives mormon discussions podcasts full. I am working on a project on the book of abraham and am curious what the general apologist critic think the books greatest strengths and weaknesses are. According to smith, the book was a translation of some ancient records.