These papyri contain authentic egyptian writings, but they do not date to the time of abraham, nor do they contain the actual personally handwritten account of abraham. Fragments of the original text were found and studied by renowned historians with credentials and experience. Critics challenge the viability of the population size and growth of the book of mormon people. Debunking fairmormon letter to a ces director book of abraham. 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. Second, the book of mormon contains none of the key mormon doctrines. The book of abraham is a book of ancient scripture translated by the prophet joseph smith from ancient papyri. The book of mormon is the only explanation for this scripture. A portion of the papyri used by joseph smith as the source of the book of abraham. Biblical manuscript discoveries of the past two centuries have not called into question the authenticity of a single book of the bible. The book of abraham comes first on my list, because ultimately the divinity of josephs calling rests upon it. As a preacher i spend a great deal of time reading, studying and. Well firstly, joseph smith, the prophet, translated the papyri. Ashments book, the use of magical papyri to authenticate the book of abraham.
Debunking fairmormon letter to a ces director book of. Linguistic evidence that proves the book of mormon isnt true. Thus, while valid and objective wordprinting is no substitute for. How the book of abraham exposes the false nature of mormonism. The book of abraham is easily the most esoteric book in the latterday saint canon. What do you think of the lds churchs book of abraham. Why doesnt the translation of the egyptian papyri found in 1967. Brief background of my life as a mormon leaving mormonism and some experiences as a mormon history of joseph smith book of mormon book of abraham the temple church members. Top mormon official admits mormonism is a fake religion newslo. The book of mormon makes its appearance in world history in 18291830, when joseph smith dictated its contents and published it. How could there be so many witnesses of the book of mormon and the plates and not one of them deny their testimony even when some of them became bitter toward joseph smith. 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.
Rhodes, researcher in ancient scriptures, brigham young university. The understanding that the book of mormon has a divine origin is obtainable only by developing faith. Thirdly, the book of abraham provides justification for important mormon doctrines, including the exaltation of man, plurality of gods, priesthood, and premortal existence not found in any of the other canonized scriptures of the lds. This alone makes smith a false prophet and disanulls his claim to be sent by god. For purposes of this exercise, i want to admit everything the church says about the translation process of the book of mormon i.
By contrast, the evidence shows that the book of mormon is not translated from ancient scriptures but is a nineteenthcentury fiction. Book of mormon christ is completely accepted in bible he is rejected. The conclusion states, much as critics and defenders of the book of mormon would like to use dna studies to support their views, the evidence is simply inconclusive. While reading the book of mormon, this socalled other testament of jesus christ, i noticed something very eyeopening, something that gives away the true nature and origin of this book. Byu professor kerry muhlestein has made a series of video defending joseph smiths literal translation of the mormon scripture. For those who have devoutly believed in the book of mormon and the other lds scriptures, such as the book of abraham, as the word of god, coming to the realization that these books are not what they claim to be can cause ripple effects throughout their belief system. 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. The book of mormon is mystical and has no recognized source material still available to mankind. 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. Joseph smiths interpretation of these cuts is a farrago of nonsense from beginning to end. The above donut chart shows percentages of the kinderhook plates 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 83% of the ces letters kinderhook plates section. With the book of abraham, the narrative was that joseph smith based his translation on papyri fragments that have since been recovered and were found to have nothing to do with abraham. Are these really the inspired word of god through a modern day.
As outlined in the book of abraham section, joseph smith got everything wrong about the papyri, the facsimiles, the names, the gods, the scene context, the fact that the papyri and facsimiles were first century c. Mormon and nonmormon egyptologists agree that the characters on the fragments do. The antiquity of the bible, unlike the book of mormon or the book of abraham, is beyond dispute. Oct 16, 20 salt lake city a member of the first presidency of the mormon the church of jesus christ of latterday saints also known as the mormon church today publicly admitted that the entire religion was completely bogus, and that the church hierarchy has been making things up for the past 200 years. This basrelief detail from luxor has absolutely nothing to do with joseph smith. Explores the joseph smith papyrus and demonstrates that joseph smiths claim that he had translated the book of abraham from it was a fabrication. The method by which joseph smith produced the book of abraham jump to subtopic. The above donut chart shows percentages of the kinderhook plates 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 83% of the ces letters kinderhook plates section breakdown can be found here. The book of mormon false testament learn the bible. There is a book called the lincoln hypothesis by tim ballard that i avoided for a long time assuming it it was a bunch of stupid speculation. 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. Doctrine and covenants and church history study guide.
This book, a record of the biblical prophet and patriarch abraham. I know that anyone who earnestly wants to know if the book of abraham is true can also receive this same witness and knowledge from god. Biblical manuscript discoveries of the past two centuries have not called into question the authenticity of. The book of abraham, one of the central texts of mormonism, is a poor translation of egyptian papyri. There are many proofs that joseph smith was a false prophet, but mormons typically will not accept them. These experts discovered the fragments to be scraps. I have studied the book of abraham, and the truth of it has been made known to me in a way i cant deny. Please, i would love to hear some reasoned arguments as to why it is true. Thousands of mormons left the church as the result of this discovery, while thousands more are completely unaware of this important piece of evidence.
Book of abraham mormonism, the mormon church, beliefs. These papyri contain authentic egyptian writings, but they do not date to the time of abraham, nor do they contain the. 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. How the book of abraham exposes the false nature of.
The church of jesus christ of latterday saints embraces the book of abraham as scripture. Apr 08, 2008 linguistic evidence that proves the book of mormon isnt true. In addition, there is ample evidence that he did not. The use of egyptian magical papyri to authenticate the book of abraham part 2. For purposes of this exercise, i want to admit everything the church says about the translation process of the book of mormoni. Mormon is allegedly a prophethistorian who was the native american believed by mormons to have written the book of mormon the main religious text of the church of jesus christ of latter day saints mormonism. Joseph smiths perverted habit of marrying teenage girls, and stealing other mens wives to be his polygamous wives. This was originally written as a letter to a friend, a mormon, who wanted to know why i left mormonism. The book of mormon if the book of abraham was a fraud.
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 use of egyptian magical papyri to authenticate the. There is no evidence that joseph smith ever translated anything, including the golden plates into the book of mormon. The book of abraham is part of the pearl of great price, which mormons consider scripture.
Top 10 embarrassments of the mormon religion listverse. Salt lake city a member of the first presidency of the mormon the church of jesus christ of latterday saints also known as the mormon church today publicly admitted that the entire religion was completely bogus, and that the church hierarchy has been making things up. 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. The lds church has admitted in its official essay the book of abraham translation has nothing to do with what is on the papyri. 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. Third, the book of mormon abounds in textual errors, factual errors, and outright plagiarisms from other works. The facts are that he mistranslated portions of the bible, as well as the book of abraham, the kinderhook plates, and a greek psalter. Why mormons need the book of abraham religion news service. 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.
I would also love to hear some reasoned arguments about your views. Lds church publishes new web essay on book of abraham. 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. The book contains important teachings about the creation. Debunking fairmormon letter to a ces director kinderhook. The book of abraham is a book in the mormon scripture the pearl of great price. 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 papyri in question are a part of the collection of egyptian mummies and. Did the church admit joseph smiths book of abraham. With the resurfacing of the same papyri he used to do his book of abraham translation and the fact that he did not in any way do it correctly should be proof enough that joseph smith lied about his abilities from god.
Eldon tanner, sent out for the translation, expecting it to prove smiths true translation abilities. Think joseph smith could have gotten that right by sheer chance. The book of mormon if the book of abraham was a fraud, is. 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. Mormon and nonmormon egyptologists agree that the characters on the fragments do not match the translation. Today were going to point our skeptical eye at one of the supposedly ancient scriptures of the mormon church, the book of abraham. It appears that abraham lincoln checked out a copy of the bom from the library of congress. 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. The book of abraham is the most explicit mormon scripture explaining our identity as the literal spiritual children of god the father, present at, and in at least some cases, participating in the. The book of abraham issues translation problems mormonthink. Why does a translation of the papyri that supposedly contain the book of abraham have no resemblance to joseph smith. An essay on the churchs website, titled translation and historicity of the book of abraham, explains. The book of abraham, it is hardly necessary to say, is a pure fabrication. I would also love to hear some reasoned arguments about your views on the book of abraham and why no other translations match that of js.
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. If the book of mormon and the book of abraham are not true. The book of abraham revered as scripture is total fiction as it does not match its source text. None of the characters on the papyrus fragments mentioned abrahams name or any of the events recorded in the book of abraham. For both books of the book of mormon and book of abraham, skeptics generally with a big first narrative that trickles down to further narratives. The veracity and value of the book of abraham cannot be settled by scholarly debate concerning the books translation and historicity, a new. Mormonism is a religion less than two centuries old, but in this short time it has managed to accrue a long list of embarrassments which the church leaders would prefer were kept. How a mormon lawyer transformed archaeology in mexicoand.
Namely the allegations that it is a fake and that the papyrus have nothing to do with abraham. Mormon and non mormon egyptologists agree that the characters on the fragments do not match the translation. Centuries later, according to the scripture, jesus appeared to the nephites in the same region after his resurrection. In 1835 the church came into possession of some egyptian papyri, said to have been translated with divine guidance by their prophet, joseph smith. Foundation for ancient research and mormon studies, 7, no. The book of abraham is a book of lds scripture that joseph smith translated from a collection of ancient egyptian. Thomas stuart ferguson lay in his hammock, certain that he had found. An account written by the hand of mormon upon plates taken from the plates of nephi, who claimed that it had been. Its the only lds scripture that includes graphical images. By taking an evidential approach to christian and mormon scripture, i confirmed the veracity of christianity and guarded myself from the falsity. None of the characters on the papyrus fragments mentioned abraham s name or any of the events recorded in the book of abraham.
There are no gold plates to examine, no manuscripts to view, of the supposed ancient text joseph said he translated. Two views of the mormon book of abraham bible query. Mar 19, 2011 well firstly, joseph smith, the prophet, translated the papyri. Jan 18, 2018 how a mormon lawyer transformed archaeology in mexicoand ended up losing his faith.
You are coming up with too many reasons why the book of mormon is fake instead of why it is true. Book of abraham exposed fraud a portion of the papyri used by joseph smith as the source of the book of abraham. This some people includes the mormon church, which under the direction of apostle n. It was first published in march 1830 by joseph smith as the book of mormon. Mormon and non mormon egyptologists agree that the characters on the fragments do not match the translation given in the book of abraham. All of this being said, the news website world news daily report is a fake news website. 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 book of abraham, found in the pearl of great price, is considered to be canonical by the lds church. 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. They even use real names and places in their reports the scientists, led by professor abraham jones, are associated with the brigham young universitys faculty of archaeology.
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