I dont see him mentioned on here and im curious what you guys think of his explanations on why exmormons and egyptologists got the translations wrong. If one assumes that fair s undisputed silence is acceptance of the facts, fair agrees with 79% of letter to a ces director. None of the characters on the papyrus fragments mentioned abraham s name or any of the events recorded in the book of abraham. When a travelling egyptian exhibit passed through kirtland, ohio in the 1830s, joseph smith encouraged followers to purchase some mummies and egyptian scrolls. Bill reel once again joins us and we proceed to lay out the following. Of the uniquely lds scriptures it seems that the book of abraham is one of the more difficult ones for lay members to get a scholarly hold of and so. Thousands of years ago, the prophet nephi learned that one purpose of the book of mormon was to establish the truth of the. Foundation for ancient research and mormon studies, 7, no. 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. The claim that it would take years of schooling to interpret these scrolls is a clumsy sleightofhand. Evidence for the book of abraham daniel c peterson youtube.
Fairmormon videos john gee on the book of abraham at fairmormon conference. The book of abraham text is a source of some distinct latter day saint doctrines, which mormon author randal s. This time, the church responded by reiterating that the book of mormon was divinely inspired, and that the book of abraham s source papyri likely had two meanings one that was obvious and easily understood by to a lay audience, and another that was more. Click each section to expandcollapse or expandcollapse all. Evidences of the divine authenticity of the book of abraham bonus features. If you would like to watch the presentations from our 2019 conference, you can still purchase the video streaming. The bogus book of abraham is one of four canonized books of mormon scripture. Bruce porter exposes what you need to know about the book of abraham. Debunking fairmormon letter to a ces director table of. Expert analysis of the book of abraham in more recent times the halfdozen leading egyptologists who have been asked to examine the facsimiles agree that they were ordinary funeral documents such as can be found on thousands of egyptian graves. Two years ago kevin barney and i gave a fair presentation entitled the. Debunking fairmormon letter to a ces director book of abraham.
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. Unlike controversial and less respected mormon apologists, mr. Two views of the mormon book of abraham bible query. 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.
Critics intent on discrediting the restoration point to dna studies on. Last time i checkedit wasnt the critics that canonized the book of abrahamit was the members of the mormon. As one would expect, mormon intellectuals have sought to answer the criticisms of the book of abraham leveled in these and other works. An inspired translation of the writings of abraham. Joseph smith had in his possession three or four long scrolls, plus a. They are as busy as bees with this mission impossible task. Hauglids essay, i would like to note here that i appreciate mr. By cold steel, january 28, 2006 in book of abraham. Not long after that joseph announced that the papyri contained writings of the biblical patriarchs abraham and joseph. And the first theory says that joseph smith translated the book of abraham from the mounted fragments. The book of mormon taught and still teaches a trinitarian view of the godhead. Fair mormon has an apologetic response to the eliaselijah issue.
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 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. The evidence is conclusive that joseph used the 1 st century ad scroll of horus, which we now possess, in translating the book of abraham. This podcast series features past fairmormon conference presentations. Joseph smiths interpretation of these cuts is a farrago of nonsense from beginning to end. Elijah who restored the sealing keys, and some other guy who restored the keys to the gospel of the dispensation of abraham saying that in us and our seed all generations after us should be blessed. This is a womans church sharon eubanks 2014 fair mormon conference presentation duration.
Daniel peterson 2014 fair mormon conference duration. Book of mormon memes for those who have actually read the book of mormon. Fairmormon conf kerry muehlstein on the book of abraham. The book of mormon if the book of abraham was a fraud. Having faith in and through the book of mormon brant gardner duration. Farms fair shields mormon apologetics farms and fair and shields apologize for the book of mormon and the book of abraham. Fortunately, the lds church is now making fairmormon and their unofficial opinions and theories obsolete. 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.
Joseph smith began the translation in 1835 after obtaining some egyptian papyri. Mormon and non mormon egyptologists agree that the characters on the fragments do not match the translation given in the book of abraham gospel topic essays. A book of abraham mystery to be solved at fair conference. It is specifically an amuletic disc made of cartonnage, bronze, textile, or rare. Believers in the book of mormon and the book of abraham have every reason to move cautiously when citing parallels in support of their belief because the use of parallels is a twoedged sword. Debunking fair conclusion the above donut chart shows percentages of the entire letter to a ces director that fair is in agreement, disagreement, and neutral on.
The evidence is conclusive that joseph used the 1 st century ad scroll of horus, which we now possess, in translating the. The historical authenticity of the book of abraham john gee 2018 fairmormon conference. The term hypocephalus refers to a piece of late period and ptolemaic circa 66430 bc funerary equipment. In the ces letter, i also argued that the translation of the kinderhook plates and the book of abraham cast doubt on the translation of the book of mormon. Soon after js finished translating the book of mormon, he recieved a series of revelations regarding the original creation account depicted in genesis. The institute for religious research has published two major resources challenging the authenticity of the book of abraham. 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.
In 1966, 11 fragments of papyri the prophet joseph smith once had were. 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. If the book of abraham was a fraud, is the book of mormon fake also. Mormon and non mormon egyptologists agree that the characters on the fragments do not match the translation given in the book of abraham. Mark your calendars for the 2020 fairmormon conference, august 57. The translation was published serially in the times and seasons beginning march 1, 1842, at nauvoo, illinois. Could the books of jasher and josephus have helped joseph. No mormon, including joseph smith, has given any indication of there being a book of abraham prior to july 1835.
Why mormons need the book of abraham religion news service. Miraculous claims surrounding the coming forth of the book of mormon are an evidence of the prophetic calling of joseph smith. Fairmormon is acknowledging that the prophet joseph smith considered the 1 st century ad scroll of horus to be the source of the book of abraham. Watching the presentations via video, definitely makes it easier to focus on the speaker however, i miss rubbing shoulders with my fair weather fairmormon friends, and it was especially good for some of the sessions this morning.
The book of abraham is a book of lds scripture that joseph smith translated from a collection of ancient egyptian papyri the church purchased. It seems like embarrassment and despair are sometimes held out as the only legitimate responses to the book of abraham and the book of mormon, and joseph smith, and so on. The historical authenticity of the book of abraham john gee. These revelations, called the book of moses, came about while js was attempting to correct mistranslations and flaws in the bible. Fair s apologetics regarding the book of abraham offends intellect. Fairmormon john gee on the book of abraham at fairmormon. Hauglids jeremy runnells and the book of abraham essay. In addition, i noted some of the facts about the translation process joseph smith using a rock in a hat, that joseph smith didnt use the. To be fair, i dont know how much the boa actually contributes to people leaving, but it seems to be a reason. Today we explore the book of abraham in radio free mormon style. Could the books of jasher and josephus have helped joseph fabricate the book of abraham. The book of abraham and unnoticed assumptions fairmormon.
And so i start out with an assumption that the book of abraham and the book of mormon and anything else that we get from the restored gospel is. That version, according to him, is what is used today, but he had no. Of the uniquely lds scriptures it seems that the book of abraham is one of the. Many mormon scholars, however, have thought the documents show an attempt of joseph smiths associates to decipher egyptian by using the text of the book of abraham as a rosetta stone a sort of reverse engineering project. This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies. Ashments book, the use of magical papyri to authenticate the book of abraham. Chase calls truths of the gospel of jesus christ that were previously unknown to church members of joseph smiths day. The pearl of great price is composed of several smaller books the book of moses, the book of abraham, joseph smithmatthew, joseph smithhistory, and the articles of faith. While christians claim joseph dreamed up the book of abraham, joseph never said that. Critical appraisal of the book of abraham wikipedia.
The book of abraham, it is hardly necessary to say, is a pure fabrication. And it came to pass that moron proclaimed, i can see that you are an apt pupil, which is why i have chosen you to be my prophet. Fairmormon is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing welldocumented answers to criticisms of latterday saint mormon doctrine, beliefs. The standard works, or the mormon books of scripture, include the king james version of the bible, the book of mormon, the doctrine and covenants, and the pearl of great price. Debunking fairmormon letter to a ces director book of.
861 1049 813 95 141 707 407 102 719 1513 1380 432 1338 719 1279 749 983 990 1131 408 86 1505 246 642 1064 430 108 902 106 902 1414 67 1264 425 200 1482 925