Three things

[_Droopy]

I will elaborate further in coming weeks ...

As if we hadn't heard that before.

Wake me up when someone finds a rock with Zarahemla etched in it.

As I've been pointing out for some three years here, this is the intellectual level with which we have to deal, for the most part.

Drag a copy of the Book of Abraham through a trailer park and who knows what you'll come up with.

[_Yoda]

The analysis of the dittograph has been publicly confirmed by Royal Skousen, whose credentials in textual criticism are so impeccable that Metcalfe has even praised him.

I'm familiar with Skousen's work. He has a very solid reputation, and is a brilliant man. Congratulations!

I’ll do that. Just for you, lizzie. Cuz I like you. You don’t mind so much when and if I employ double entendres or make oblique mention of breasts.

[Oh! That wicked hypocritical Mormon misogynist! He talked about ……………… BREASTS!] How outrageous!

Yes, I am a BAD man.

LOL! Thanks, sweetie.

And...you're misguided if you think you are a Mormon misogynist or a bad man simply because you are obsessed with breasts. Being obsessed with breasts doesn't make you a bad man.....just a man.

[_Droopy]

I never pay attention to stupid boring debates about things that have already been proven false.

If a mind is a terrible thing to waste, Harmony has perhaps undergone an extinction event.

The Book of Abraham has been proven false? I'm sure believing makes it so. For many of us,however, who comprehend, so some degree, what the text actually says, and understand the difference between proof, theory, hypothesis, and guesswork, the jury is far from in.

For those of us who actually have a testimony of the Book of Abraham, the above claim is darkly humorous.

I don't listen to anyone who wants to argue if the earth is round, if the sun will be in the sky tomorrow, or if heaven was being pulled around the sky behind Hale Bopp, either. Some things are not worth my time.

Yes, by making the most important questions a human being could ask while yet breathing, you waste precious time you could be using staring at the ceiling thinking about Fanny Alger.

You are, of course, free to waste your time researching and arguing about something that 99.999999% of the world already knows was simply a product of one man's intense imagination. Have at it.

Yes, all those countless parallels with ancient texts, traditions, and concepts Joseph couldn't possibly have known about (or had access to those that were known, had he even known about those) were just very lucky guesses. Joseph climed Mt. Improbable with the best of them it seems.

Joseph clearly wasn't the only one with a vivid imagination.

[Guest]

Yes, all those countless parallels with ancient texts, traditions, and concepts Joseph couldn't possibly have known about (or had access to those that were known, had he even known about those) were just very lucky guesses. Joseph climed Mt. Improbable with the best of them it seems.

Can't count very high, can you Drippy?

[_Droopy]

John Gee = LDS Apologist of the Book of Abraham.

Robert K. Ritner = Professor of Egyptology.

You should, without any delay whatsoever, send an e-mail to the British Museum! They have obviously made a terrible mistake inviting Professor Gee to present at their prestigious Egyptology meetings in a few weeks.

Imagine the scandal what will erupt when Gee's true identity is discovered!

I'm beginning to think they're are a number of critics here who need to get a hobby other than attacking the Church on obscure message boards.

[_Kishkumen]

I'm beginning to think they're are a number of critics here who need to get a hobby other than attacking the Church on obscure message boards.

That works both ways, Dripster.

[_Droopy]

Never one to get the point, Schryver continues to insist that Gee's publications on other Egyptology subjects lend real weight to his arguments about the Book of Abraham. In fact, Gee's accomplishments in his field may say very little or nothing about the veracity of his Book of Abraham arguments.

Yes, it may not. On the other hand, competence in one related field would likely imply competence in another very closely related study.

Gee has a highly trained, careful and rigorous mind, just what an intellectually unbiased person would assume would be called for in Book of Abraham studies, especially as closely related as they are to Egyptology proper.

Are you following this Kish?

[_Kishkumen]

Yes, it may not. On the other hand, competence in one related field would likely imply competence in another very closely related study.

Gee has a highly trained, careful and rigorous mind, just what an intellectually unbiased person would assume would be called for in Book of Abraham studies, especially as closely related as they are to Egyptology proper.

An intellectually unbiased person might also suppose that a Mormon, no matter how qualified, might fall victim to confirmation bias in pursuing a problem that has bearing on his religious belief.

Following me, Drippy?

[_William Schryver]

liz:

And...you're misguided if you think you are a Mormon misogynist or a bad man simply because you are obsessed with breasts. Being obsessed with breasts doesn't make you a bad man.....just a man.

I never said I was obsessed. That was beastlie's characterization.

All I ever admitted to was a "healthy appreciation" of God's creations.

[cue Jon Lovitz doing Harvey Fierstein] Is that so wrong?

[Guest]

OK, Kissassman, put your money where your mouth is. Demonstrate your knowledge of the issues by describing a few arguments Professor Gee has made, vis-a-vis the Book of Abraham, that you believe have "not borne scrutiny."

Three should suffice.

OMG. Shryver, you are such a tool. Why should I replicate what Kevin Graham, CaliforniaKid and others have already done well enough? I don't have to summarize the history of the argument to assess its current status. Geez. You guys are like a broken record.

William is asking for you, in your own words, to analyze and articulate Gee's arguments, and explain why you disagree.

But why do this when you can just wave your hand as dismiss everything as beneath your effervescent intellectual perspicuity? Ah, I see, the thinking has already been done eh?

With critics such as this, its no wonder the Church continues to grow apace regardless.