New angle for Book of Abraham apologists to pursue

[_Wisdom Seeker]

So I had an opportunity to listen to a lecture and faith promoting Book of Abraham presentation.

The lecturer started off with: All of the anti-mormon claims against the Book of Abraham derive from a DJ Nelson who flunked out of high school and purchased his advanced degrees from diploma mills. There are no legitimate claims against the Book of Abraham that can stand up to scrutiny.

But then he got into something I would have never expected.

Our current scriptures have an incorrect funerary scene (Facsimile No. 1) based upon an incorrect rendition of what the original papyri contained. Old versions of LDS scriptures have the correct funerary scene depicting a jackal head and a bird instead of hands. It seems as if Joseph had papyri that was in a "perfect preservation" condition and did not need any hand drawn embellishments.

[_CaliforniaKid]

This lecturer didn't know what he was talking about.

[_Chap]

So I had an opportunity to listen to a lecture and faith promoting Book of Abraham presentation.

The lecturer started off with: All of the anti-mormon claims against the Book of Abraham derive from a DJ Nelson who flunked out of high school and purchased his advanced degrees from diploma mills. There are no legitimate claims against the Book of Abraham that can stand up to scrutiny.

But then he got into something I would have never expected.

Our current scriptures have an incorrect funerary scene (Facsimile No. 1) based upon an incorrect rendition of what the original papyri contained. Old versions of LDS scriptures have the correct funerary scene depicting a jackal head and a bird instead of hands. It seems as if Joseph had papyri that was in a "perfect preservation" condition and did not need any hand drawn embellishments.

As California Kid said, this person was clearly pretty ignorant.

But the second point about the facsimile is simply crazy from the LDS apologetic point of view.

There is certainly plenty of evidence from, more complete, ancient versions of this common scene (but not from LDS publications!) that depictions like this normally show a jackal-headed Anubis, never a human priest. But if Facsimile No. 1 does not depict a human-headed priest, it does not match the text of the Book of Abraham, which says specifically that it shows a priest sacrificing Abraham. And that is apart from the fact that the facsimile in its present form goes all the way back to an issue of the magazine 'Times and Seasons' published while Smith was editor. I think one can say confidently that no LDS scripture published by the Utah church has ever shown it otherwise.

The fact that someone as dumb and ill-informed as this lecturer could draw a public and be allowed a venue shows how very, very poorly informed the average member of the CoJCoLDS must be about Book of Abraham issues.

Who organized this lecture, by the way? Did it take place in a church facility or where?

[_aussieguy55]

This lecturer didn't know what he was talking about.

I think your lastest blog entry on civility and silence was interesting. Surely there are times when you can say 'you are talking rubbish".

[_badseed]

This lecturer didn't know what he was talking about.

Right. But LDS faithful looking to believe have no reason to research it out and will likely go no further than that statement.

[_Wisdom Seeker]

Who organized this lecture, by the way? Did it take place in a church facility or where?

I believe it was a CES lecture or fireside. The event took place in a LDS chapel.

He was an old guy who stated that his long lost very old scriptures had the jackal-headed Anubis in them. A guy raised his hand saying he had a very old set of scriptures with him that did not have the jackal-headed figure and the lecturer mentioned that this guy's scriptures were not old enough.

I would guess most people who attended felt they learned something very valuable and had their faith reaffirmed. They will now most certainly win any argument with family and friends who criticize the Book of Abraham.

[_Chap]

Who organized this lecture, by the way? Did it take place in a church facility or where?

I believe it was a CES lecture or fireside. The event took place in a LDS chapel.

He was an old guy who stated that his long lost very old scriptures had the jackal-headed Anubis in them.

Right. 'Long-lost'. An angel took them back to heaven ...

A guy raised his hand saying he had a very old set of scriptures with him that did not have the jackal-headed figure and the lecturer mentioned that this guy's scriptures were not old enough.

The other guy clearly didn't have the Spirit. I bet there was a feeling of evil in the room when he spoke. But truth won through!

[I would guess most people who attended felt they learned something very valuable and had their faith reaffirmed. They will now most certainly win any argument with family and friends who criticize the Book of Abraham.

Sure they did. Of course the fact that they did not realize that a jackal-headed Anubis instead of a human priest contradicts the Book of Abraham just shows how few of them had an actual familiarity with the text in which their faith had been re-affirmed ...

[_Wisdom Seeker]

Right. 'Long-lost'. An angel took them back to heaven ...

Funny you should bring that up. At one point he stated that the reason the golden-plates were taken from man was because a scholarly translation would not match what was given to Joseph by God through the Urim and Thummim. God did not want his church looking foolish.

[_bcspace]

Nelson was handled long ago. Time to update those apologetics.

[_Kishkumen]

Wow. Just when you think you have heard every lame and dishonest Book of Abraham apologetic imaginable.