Joseph Smith & a LITERAL 3500 Year Old Abraham Autograph

[_zerinus]

Okay, done. I have just saved a copy of that reply to my PC. I will be happy to repost it for you as many times as you like, if that will help knock it into your head somehow.

[_Lemmie]

The fact that today’s Egyptologists think the facsimiles mean something different from what Joseph Smith believed they meant, does not make him wrong and the Egyptologists right.

Statements like this severely weaken any future argument you could make. You tbink you are pitting an Egyptologist against Joseph Smith but what you are actually doing is saying that an entire, well established and exhaustively researched body of knowledge, recognized and accepted worldwide, is wrong, and YOU, an amateur, uneducated and untrained in this field, know better.

[_Jersey Girl]

The Book of Abraham is utterly indefensible. There isn't even a good apologetic for it. Anybody that has tried to defend it on this board has had their position torn to shreads and they are made to look childishly ridiculous by their own arguments.

Exhibit A - Zerinus

The answer is still the same. There is no “evidence” that “disproves” the authenticity of the Book of Abraham. The fact that today’s Egyptologists think the facsimiles mean something different from what Joseph Smith believed they meant, does not make him wrong and the Egyptologists right. It means that he knew something that the Egyptologists don’t. Get that into your head and quit asking. I can copy and save this reply to my PC, and repost it for you every time If that is what you really want. Would you like me to do that? I am quite happy to do it if that would help get it into your head any better.

What do you mean "today's Egyptologists"? The book was criticized by Egyptologists going back to the early 1900's.

What you're saying is that somehow (magic, revelation, seer-something-or-other or spiritual eyes) Joseph Smith, (an ignorant illiterate farm boy who couldn't possibly have authored the Book of Mormon) knew something about Egyptology back in the mid-1800's that no one else knew are, in the year 2017, yet to discover.

If Joseph was correct, what do you suppose is holding the worldwide Egyptological community back from researching, studying and ultimately acknowledging that Joseph was right?

Furthermore, do you ask yourself why Emma sold off these religious artifacts that should have been regarded as sacred treasures of the early LDS Church?

[_Jersey Girl]

What you've got here, zerinus, in terms of human behavior is a man (Joseph Smith Jr. ) who produced the Book of Mormon (the most correct book on earth, the foundational scripture for a newly founded religion, the restoration of actual Christianity) who tried to sell the copyright to it right out of the gate.

Years later, you have his wife (who surely had insider insight or who knows maybe she didn't) selling off mummies and the papyri, the originating documents for yet another sacred text for the LDS Church.

Do you see a pattern of behavior here? If so, what does it suggest to you?

[_Jersey Girl]

Joseph knew what he had in the Book of Mormon and knew what he said he had.

He tries to sell it?

Emma knew what Joseph said he had in the Papyri and she sells the collection including the mummies?

These things of the Divine? They put a price tag on them like they were eBay items?


Why am I doing this I don't even have a horse in this race.

[_zerinus]

What do you mean "today's Egyptologists"? The book was criticized by Egyptologists going back to the early 1900's.

By "today's Egyptologists" I mean Egyptologists of the modern era, from the time of Joseph Smith until now.

What you're saying is that somehow (magic, revelation, seer-something-or-other or spiritual eyes) Joseph Smith, (an ignorant illiterate farm boy who couldn't possibly have authored the Book of Mormon) knew something about Egyptology back in the mid-1800's that no one else knew are, in the year 2017, yet to discover.

That is exactly what I mean.

If Joseph was correct, what do you suppose is holding the worldwide Egyptological community back from researching, studying and ultimately acknowledging that Joseph was right?

There are two separate issues involved here: The text of the Book of Abraham; and the interpretation of the facsimiles. The text of the Book of Abraham does not appear to have survived the fire that destroyed much of the manuscript. The facsimiles appear to contain esoteric teachings the true interpretation of which have not yet been discovered; or relate to the Egyptian religious beliefs and iconography the details of which have not yet been fully understood. The Egyptologists may have discovered some truths, but not everything, and not enough to write off Joseph Smith.

Furthermore, do you ask yourself why Emma sold off these religious artifacts that should have been regarded as sacred treasures of the early LDS Church?

Emma was not in the Church or friendly towards it at that time, and had no interest in wanting to do any favors for the Church.

[_zerinus]

What you've got here, zerinus, in terms of human behavior is a man (Joseph Smith Jr. ) who produced the Book of Mormon (the most correct book on earth, the foundational scripture for a newly founded religion, the restoration of actual Christianity) who tried to sell the copyright to it right out of the gate.

Years later, you have his wife (who surely had insider insight or who knows maybe she didn't) selling off mummies and the papyri, the originating documents for yet another sacred text for the LDS Church.

Do you see a pattern of behavior here? If so, what does it suggest to you?

No I don't.

[_zerinus]

Joseph knew what he had in the Book of Mormon and knew what he said he had.

He tries to sell it?

Emma knew what Joseph said he had in the Papyri and she sells the collection including the mummies?

These things of the Divine? They put a price tag on them like they were eBay items?

You are nitpicking irrelevancies.

[_Jersey Girl]

Joseph knew what he had in the Book of Mormon and knew what he said he had.

He tries to sell it?

Emma knew what Joseph said he had in the Papyri and she sells the collection including the mummies?

These things of the Divine? They put a price tag on them like they were eBay items?

You are nitpicking irrelevancies.

No sir I am not. Those are questions posed to you that are based on factual written documentation and the behavior represented therein, for which you have no answers.

[_zerinus]

No sir I am not. Those are questions posed to you that are based on factual written documentation and the behavior represented therein, for which you have no answers.

I can neither speak for Joseph Smith nor Emma Smith; I can only speak for the Book of Mormon, which I know to be true.