RFM Annihilates Egyptologist Kerry Muhlestein, TOTAL Wipe Out!!!

[_Philo Sofee]

https://radiofreemormon.org/2020/08/rad ... ent-227879

This is the singular most delightful hour of listening to RFM I have ever had the privilege of having. THANK YOU RFM! Truly inspirational, explanatory, definitely challenging, completely enlightening, and educational, useful, and willing to tell it like it is. This is one not to miss. The challenge for Muhlestein is up. Man up or shut up Muhlestein, RFM has your number, you can run, but you CANNOT hide. You fool no one.

[_Shulem]

I've listened to it 3 times and have thoroughly enjoyed RFM's capable hands in taking the bull by the horns. I think he has a good grasp of the issues and will continue to heat up and get better and better.

Look out, John Gee and Kerry Muhlestein!

[_Philo Sofee]

I've listened to it 3 times and have thoroughly enjoyed RFM's capable hands in taking the bull by the horns. I think he has a good grasp of the issues and will continue to heat up and get better and better.

Look out, John Gee and Kerry Muhlestein!

RFM is the singular most sane, intelligent, easy to grasp with the issues, pointing out blatant contradictions there has ever been concerning Mormonism. He is God's gift to us all. I don't say that lightly. He proves one does not have to be an Egyptologist in order to understand Egyptology and the issues. I am so truly grateful I no longer am stuck on the wrong side of these issues.

[_Shulem]

Yeah, RFM has his finger on the Book of Abraham button. He's pulled some chains and has been noticed. He is empowered to do this work. He also has plenty of support and helping hands right here on this board. Lights are flashing and buzzers are sounding.

Woohoo!

[_Philo Sofee]

Yeah, RFM has his finger on the Book of Abraham button. He's pulled some chains and has been noticed. He is empowered to do this work. He also has plenty of support and helping hands right here on this board. Lights are flashing and buzzers are sounding.

Woohoo!

The irony with David Bokovoy is priceless!!! Muhlestein is a sh-it, pure and simple. A hypocritical liar. A coward. RFM demonstrates this in the most powerful there there is to be seen, er, heard..... Simply masterful. And this is not being ad hominim, amazingly enough! RFM has literally the evidence!

[_Dr Exiled]

RFM goes for the jugular and succeeds in choking out our distinguished apologist brother Muhlestein in that episode. Will Muhlestein have the guts to respond? It doesn't look like it or at least that any response will be forthcoming any time soon. Muhlestein knows the issues backwards and forwards, yet claims he needs a mountain of time to respond. Is he a yella coward or are the brethren holding him back?

What possible response could he give anyway? Dr. Ritner thoroughly trounced any conclusions other than Joseph Smith inventing the book of abraham. The papyri clearly don't match the book and how can anyone claim the papyri were a catalyst when Joseph claims it was written by Abraham? Then the anachronisms have to be dealt with and the crazy astronomy, etc. Also, the missing scroll theory was debunked by Christopher Smith.

So, maybe it is wise from the church's pov to remain silent and not face RFM's devastating cross examination?

[_Philo Sofee]

Yeah, after all, they have to say something, so a non-response response is all they have.

[_Stem]

That was absolutely wiping out Muhlestein's response. I mean what a pathetic response, he gave. I've enjoyed the show, but that doesn't stop me from noticing how depressing it is to see how evasive and dishonest these apologists can be under Church employ. Admittedly I don't have the highest esteem for the church already, but this takes us down another sad road.

[_Dr Moore]

It's odd for sure that we have here a leading world expert calling out Gee and Muhelstein for SPECIFIC instances of dishonest scholarship. And they literally refuse to engage on those SPECIFIC accusations. Bad form guys. You're flushing your case down the drain.

[_DarkHelmet]

That was a brutal takedown. Muhlestein's could have simply declined Ritner's offer to debate, but he felt the need to offer a reason, resulting in a long-winded, rambling, excuse. No matter how many words are in the blog post, or how flowery the language, it's a still weak excuse.

The ending song was perfect. RFM is always on point with his music selection. It made me laugh. The long list of hilariously violent things that will happen to Sir Robin have already happened, figuratively, to the Book of Abraham, and the apologists who continue to defend it. Muhlestein is smart enough to know that if he debates Ritner, it will look like another scene from the Holy Grail - Muhlestein, the Black Knight, confidently declaring victory while bleeding to death.

A couple other parts worth mentioning:

At 27:37 Muhlestein offers an example of misrepresentation. Now, he makes it clear throughout his blog post (over and over again) that he is NOT going to get into an online debate with Robert Ritner. Instead, he will write a book, and we must patiently wait for it. So it is noteworthy that he offers an example here.

I think it's safe to assume that Muhlesten believes this example is one of his strongest points, perhaps his strongest point. He's not going to provide a weak example to make his point. Nobody is putting him on the spot to think of an example off the top of his head. He's writing an article, so he has time to come up with a really good example to illustrate his point. So what example does he provide? He says Egyptologists assume Joseph Smith reconstructed facsimile 1 incorrectly, when it's plausible, even probable, that Joseph copied exactly what facsimile 1 looked like before it was damaged.

Seriously? That's his best example? He's saying maybe, just maybe, the pieces that no longer exist, and will never exist again, prove Joseph Smith didn't make it up. If that's a preview of the best arguments Muhlestein will make in his book, it's clear apologists haven't made any progress since the first Egyptologists ripped apart the Book of Abraham in the 1800s.

At 1:05:04 Muhlestein compares the online discourse around the Book of Abraham to a frothy, foamy lather that is only air with no substance. Interesting analogy, because I think that's a perfect description of Muhlestein's blog post. I found Dehlin and RFM's interview with Ritner dense with substance, to the point where it sometimes got dry and boring with all the technical, Egyptian details. I'm sure Ritner tried to dumb it down as much as possible for lay-people like me, but I still felt like I was in one of his college classes trying to retain the information as best I could. Contrast that with Muhlestein's rambling, heavily padded, blog post that he could have summed up in a few sentences - "I won't debate Ritner. Instead, I will write a book. Stay tuned." That's all you needed to write, Kerry.

He'll make a few bucks from the hundred or so TBMs who actually care. To everyone else, he's irrelevant.