Until recent years, it was used to justify the racist policies of the mormon church. The book of mormon claims to be an additional revelation to jesus christ. 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. Many people accuse lds apologists of lying for the lord. The crowning event in the book of mormon is the ministry of jesus christ among the nephite people. Accompanying this release and renewed interest in the topic, hauglid has made a. The terms were originated by jason gallentine, who identifies himself as dr. The book of abraham was translated by joseph smith from some ancient egyptian papyri and is part of the cannon of lds scripture. Outright dishonesty in lds essay on book of abraham. In the gte, as well as many other sources including fairs article, bill reel and radiofreemormons podcast parts 1, 2, and 3, and lds discussion s analysis, the book of jasher boj is pointed to as a possible source of some extrabiblical elements like abrahams attempted murder as a result of refusing to worship idols present in the boa.
The book of abraham papyri were thought to have been lost in the 1871 great chicago fire. Your antimormon apologetics is turning out to be as useless and worthless as your. For example, the egyptian character for water was misunderstood to cover two entire verses of the book of abraham. After all, he was supposed to be a prophet and have the abilities of a seer as the book of mormon and the book of abraham supposedly proved. Mormonism, also known as the church of jesus christ of latterday saints, claims to be the restoration of the true gospel and a revelation of the true god. Roberts 18571933, an lds general authority widely considered mormonisms greatest apologist and historian,1 expressed the grave doubt that the book of mormon is a translation of ancient scripture. Lds egyptologist doubts joseph smith translated the book. 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. Jun 22, 2010 as for sues comment, i would really like to have a good and wholesome discussion about the book of mormon. The book of mormon mistakenly has jesus including peters appended comments as if they were part of moses words in deuteronomy. Bad book of mormon apologetics lds church is true blog.
Lds egyptologist doubts joseph smith translated the book of. An account written by the hand of mormon upon plates taken from the plates of nephi, who claimed that it had been. I would be happy to offer apologetic remarks, but that doesnt seem to be what youre after. We all know how deeply immersed in book of abraham apologetics gee has been, and, of course, we know further that he very much needs the institutional support of the churchbyu to carry that out. It was first published in march 1830 by joseph smith as the book of mormon. 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. Brian hauglid is a professor of ancient scripture at byu. Apologetics press the book of mormon and the ancient evidence. 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. That version, according to him, is what is used today, but he had no.
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. Answers about mormons and mormon beliefs lds faq latter. Discussing gender and mormon apologetics with nancy. 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. The original context was demonstrating joseph smith to be a complete charlatan by warren parrish as an eyewitness.
He talks about lds apologetics how lds members defend the book of abraham. In the last chapter, we saw some of the problems mormonism faces with the book of mormon and archaeology. 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. In the most recent addition to the studies in the book of abraham series entitled astronomy, papyrus and covenant, kevin barney has contributed what in my mind amounts to an extraordinary contribution to our understanding of the joseph smith facsimiles. 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. 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. Good and bad apologetics by common consent, a mormon blog. 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. It was a roundtable discussion of that new kofford book on apologetics, featuring blair van dyke, stephen smoot, joe spencer, amanda brown and loyd erickson.
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. 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 workarounds are dead ends evidences apologists share why those. Accompanying this release and renewed interest in the topic. In this chapter we will examine another book of the mormon scriptures called the book of abraham. 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. Lds apologetics and the battle for mormon history christian. In a recent video, kwaku attempts to prove the book of abraham is true. This some people includes the mormon church, which under the direction of apostle n. They are as busy as bees with this mission impossible task. Jun, 2019 there are bad book of mormon apologetics. I can say that i would have enjoyed even more substantive discussion about why women in general dont engage in mormon scholarship.
So, as others have noted, it seems odd that he would openly and repeatedly criticize the maxwell institutes change of course towards a more mormon. For purposes of this exercise, i want to admit everything the church says about the translation process of the book of mormoni. See mormonthinks thorough overview of the book of abraham. They win points with the uninformed, but they hurt us more in the long run. Foundation for ancient research and mormon studies byuorg. This occurred after his resurrection from the dead in jerusalem.
Posts dedicated to events or current trends in mainstream media dealing with topics about the lds church and other general announcements of interest. 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. Bill reel once again joins us and we proceed to lay out the following. The lessons we learn from the boa should inform our knowledge of the production of the joseph smith translation of the bible, the doctrine and covenants, and the book of mormon. He has been a prominent book of abraham apologists, publishing in farms and other byu outlets. Consider the footnote in the essay on the book of abraham that was recently exposed for being a deliberate and outright sham of context. According to smith, the book was a translation of some ancient records. Second, the critics do not deal with the issues arising from the book of abraham that latterday saints care about. But i personally think we shouldnt shun unbelievers if they have questions. Looking for an apologist to discuss book of mormon for podcast. But in doing so, kwaku employs a well known apologetic trick.
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 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. 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. See my linebyline debunking of apologetics in the book of abraham section of debunking fairmormon. Ten questions and answers on the book of abraham mormons in. I cant speak much on the dna issue but have my own opinions about it. Elder roberts reached this conclusion after his research uncovered extensive evidence that joseph smith borrowed the basic plot and. Coeditor with robin scott jensen, abraham and egyptian papers joseph smith papers project, vol. Looking for an apologist to discuss book of mormon for. Jesus established his church in the americas by appointing apostles and prophets just as he had in israel. Eldon tanner, sent out for the translation, expecting it to prove smiths true translation abilities. I found something which was refreshing to read from an lds member, dr.
Robert ritners epic takedown of the lds churchs book of abraham essay. They are now referred to as the joseph smith papyri. Dec 19, 2018 as the benchmark book discussion states, we know more about joseph smiths translation process through the book of abraham, than any other of josephs work. The book of mormon if the book of abraham was a fraud. 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. The book of abraham is a book of lds scripture that joseph smith translated from a collection of ancient egyptian papyri the church purchased. I dont believe in the missing papyrus theory for the book of abraham but believe it was a real translation. 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. In 1835, joseph smith purchased 4 mummies and at least 5 papyri from a traveling showman. Find out about its teachings of men becoming gods, temples, the book of mormon, and joseph smith who claimed to have seen god the father.
The only difference is that your mormon apologetics used to have some entertainment value, and your antimormon apologetics doesnt even have that. This misunderstanding also might relate to the issue of the gold plates being large enough to house the book of mormon, the lost 116 pages, and the untranslated sealed portion. 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 lds church has admitted in its official essay the book of abraham translation has nothing to do with what is on the papyri. This mormon friend hasnt yet gotten to the book of abraham issues in his expanded lds studies and doesnt, therefore, have anything to offer to this thread, other than apologetics. Critics believe joseph smith came up with all the names in the book of mormon, noting that joseph owned a king james bible with a table listing all the names used in the bible. Blacks formerly were not allowed to hold the priesthood. Yet, the author of the book of mormon unquestionably was relying on acts 3. The foundation for ancient research and mormon studies functions as a research and publication center that focuses on scholarly analysis of the book of mormon, the book of abraham, the old testament, the new testament, early christian history, and ancient temples. 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. Why does a translation of the papyri that supposedly contain the book of abraham have no resemblance to joseph smiths translation. Oct 29, 2012 this mormon friend hasnt yet gotten to the book of abraham issues in his expanded lds studies and doesnt, therefore, have anything to offer to this thread, other than apologetics. 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. Official response of the mormon church to the book of abraham.
Incredible as it may seem to many latterday saints, brigham h. May 07, 2010 im not a believer in the mesoamerican cumorah, but feel the majority of the book of mormon took place in mesoamerica. 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. Thousands of mormons left the church as the result of this discovery, while thousands more are completely unaware of this important piece of evidence. Apr 10, 2020 the crowning event in the book of mormon is the ministry of jesus christ among the nephite people. 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. This week ive been going over the book of abraham boa issue and investigating a few points of friction between various narratives including the gospel topics essaygte, the apologetic stance at fairmormon, and the lds discussions commentary on the gte as i did this, i had some trouble really pulling all the issues i found compelling together, especially putting apologetic arguments. The fairmormon response is at the top of the column on the left.
Lds apologists have a pretty bad reputation among nonlds, and its not just a good vs evil thing. The observation that many view mormon feminism, at least insofar as it involves activism or a desire for change, and apologetics as somewhat incompatible is valuable and speaks to my experience. The book of mormon if the book of abraham was a fraud, is. Farms fair shields mormon apologetics farms and fair and shields apologize for the book of mormon and the book of abraham. Joseph smith ostensibly translated the majority of the book of abraham text in july and a few days in november 1835 and did some minor revisions in march 1842. Apologetics press the book of mormon and the ancient. 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. Your antimormon apologetics is turning out to be as useless and worthless as your mormon apologetics used to be. Updated 122395 includes the smithsonian letter on the book of mormon. 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. 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. Many book of mormon names are either biblical, formed from a rhyming pattern, changed by a prefix or suffix, or greek in etymology.
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