Have you ever wondered about the authenticity of the Book of Abraham, a foundational text in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church)? Believed by some to be a direct translation of ancient Egyptian papyri by Joseph Smith, the Church’s founder, the Book of Abraham has been a source of controversy for decades. With near-endless sources to choose from, this post presents mere highlights … for further research, several links are included at the end.
As scholars and experts meticulously scrutinize this sacred text, a troubling revelation emerges: the Book of Abraham appears to be not a divine revelation but a clever work of fiction.
Charles M. Larson, By His Own Hand Upon Papyrus,
CHAPTER TWO
The Book of Abraham: A Timely Document
As published today, the Book of Abraham is a small work, containing only about fifteen printed pages (including the “facsimiles,” or pictures adapted from the papyri, which accompany the text). It was apparently never completed, as it ends abruptly in the middle of the beginning sequences of the Garden of Eden story. Possibly Joseph was killed (June 1844) before the remainder could be produced; we cannot be certain. That he had intended to do more with the papyri at a later time seems likely, for the portion completed was the product of two separate, relatively brief but intense periods with an interruption of several years between them.
From the beginning, Joseph revealed to his scribes that the papyrus record was an expanded version of the Genesis account of the life of Abraham as found in the Bible. It showed that Moses, in compiling the Pentateuch, had apparently relied upon the very same account which Joseph Smith now possessed. Moses evidently abridged and condensed the record as he wrote, omitting considerable detail. Either that, or the original writings of Moses had suffered the same ravages of time through careless and dishonest scribes thought to have affected the rest of the Bible.
But no matter. If Joseph was correct, the Church now had before it the very work from which Genesis had been derived; nothing less than the original, first-hand journal that had been kept by Father Abraham himself. And this account, now slowly unfolding as the Prophet labored to translate it — first in Kirtland, later in Nauvoo — not only cast new light on the background and experiences of the great biblical patriarch, it also gave scriptural authority to a number of new doctrines and teachings Joseph had recently introduced.
In this blog post, we’ll examine why many authoritative voices overwhelmingly consider the Book of Abraham a fabrication and why the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints continues to believe it as revealed truth. We’ll explore the actual content of the papyri Smith claimed to translate, the stark contrast revealed in the Book of Abraham itself, and the mountain of evidence from Egyptologists and others that definitively debunks its historical accuracy. The controversy started nearly the day Michael Chandler, a traveling proprietor of Egyptian artifacts, rolled into Kirtland with Egyptian mummies and some scraps of ancient writings.
How an Egyptian Papyrus Became the Mormon Book of Abraham
By Paul Mitchell
Although no records detailing the transaction have survived, it is believed that Michael Chandler, an Irish-born entrepreneur living in Philadelphia, purchased the mummies directly from Lebolo’s dealer and had them shipped to New York in April 1833. Later, Chandler asserted that he had inherited the mummies from Lebolo, a claimed distant relation, but Lebolo’s will contains no mention of Chandler or the mummies.
Chandler, inspecting his purchase, unsealed the 11 mummies’ coffins to find fragile but intact rolls of papyrus interred with the bodies. Chandler immediately brought the mummies to Philadelphia and exhibited them for “a compensation” of 25 cents.
Taking the show on the road, Chandler traveled with the remainder of his mummies along the East Coast and into Appalachia, continuing to exhibit and sell the corpses until he had only four mummies and some articles of papyrus in his possession when arriving in the town of Kirtland, Ohio, on July 3, 1835. This hilly Northeast Ohio town served as the center of the Latter Day Saints (LDS) movement after the prophet Joseph Smith relocated from upstate New York in 1831. Chandler was drawn to the fledging religious community following Smith’s claims of having translated a holy book called the Book of Mormon, allegedly inscribed in an ancient Egyptian language on golden plates found buried in Palmyra, New York.
Although Jean-Francois Champollion had deciphered hieroglyphics with the use of the Rosetta Stone in the early 1820s, this scholarship was unavailable to Smith and the American linguists that Chandler consulted concerning the meaning of the inscriptions on the papyrus. On July 6, Smith noted in his diary that the “Saints at Kirtland” purchased the mummies and papyrus for the hefty sum of $2,400 ($85,181 in 2024 dollars), finishing off Chandler’s collection and providing Smith with raw material for another divinely inspired translation of mysterious texts. Chandler retired to more mundane pursuits and settled on a farm.
Wikipedia: What is the content of the Book of Abraham?
The Book of Abraham tells a story of Abraham’s life, travels to Canaan and Egypt, and a vision he received concerning the universe, a pre-mortal existence, and the creation of the world. Although the nineteenth-century American context surrounding Smith’s papyri translation was rife with Egyptomania, the Book of Abraham itself does not contain the popular tropes then associated with ancient Egypt, such as mummies or pyramids, and its content instead “grew out of the Bible.”
The book has five chapters, outlined below:
One: Recounts how Abraham’s father Terah and his forefathers had turned to “the god of Elkenah, and the god of Libnah, and the god of Mahmackrah, and the god of Korash, and the god of Pharaoh, king of Egypt”. Chaldean priests then sacrifice three virgins to pagan gods of stone and wood, and one priest attempts to sacrifice Abraham himself before an angel comes to his rescue. The text then examines the origins of Egypt and its government.
TWO: Includes information about God’s covenant with Abraham and how it would be fulfilled; in this chapter, Abraham travels from Ur to Canaan, and then to Egypt.
THREE: Abraham learns about an Egyptian understanding of celestial objects via the Urim and Thummim. It is in this chapter that Abraham also learns about the “eternal nature of spirits […] pre-earth life, foreordination, the Creation, the choosing of a Redeemer, and the second estate of man.”
FOUR: Along with chapter 5, contains expansions and modifications of the creation narrative in Genesis. The gods (there are over 48 references to the plurality of the gods in Chapters 4 and 5) plan the creation of the earth and life on the earth.
FIVE: The gods complete creation, and Adam names all living creatures.
In an evidence-based analytical discussion of the credibility of Joseph Smith’s Book of Abraham, several major factors should be considered:
-
Historical Context: Provide an overview of the historical context surrounding the production of the Book of Abraham, including Joseph Smith’s acquisition of Egyptian papyri in the 1830s and the circumstances leading to the translation.
- Egyptological Examination: Discuss the findings of Egyptologists who have analyzed the surviving fragments of the papyri and their conclusion that they are common funerary texts with no connection to the narrative presented in the Book of Abraham.
- Anachronisms: Highlight specific anachronisms found within the Book of Abraham, such as references to places, people, or concepts that did not exist in the period claimed by Smith.
- Comparison with Source Material: Compare the text of the Book of Abraham with known ancient Egyptian religious texts, such as the Egyptian Book of the Dead, to illustrate similarities or discrepancies in themes, symbols, and language.
- Witness Testimonies and Accounts: Examine the accounts of eyewitnesses and contemporaries of Joseph Smith who attest to his method of translation, including questions about his previous use of a seer stone or hat, which raises questions about the authenticity of his claims to divine revelation.
- Scholarly Consensus: Summarize the scholarly consensus regarding the Book of Abraham, emphasizing the overwhelming rejection of its authenticity by both LDS and non-LDS scholars based on linguistic, historical, and archaeological evidence.
By addressing these factors comprehensively, an evidence-based analysis can provide readers with an objective understanding of the credibility—or lack thereof—of Joseph Smith’s Book of Abraham.
Historical Context: Joseph acquires the Egyptian papyri.
As described in Charles M. Larson’s book, By His Own Hand Upon Papyrus:”
July 4, 1835, was an unusually eventful day in Kirtland. The talk all over town was about the Irishman who had arrived in the village the day before, and had now set up an exhibit of, of all things, four Egyptian mummies. It was spectacular! For a small price you could actually see and touch mysterious carvings, fragments of ancient writings, and even mummified human corpses, all of which had been on the earth since Bible times! The exhibit was extremely popular, and Mr. Chandler, the Irishman, did everything he could to accommodate the Saints during his stay.
The four mummies were probably the most colorful objects displayed, but several of the prominent brethren of the Church were even more intrigued by the scraps of ancient writings. In the Book of Mormon, they recalled, Mosiah had described a seer as “a man that can translate all records that are of ancient date” (Mosiah 8:13). Joseph, they knew, had been called of God as “Prophet, Seer, and Revelator” back when the Church was first organized. Joseph should be able to read and understand this writing! What a wonderful way of silencing his critics for good! Having been told of the Mormon leader’s reputation of deciphering the ancient text of the Book of Mormon, Chandler was invited to show some of his Egyptian writings to Joseph, if he would care to learn their meaning. To this the Irishman happily consented.
Some of the writings were taken to Joseph Smith, who told Chandler that he could indeed translate them, though to do so properly would take some time. Joseph explained that a few of the figures were more immediately recognizable to him than the rest, possibly because of their similarity to the engravings on the gold plates. These he proceeded to interpret for Chandler, who thanked him profusely and even wrote down on a piece of paper for Joseph the following:
KIRTLAND, July 6, 1835
This is to make known to all who may be desirous, concerning the knowledge of Mr. Joseph Smith, Jun., in deciphering the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic characters in my possession, which I have, in many eminent cities, showed to the most learned; and, from the information that I could ever learn, or meet with, I find that of Mr. Joseph Smith, Jun., to correspond in the most minute matters.
MICHAEL H. CHANDLER
Traveling with, and proprietor of, Egyptian mummiesThis was just the sort of thing the brethren had been hoping for, and they were confident that this certificate would help to strengthen the Prophet’s reputation and undo some of the harm that had occurred. On further reflection, however, it occurred to them to go a step farther. Pooling their resources, they raised $2,400 to actually purchase Chandler’s exhibit — the writings, the mummies, everything — which they then presented to Joseph. Now, surely, any who ventured to question the Prophet’s God-given ability to translate ancient records would be able to see for themselves.
But even their wildest hopes could not have prepared these faithful brethren for what the newly acquired Egyptian writings turned out to be, as identified by their prophet. The astonishing discovery is best described by Joseph Smith himself, who later wrote of the incident:
“. . . with W. W. Phelps and Oliver Cowdery as scribes, I commenced the translation of some of the characters or hieroglyphics, and much to our joy found that one of the rolls contained the writings of Abraham, another the writings of Joseph of Egypt, etc. — a more full account of which will appear in its place, as I proceed to examine or unfold them. Truly we can say, the Lord is beginning to reveal the abundance of peace and truth.”
The news sped like an electric shock through the community. All the Saints were beside themselves with joy over the fact that God should so preserve and direct these things unto them through his holy Prophet. The Church’s local periodical printed a letter by Oliver Cowdery, one of Joseph’s scribes in the work, in which he reported:
“Upon the subject of the Egyptian records, or rather the writings of Abraham and Joseph, I may say a few words. This record is beautifully written on papyrus with black, and a small part red ink, or paint, in perfect preservation.”
The Authoritative Egyptologist Analysis.
Wikipedia: Criticism of the Book of Abraham.
Analysis and translation of the papyrus by Egyptologists
The translation by both Mormon and non-Mormon Egyptologists is completely at odds with Joseph Smith’s purported translation. The transliterated text from the recovered papyri and facsimiles published in the Book of Abraham contain no direct references—either historical or textual—to Abraham at all, and the patriarch’s name does not appear anywhere on the papyri or the facsimiles.
Scholars have dated the Joseph Smith Papyri to the late Ptolemaic period (c. 150 BC), 1500 years after Abraham’s supposed lifetime. This fact—combined with the presence of apparent anachronisms within the book itself —seems to contradict Smith’s statements that the papyri feature the “handwriting of Abraham” which had been “written by his own hand”.
Non-existent People and Places.
Biblical scholars place Abraham living no later than 1500 BCE, making anything coming into existence after that time anachronistic. LDS Church scholars either reject the anachronisms, or accept the anachronisms and attribute them to either Joseph Smith and/or an ancient Jewish redactor, who while copying from the original Book of Abraham replaced original terms and images with concepts that would be understandable to a contemporary audience. This includes the facsimiles that are found in the Book of Abraham, which represent a corrupted version of a document originally written by Abraham, and Smith gave the interpretation of the original document. In response to criticism that the documents are too young to have been written by Abraham, Nibley and others argue that the papyri may be copies of an original which was either written or commissioned personally by Abraham, and thus the copies could be considered “by [Abraham’s] own hand” in the sense that they were derived from an original. Critics of this approach point to repeated statements by Smith and others that the papyri he was translating from were literally written in the handwriting of Abraham and Joseph.
The Truth of the Translations.
In the original papyri, Facsimile No. 1 is attached to hieroglyphics from which Joseph created the beginning of the Book of Abraham. It begins with the words, “In the Land of the Chaldeans, at the residence of my father, I, Abraham, saw that it was needful for me to obtain another place of residence” (BoA 1:1). In reality, however, the hieroglyphics translate: “Osiris shall be conveyed into the Great Pool of Khons — and likewise Osiris Hor, justified, born to Tikhebyt, justified — after his arms have been placed on his heart and the Breathing permit (which [Isis] made and has writing on its inside and outside) has been wrapped in royal linen and placed under his left arm near his heart; the rest of the mummy-bandages should be wrapped over it. The man for whom this book was copied will breath forever and ever as the bas of the gods do.”
The document is not the writing of Abraham in Egypt, but is instead the opening portion of an Egyptian Shait en Sensen, or Book of Breathing, a late funerary text derived from the earlier and more complex Book of the Dead. This particular scroll was examined by experts (including Mormon experts who agreed with the findings) and after analyzing handwriting, spelling, content, and other contextual issues, they determined the papyri were written sometime during the Late Ptolemaic or Early Roman Period (circa 50 B.C. to A.D. 50). This is problematic for Mormons, however, for if the papyri are only about 2,000 years old, they are far too new to have been “written on by the hand of Abraham.”
The earliest Mormon leaders and witnesses believed and maintained these papyri were, in fact the very scrolls upon which Abraham and Joseph wrote. These papyri were considered to be the original scrolls until they were later recovered in 1966. After discovering the original papyri, scientists, linguists, archeologists and investigators (both Mormon and non-Mormon) examined them and agreed the papyri were far too young to have been written by Abraham. They are approximately 1500 to 2000 years too late, dating from anywhere between 500 B.C. (John A. Wilson, Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, Summer 1968, p. 70.) and 60 A.D.
Did Joseph Smith Use the Papyri At All?
Many Mormon apologists, after investigating this evidence, have come to the conclusion we actually do have all the papyri Joseph used for the Book of Abraham. They also admit Smith’s rendition does not reflect the accurate translation of the Egyptian hieroglyphics on these papyri. As a result, they now claim Joseph obtained his Book of Abraham by way of direct revelation and not from a translation of the papyrus. They claim God inspired Joseph and revealed the text of the Book of Abraham, using the papyri only as an inspirational tool. The words came to Joseph directly from God, independent of the papyri. According to these apologists, the papyri simply served as the visual foundation from which God miraculously revealed something entirely different.
Joseph Smith’s Knowledge of Ancient Languages.
In his Appeal to The Green Mountain Boys of 1843, Smith prominently implied a working knowledge of Chaldean, Egyptian and fifteen additional languages for no apparent purpose other than to entertain his followers with a demonstration of his linguistic sophistication. Ironically, even this brief usage of Egyptian is “gibberish” according to Robert Ritner, an esteemed Professor of Egyptology who identifies the Book of Abraham as “a perhaps well-meaning, but erroneous invention by Joseph Smith.”
The Source Material.
Wikipedia: The Papyrus Fragments.
Church leadership traditionally described the Book of Abraham straightforwardly as “translated by the Prophet [Joseph Smith] from a papyrus record taken from the catacombs of Egypt”, and “Some have assumed that hieroglyphs adjacent to and surrounding facsimile 1 must be a source for the text of the book of Abraham”. However, modern Egyptological translations of papyrus fragments reveal the surviving Egyptian text matches the Breathing Permit of Hôr, an Egyptian funerary text, and does not mention Abraham. The church acknowledges this, and its members have adopted a range of interpretations of the Book of Abraham to accommodate the seeming disconnect between the surviving papyrus and Smith’s Book of Abraham revelation. The two most common interpretations are sometimes called the “missing scroll theory” and the “catalyst theory”, though the relative popularity of these theories among Latter-day Saints is unclear.
The “Lost” papyri and facsimiles.
The controversy intensified in the late 1960s when portions of the Joseph Smith Papyri were located (previously thought to have been lost in the Great Chicago Fire). The translation of the papyri by both Mormon and non-Mormon Egyptologists does not match the text of the Book of Abraham as purportedly translated by Joseph Smith. Indeed, the transliterated text from the recovered papyri and facsimiles published in the Book of Abraham contain no direct references, either historical or textual, to Abraham, and Abraham’s name does not appear anywhere in the papyri or the facsimiles. Edward Ashment notes, “The sign that Smith identified with Abraham […] is nothing more than the hieratic version of […] a ‘w’ in Egyptian. It has no phonetic or semantic relationship to [Smith’s] ‘Ah-broam.'” University of Chicago Egyptologist Robert K. Ritner concluded in 2014 that the source of the Book of Abraham “is the ‘Breathing Permit of Hôr,’ misunderstood and mistranslated by Joseph Smith”, and that the other papyri are common Egyptian funerary documents like the Book of the Dead.
Mormon Stories: Why the Catalyst Theory is Dead on Arrival.
For those who don’t know, the “Catalyst Theory” is a new hypothesis maintaining that Joseph Smith did not, in fact, translate the Book of Mormon from golden plates as he always claimed – and as we were all taught, as Mormons, for over a century. Nor did Joseph Smith translate the Book of Abraham from the Egyptian papyrus he purchased in 1835 – again, as he and God both claimed, and as all Mormons were taught for over a century. Instead, the “Catalyst Theory” maintains that Joseph DID NOT translate either the Book of Mormon or the Book of Abraham, but instead, God placed the plates and papyrus in Joseph Smith’s possession for the sole purpose of inspiring him to directly channel revelation from God to create the scriptures.
This is a super-convenient hypothesis, as it gets both Joseph Smith and God off the hook for all the massive errors, anachronisms, and plagiarisms that have now been found in ALL of Joseph’s produced scripture. We can now safely blame “Joseph the man” for all of the errors, anachronisms and plagiarisms in Mormon scripture, and more importantly, rescue the thoroughly disproven Book of Abraham “translation” as a “revelation,” not a translation.
In his General Conference talk entitled “The Coming Forth of the Book of Mormon,” Elder Ulisses Soares stated,
“The translation process of the Book of Mormon was also a miracle. This sacred ancient record was not “translated” in the traditional way that scholars would translate ancient texts by learning an ancient language. We ought to look at the process more like a “revelation” with the aid of physical instruments provided by the Lord, as opposed to a “translation” by one with knowledge of languages.” – April, 2020.
This, my friends, is gaslighting.
LDS website. The Official Church Viewpoint.
It is likely futile to assess Joseph’s ability to translate papyri when we now have only a fraction of the papyri he had in his possession. Eyewitnesses spoke of “a long roll” or multiple “rolls” of papyrus. Since only fragments survive, it is likely that much of the papyri accessible to Joseph when he translated the book of Abraham is not among these fragments. The loss of a significant portion of the papyri means the relationship of the papyri to the published text cannot be settled conclusively by reference to the papyri.
Interesting Witness Testimony.
Eyewitness Account After the Death of Joseph Smith 1844–1871. (September 1846, Unknown Author).
The stories appeared to be more particular accounts than our Bible gives us, of Noah, the Ark and the flood—of Abraham and Melchizedec—of Joseph and Pharaoh—and of various other distinguished characters. She said, that when Joseph was reading the papyrus, he closed his eyes, and held a hat over his face, and that the revelation came to him; and that where the papyrus was torn, he could read the parts that were destroyed equally as well as those that were there; and that scribes sat by him writing, as he expounded. She showed us a large book where these things were printed, which of course sealed their truth to Mormon eyes and minds; but we had not time to read them.
Scholarly Consensus.
Mormon Research Ministry, Gospel Topics Essay:
Translation and Historicity of the Book of Abraham, Eric Johnson
…research given by Egyptologists going back to the 19th century, including Dr. A. H. Sayce (Oxford University), Dr. W.M. Flinders Petrie (London University), Dr. James H. Breasted (University of Chicago), Dr. Arthur C. Mace (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York), Dr. John Peters (University of Pennsylvania), Dr. Edward Meyer (University of Berlin), Dr. Freidrick Freiheer Von Bissing (University of Munich), and Dr. Samnuel A. B. Mercer (Western Theological Seminary). (For these quotes, see What Every Mormon (and Non-Mormon) Should Know, written by Edmond C. Gruss and Lane A. Thuet, pp. 162-164.) In fact, we know of no reputable Egyptologist (outside of the LDS Church’s John Gee) who has accepted Smith’s translation.
TestAllThings.com: Analysis of the Book of Abraham.
“In more recent times the half-dozen 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.”
(No Man Knows My History: The Life of Joseph Smith – Fawn Brodie – Page 175)“It is difficult to deal seriously with Joseph Smith’s impudent fraud…. Smith has turned the Goddess [in Facsimile No. 1] into a king and Osiris into Abraham.”
(Dr. A.H. Sayce – Oxford professor of Egyptology – Printed in Joseph Smith Jr. As a Translator – By F.S. Spaulding – Page 23)“…these three facsimiles of Egyptian documents in the ‘Pearl of Great Price’ depict the most common objects in the Mortuary religion of Egypt. Joseph Smith’s interpretations of them as part of a unique revelation through Abraham, therefore, very clearly demonstrates that he was totally unacquainted with the significance of these documents and absolutely ignorant of the simplest facts of Egyptian writing and civilization.”
(James H. Breasted Ph.D – Egyptologist – Haskell Oriental Museum – University of Chicago – as cited in Joseph Smith Jr. As a Translator – Page 26-27)“Richard A. Parker is the Wilbour Professor of Egyptology and Chairman of the Department of Egyptology at Brown University…. He remarks that the Book of Breathings is a late (Ptolemaic and Roman periods) and greatly reduced version of the Book of the Dead…. He would provisionally date the two Book of Breathings fragment in the Church’s possession to the last century before the first century of the Christian era…”
(Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought – Summer 1968 – Page 86)“I must conclude that Joseph Smith had not the remotest skill in things Egyptian-hieroglyphics. To my surprise one of the highest officials in the Mormon Church agreed with that conclusion… privately in one-to-one conversation.”
(Thomas S. Ferguson – Scriptural Exegete for Translation Services of the LDS Church – Letter dated March 13th, 1971“Is it possible that a record written by Abraham… containing the most important revelations that God ever gave to man, should be entirely lost by the tenacious Israelites, and preserved by the unbelieving Egyptians, and by them embalmed and deposited in the catacombs with an Egyptian priest?… I venture to say no, it is not possible. It is more likely that the records are Egyptian.”
(William S. West – “A Few Interesting Facts Respecting the Rise, Progress and Pretension of the Mormons,” – Pamphlet- 1837 – as quoted in Stan Larson – Quest For the Gold Plates – Pages 89 and 122)“A few faded and tattered little scraps of papyrus may serve to remind the Latter-day Saints of how sadly they have neglected serious education…. Not only has our image suffered by such tragic neglect, but now in the moment of truth the Mormons have to face the world unprepared, after having been given a hundred years’ fair warning.”
(Dr. Hugh Nibley – BYU Studies – Winter 1968 – Pages 171-172)
Perhaps a fitting conclusion to this post is summed up by an anonymous Reddit commenter at Mormon Chronicles, “Complete translation of the Joseph Smith Papyri published:”
How is there any getting around this? The texts do not correspond, AT ALL, with what JS claimed they contain. There is not a single non-LDS Egyptologist who is willing to back the official JS translation–not ONE. They can’t, because they know it is wrong! Furthermore, the idea that the texts weren’t “translated” but rather “conduits” is NOT consistent with what JS claimed, and is only a recent invention of the LDS, an attempt to explain what cannot be explained. Additionally, ALL of the identifications that JS made regarding the images (facsimiles) are wrong! He had no idea what he was doing–it is clear. He was literally just making it up as he went along.
Look likewise at the timing. A few years after JS starts his polygamy and many gods ideas–and pre-existence, etc—he conveniently discovers a text which “backs” all of his own revolutionary ideas that he’d been integrating into his personal life for years previously.
Lastly, in regards to a greater Mormon philosophical quagmire, and just to totally forget the Egyptology side, the BoA contains a direct dialog from God to Abraham wherein God is instructing Abraham to LIE. TBM’s: think about this. This is a really, really big deal: lying is, in all circumstances, fundamentally immoral and incompatible with reason; even when arguments for expediency might be tried, those arguments never (and cannot) claim that there is a positive moral quality to lying, but rather they are human attempts to balance a “lesser evil”. When God instructs certain behavior, the moral quality is based on obedience to that demand: when the demand itself is incompatible with morality, God is contradicting Himself. How can that be possible, that God contradicts God? Simple: it isn’t possible–which is why you will find NO such demands anywhere in actual holy scripture. Neverminding the Egyptological hurdles that the BoA cannot surpass, this philosophical hurdle should have been (and likely was) evidence for saints, even at the nascence of the BoA publishings, that something wasn’t right here! “God said WHAT?!” I don’t know how many saints left after the BoA was published, but those who respected truth and defended God surely would have recognized such an invention as a red flag, and likely fled. Why is this itself not reason enough to throw the whole thing to the flames?
The discourse surrounding the Book of Abraham continues to spark fervent debates into the 21st century across various religious and academic disciplines. Egyptologists, textual critics, documentary editors, and scholars of 19th-century American and Mormon history contribute their insights to this multifaceted issue. However, the complexity inherent in these discussions often leads to confusion, particularly in online forums. social media platforms, lacking the filtering mechanisms of academic rigor, can easily become breeding grounds for misinformation and heavily biased narratives.
The story of Joseph Smith presents a binary question: was he a divinely chosen prophet, experiencing revelations and translating ancient scripture, or not? The answer dramatically shapes his legacy. If he weren’t a prophet, the titles often associated with him would be drastically different. He wouldn’t be a revered figure in New England folklore, a well-meaning youth, or a skilled writer of fantastical stories. His contributions as a teacher, a key figure in American religion, and the author of inspiring religious texts would all be questioned. If the Book of Mormon or the Book of Abraham’s origins are demonstrably false, his reputation wouldn’t include any of these accolades.
History indicates an ongoing trend towards polarization, where there appears to be a widening gap between Latter-day Saint adherents and those who challenge every aspect of the religion, leaving little room for middle-ground options. Both sides cannot be right.
It’s either true or false. If it’s false, we’re engaged in a great fraud. If it’s true, it’s the most important thing in the world. Now, that’s the whole picture. It is either right or wrong, true or false, fraudulent or true.
Gordon B. Hinckley, interview “The Mormons”; PBS, April 2007
Recommended resources:
Mormon Think: Translation and Historicity of the Book of Abraham – Response to LDS.org.
LDS Discussions: Translation and Historicity of the Book of Abraham.
BYU Studies: A Guide to The Book of Abraham.
Patheos: Approaching The Facsimiles Of The Book Of Abraham.
Jonathan Moyer: The Jewish Origin of the Book of Abraham.
John Gee: Fantasy and Reality in the Translation of the Book of Abraham.
CES Letter: BOOK OF ABRAHAM, Concerns & Questions.
FAIR: Scholarly Support for the Book of Abraham.
LDS Website: Translation and Historicity of the Book of Abraham.
CES Letter: Debunking FairMormon / Book of Abraham
The LDS Church Does Not Want You to Watch “Under the Banner of Heaven,”
And it doesn’t want you to read the book, either.
MUST READ: A Prophet Without Honor
There’s no authoritative biography yet for Joseph Smith, the notorious founding figure in Mormonism.
By Alex Beam @ The American Scholar | June 9, 2014
The Culture of Violence in Joseph Smith’s Mormonism
Part I, Part II, Part III
By D. Michael Quinn
Top Ten Books the LDS (Mormon) Church Doesn’t Want You to Read.
The Guardian: Mormons confront the uncomfortable history of church founder’s polygamy.
LDS Discussions: Problems with the Truth Claims of the LDS Church: A Summary.
Mormon Think: LDS Church—Historical Problems Outline.
The Cultish Show: Book of Abraham Study Guide.
The Founder of Mormonism:
A Psychological Study of Joseph Smith, Jr
Woodbridge Riley
In this groundbreaking book, Riley applies the tools of modern psychology to explore the life and personality of Joseph Smith Jr., the founder of Mormonism. Drawing on a wide range of sources, including Smith’s own writings and testimonies from those who knew him, Riley offers a nuanced and multidimensional portrait of this often enigmatic figure. This is an essential read for anyone interested in the history of Mormonism or the intersection of religion and psychology. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the “public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations.