Where Did the Book of Abraham Come from?

Witnesses for Jesus

Where Did the Book of Abraham Come from?

Does the LDS Church blame Jesus for Joseph Smith’s fake translation?

The Mormon Church admits in their essay called “Translation and Historicity of the Book of Abraham,” posted on July 8, 2014, that “None of the characters on the papyrus fragments mentioned Abraham’s name or any of the events recorded in the book of Abraham.” Thus, they admit that Joseph Smith’s so-called “translation” of the manuscripts was completely wrong. Joseph Smith said this book was written by Abraham, but nothing could be farther from the truth. This manuscript didn’t even exist in Abraham’s time. They go on to admit:

“Mormon and non-Mormon Egyptologists agree that the characters on the fragments do not match the translation given in the book of Abraham. … Scholars have identified the papyrus fragments as parts of standard funerary texts that were deposited with mummified bodies. These fragments date to between the third century B.C.E. and the first century C.E., long after Abraham lived.”

Then, they admit to the fact that Joseph Smith continued to try to convince his followers that he could properly “translate” the Egyptian language by creating a “grammar” book, but this too has been proven to be completely bogus as well!

“Some evidence suggests that Joseph studied the characters on the Egyptian papyri and attempted to learn the Egyptian language. His history reports that, in July 1835, he was ‘continually engaged in translating an alphabet to the book of Abraham, and arranging a grammar of the Egyptian language as practiced by the ancients.’ This ‘grammar,’ as it was called, consisted of columns of hieroglyphic characters followed by English translations recorded in a large notebook by Joseph’s scribe, William W. Phelps. … Neither the rules nor the translations in the grammar book correspond to those recognized by Egyptologists today.”

So what does the LDS Church do now with all this evidence that Joseph Smith made up his translations to deceive his followers? They blame Jesus for his fake translations by claiming that “God” gave Joseph Smith his translation.

“Speaking of the translation of the Book of Mormon, the Lord said, ‘You cannot write that which is sacred save it be given you from me.’2 The same principle can be applied to the book of Abraham. The Lord did not require Joseph Smith to have knowledge of Egyptian. By the gift and power of God, Joseph received knowledge about the life and teachings of Abraham.”

This the idea that God gave Joseph Smith a “revelation” of the life of Abraham, even though this so-called “translation” is completely unconnected to the manuscripts Joseph Smith claimed to “translate,” is nothing but a cover-up for Joseph Smith’s frauds! There is no way that the Lord of the universe would have inspired Joseph Smith to create a fake translation in His name. Joseph Smith’s translations are so bad that in many instances where he draws the Egyptian characters of the papyrus in his translation, he completely gets the people wrong in his “Explanations,” even calling a “resurrection” a “sacrifice”!

There is absolutely no way that the Jesus of the Bible would have inspired Joseph Smith to make up such a fake translation of those images in the Book of Abraham papyrus. Also, neither would Jesus have inspired Joseph Smith to make up his fake grammar to fool his people into thinking he was actually translating Egyptian! This dancing for Joseph Smith that the LDS Church does to cover-up his frauds must be exposed. Jesus had NO connection to Joseph Smith’s fake translation games. And as long as this church continues to blame Jesus for Joseph Smith’s fake translations, there can be no doubt that the Jesus of Mormonism is NOT the Jesus of the Bible!

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