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. Foundation for ancient research and mormon studies, 7, no. In the book of abraham, joseph included three facsimiles of illustrations from the papyri, along with commentary about what the images and their individual parts represented. Obviously, joseph smith meant the facsimiles as illustrations for or. It is claimed that facsimile 1 is simply a typical funerary scene and there are many other papyri showing the same basic scene, and that the missing portions of the drawing were incorrectly restored. The institute for religious research and the tanners claim that smith fraudulently represented the book of abraham, part of the churchs scriptural canon, as a divine document.
Facsimile 1 posted on april 12, 2015 november 26, 2015 by wes trexler this is facsimile 1, located at the front of the book of abraham in the pearl of great price. Hugh nibley, the book of mormon as a mirror of the east, ie 51. The writings of abraham while he was in egypt, called the book of abraham, written by. Book of abrahamjoseph smith papyrifacsimiles fairmormon. Facsimile 1 published in the book of abraham is a common egyptian funerary scene. The book of abraham comes first on my list, because ultimately the divinity of josephs calling rests upon it. Smith tells apostles book of mormon is keystone of our religion.
The book of joseph is not known to have been translated by smith. The book of abraham differs from the other mormon sacred texts in that some of the original source material has been examined by independent experts. The association of these facsimiles with the book of abraham might be explained as joseph smiths attempt to find illustrations from the papyri he owned that most closely matched what he had received in revelation when translating the book of abraham. Debunking fairmormon letter to a ces director book of.
Some of josephs interpretations are similar to those of trained egyptologists, but most are not. Accurate account of the book of abraham translation iv. Jun 27, 20 given the connection with the original of facsimile 1 and the use of symbols from the beginning of this text in association with the abraham manuscripts of the kep, it was apparent that joseph smith and his scribes believed that the document joseph had translated as the book of abraham derived from the hor book of breathings. The lost book of abraham part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4 youtube mormon. The book of abraham is true, i think it can be defended.
The book of abraham facsimile shows lines copied directly from the book of breathings text mormon apologists say have nothing to do with the boa wednesday, jun 6, 2007, at 08. The writings of abraham while he was in egypt, called the book of abraham, written by his own hand, upon papyrus. In these videos he claimed that new findings in the science of egyptology were proving a link between the joseph smith papyri especially with the facsimiles, the beliefs. Signifies abraham in egypt as given also in figure 10 of facsimile no. Ten questions and answers on the book of abraham mormons in. 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. The book of abraham comprises five chapters of text and three facsimiles of vignettes from the papyri collection, together with josephs proffered explanations. This is referenced in both the facsimile and the text of the book of abraham 1. Smith, inventor of mormonism found in his translation of the book of abraham the rationale for withholding mormon priesthood from black males. The book of abraham is a book of lds scripture that joseph smith translated from a collection of ancient egyptian papyri the church purchased. Ebenezer robinson recorded joseph as having said i have had trouble enough with this thing.
The book of abraham is a book of ancient scripture translated by the prophet joseph smith from ancient papyri. Book of abraham mormon stories mormon stories podcast. This shows that the egyptians did associate abraham with the lion couch. For many mormons, an examination of the book of abraham and its true history. An online handbook to the lds church mormon comparing the source hypocephalus to the published facsimile while we dont have the original hypocephalus, an early rendering of it reveals damage, and egyptologists agree that facsimile 2 is a poor and inaccurate restoration. Prince of pharaoh, king of egypt, as written above the hand. The following are common criticisms associated with facsimile 3. It is now included in the pearl of great price, one of the books that members of the church of jesus christ of latterday saints consider scripture in addition to the bible, the book of mormon, and the doctrine and covenants.
First, we need to remember that this is complicated a bit by the fact that abraham 1. 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. Much like the book of mormon, josephs translation of the book of abraham was. 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. 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. Not only did lincoln check out a copy of the book of mormon from the library of congress during his presidency and during the bleakest part of the civil war, there is much evidence that is presented in this book that he actually read it or parts of it and believed its message. But this was once antimormon lies that people were excommunicated for stating.
Byu professor kerry muhlestein has created a series of videos defending the book of abraham. The lincoln hypothesis goodreads meet your next favorite book. Source hypocephalus as published in the book of abraham. The book of abraham by common consent, a mormon blog. An account written by the hand of mormon upon plates taken from the plates of nephi, who claimed that it had been. Rejecting the mormon claim part 8 the book of abraham an abject fraud. In the last chapter, we saw some of the problems mormonism faces with the book of mormon and archaeology. Upon joseph smiths assassination in 1844, the artifacts were passed to his mother, and then to his widow, who sold them to a collector by the name of abel combs. It is also claimed that abraham has never been associated with the lion couch vignette such. It is a lioncouch scene like facsimile 1 in the book of abraham and it contains abrahams name in the text below the scene. Dick and taylor both contain a number of exact phrases found in abraham 3 and facsimile 2. Translation and historicity of the book of abraham. The problems encountered here are devastating to the credibility of mormonism. Ashment, egyptian, egyptian alphabet and grammar, facsimile no.
Facsimile 2, the hypocephalus, is also a late egyptian religious text. Abraham and the urim and thummim, farms update 149, insights. There are passages in the text of the book of abraham which are attributed to abraham and which refer to facsimile 1 abr. The book of abraham is the second book in the pearl of great price. 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. A firstperson account of meetings between lds apostles. The book is comprised of five chapters and three facsimiles. In mormon doctrine blacks are considered to suffer from the curse of cain. It was first published in march 1830 by joseph smith as the book of mormon. The book of abraham is believed by the lds church to have been written by. This book presents the original transcription of joseph smiths dictated translation of the golden plates. Mormon and nonmormon egyptologists agree that the characters on the fragments do.
These egyptian figures matched identically, and in order, the figures in the left column of the translation manuscripts. In the book of abraham also we are told that the plan of the cosmos, represented by facsimile no. In the twentieth century there were two events that put the authenticity of the book of abraham as an ancient text and not a modern pseudepigraphon in doubt. Book of abraham mormonism, the mormon church, beliefs. On march 4th he worked again with reuben hedlock preparing the cut for the second facsimile. An approach to the book of abraham byu scholarsarchive. 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 purchased by the church in 1835 kirtland, ohio, and that this portion contains the writings of abraham written by abraham s own hand. Book of abrahamjoseph smith papyrifacsimilesfacsimile 3. For a careful analysis of the timing of the writing of the book of mormons prefacebased on the typesetting of the first book of mormon signaturesee vogel, emd, 3.
Book of mormon origins gold plates witnesses translation lost 116 pages archaeology locations. Fairs apologetics regarding the book of abraham offends intellect. Apr 30, 2018 here is the link to make a donation to faithful word baptist church donations processed by word of truth baptist church. The mormon empires false representations of material fact i. From the evidence that we have today, its quite safe to say that joseph smith did not have the book of abraham or the book of joseph in front of him in the form of these papyri because they bear no relationship to the contents of the stories or to his translation. In 1835, joseph smith, founder of the original mormon church the church of christ purchased several egyptian papyrus scrolls and fragments from the owner of a traveling road show which exhibited egyptian mummies and documents. None of the characters on the papyrus fragments mentioned abrahams name or any of the events recorded in the book of abraham. The book of abraham papyri were thought to have been lost in the 1871 great chicago fire. The illustration represented by facsimile 2 is a hypocephalus, a disc made of linen, papyrus, or bronze, covered with inscriptions and images which relate to one of the last spells in the book of the dead. The facsimile of the original characters on the plates, found in another chapter, was not accompanied with its english translation, nor was it sufficiently extensive of itself to engage the attention of the savants who might have expressed an opinion concerning its genuineness. A response december 2, 1983 by ben crowder abraham, anubis, apocalypse of abraham, bonwetsch, book of abraham, edward h. It was found that the book of abraham papyrus began with facsimile no. An early rendering of it reveals damage, and egyptologists agree that facsimile 2 is a poor and inaccurate restoration.
Mormon handbook the book of abraham facsimile 2 facsimile 2 is a common egyptian hypocephalus. 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. They are now referred to as the joseph smith papyri. 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. This is an exact facsimile reprint of the original, 1830 edition of the book of mormon, the authoritative scripture of the church of jesus christ of latterday saints. In this chapter we will examine another book of the mormon scriptures called the book of abraham. The book contains important teachings about the creation. Joseph only interpreted one figure of anubis as a priest, in facsimile 1. Smith translated or sketched relating to the text and facsimiles is incorrect. According to smith, the book was a translation of some ancient records.
Joseph smith had published the facsimiles as freestanding drawings, cut off. 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. The book of abraham, with its illustrations, is now included in the pearl of great price, one of the mormon churchs five books of scripture. Thomas taylor s 1816 book, the six books of proclus on the theology of plato, especially volume 2, contains most of the motifs in abraham 3 and facsimile 2. But its not the beallandendall of either apologetics or research or the scriptures. 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 mormon god and a phallic god could be considered one and the same. The inspiration and basis for the text of the book of abraham is p. Ashments book, the use of magical papyri to authenticate the book of abraham.
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. Nonmormon egyptologists, beginning in the late 19th century, have disagreed with joseph smiths explanations of the facsimiles. That version, according to him, is what is used today, but he had no. It is worth noting that it is in the preface to the book of mormon that joseph first specified the number of. Facsimile 2 posted on april 12, 2015 november 26, 2015 by wes trexler facsimile 2 is actually a representation of a hypocephalus. To find these four old friends at home in the apocalypse of abraham is an undeniable link between the book of abraham and the book of the dead. Smith places original book of mormon manuscript, witness signatures, and other items in the cornerstone of the nauvoo house, effectively destroying them. Book of abrahamjoseph smith papyrifacsimilesfacsimile 2. Joseph smiths notes to facsimile 2 identify it as representing god sitting in the heavens among the stars and others of his creations. Translation and historicity of the book of abraham response. First, the association of facsimile 1 with the book of abraham cannot derive from abraham, since facsimile 1 dates to approximately 100 b.
1140 767 918 547 454 933 634 1214 1518 745 1423 110 949 167 1426 1452 416 261 670 350 1219 923 763 730 831 166 1190 805 1221 312 1373 939 917 1133 481 1157 1175 128 957 417 1185 1025 1207 469 120 1260 1430 269 250