Joseph Smith & a LITERAL 3500 Year Old Abraham Autograph

[_Shulem]

Henry Caswell described his visit to Nauvoo in 1842 where a gentleman showed him the papyri. “Having introduced me, together with several Mormons, to this sanctum Sanctorum, he locked the door behind him, and proceeded to what appeared to be a small chest of drawers. From this he drew forth a number of glazed slides, like picture frames, containing sheets of papyrus, with Egyptian inscriptions, and hieroglyphics. These had been unrolled from mummies, which the prophet had purchased at a cost of twenty-four hundred dollars. [John Gee, the LDS Egyptologist consistently stops using Caswell’s testimony at this point, never continuing so we get Caswell’s actual context, which we shall see a little bit later] By some inexplicable mode, as the store keeper informed me, Mr. Smith had discovered that these sheets contained the writings of Abraham, written in his own hand while in Egypt. Pointing to the figure of a man on a table, he said, ‘That is the picture of Abraham on the point of being sacrificed.”[28]

Philo, please permit me to requote this more fully with emphasis bearing in mind that the mummies were considered contemporary to the very times in question. Henry Caswell certainly gave a vivid (curiously friendly) description of Mormon claims and it agrees with other statements made by members of the church, most importantly the Times & Seasons wherein the original claim was officially published under President Smith's direct supervision.

The storekeeper now proceeded to redeem his promise of obtaining for me access to the curiosities. He led me to a room behind his store, on the door of which was an inscription to a room behind his store, on the door of which was an inscription to the following effect: "OFFICE OF JOSEPH SMITH, PRESIDENT OF THE CHURCH OF LATTER DAY SAINTS." Having introduced me, together with SEVERAL Mormons, to his sanctum sanctorum, he locked the door behind him, and proceeded to what appeared to be a small chest of drawers. From this he drew forth a number of glazed slides, like picture frames, containing sheets of papyrus, with Egyptian inscriptions and hieroglyphics.

These had been unrolled from four mummies, which the prophet had purchased at a cost of twenty-four hundred dollars. By some inexplicable mode, as the storekeeper informed me, MR. SMITH HAD DISCOVERED THAT THESE SHEETS CONTAINED THE WRITINGS OF ABRAHAM, WRITTEN WITH HIS OWN HAND WHILE IN EGYPT.

Note that the sheets which contained "inscriptions and hieroglyphics" the very writings of Abraham himself -- written with his own dusty hand while visiting the Two Lands. That is the claim being made. The Mormons claimed to have Abraham's personal diary, an account of his journey and experiences in Egypt. They claimed to have the original documents in Abraham's own "handwriting".

Some parchments inscribed with hieroglyphics were then offered us. They were preserved under glass and handled with great respect. 'That is the handwriting of Abraham, the Father of the Faithful,' said the prophet.

Who are you going to believe, zerinus or Joseph Smith?

[_Maksutov]

Z is such a treasure. You'd think that antiMormons invented him, he's such an execrable example of a fanatical Mormon. It's a bit unfair. I've rarely met LDS people of such determined ignorance and dishonesty. Still, there's always Z to point to if a LDS person says you're unduly denigrating the intelligence and/or integrity of Mormons. He does constitute evidence, after all.

[_Shulem]

References, please.

He (Joseph Smith) then opened the little boxes which are always found about a mummy and took out some papyrus. This, said he is the handwriting of Abraham, that one is Moses, and so on. These are hieroglyphics, nobody can read them but myself. I can read all the writing and all the hieroglyphics.

It's not just the story of Abraham or a copy of a copy. It's the very handwriting (diary) of Abraham telling his story!

[_I have a question]

If there is a more archetypal example of a literary "smoking gun" than The Book Of Abraham, I've yet to hear about it. It utterly destroys any credibility Joseph Smith had as a translator or Prophet. Completely. Well, for the intellectual honest it does.

[_Maksutov]

If there is a more archetypal example of a literary "smoking gun" than The Book Of Abraham, I've yet to hear about it. It utterly destroys any credibility Joseph Smith had as a translator or Prophet. Completely. Well, for the intellectual honest it does.

I agree. When I consider the prophet puzzle--the good qualities of Smith, for example--I still have to balance it against this act of clear and deliberate fraud. And the evidence of this fraud can't help but affect how we view Smith's other "prophetic" products.

James Strang is to me a window into Smith's methods. He managed to compete successfully in the magic department, enough to win the support of many of Smith's family and followers. Significant about the gullibility and integrity of so many around Smith and his movement.

[_Philo Sofee]

Shulem

Philo, please permit me to requote this more fully with emphasis bearing in mind that the mummies were considered contemporary to the very times in question. Henry Caswell certainly gave a vivid (curiously friendly) description of Mormon claims and it agrees with other statements made by members of the church, most importantly the Times & Seasons wherein the original claim was officially published under President Smith's direct supervision.

ANYTIME. You have some great resources and insights into all this. Thanks for your contributions to helping sort through so many matters.

[_Philo Sofee]

Z is such a treasure. You'd think that antiMormons invented him, he's such an execrable example of a fanatical Mormon. It's a bit unfair. I've rarely met LDS people of such determined ignorance and dishonesty. Still, there's always Z to point to if a LDS person says you're unduly denigrating the intelligence and/or integrity of Mormons. He does constitute evidence, after all.

+100!

[Guest]

If there is a more archetypal example of a literary "smoking gun" than The Book Of Abraham, I've yet to hear about it. It utterly destroys any credibility Joseph Smith had as a translator or Prophet. Completely. Well, for the intellectual honest it does.

I agree. When I consider the prophet puzzle--the good qualities of Smith, for example--I still have to balance it against this act of clear and deliberate fraud. And the evidence of this fraud can't help but affect how we view Smith's other "prophetic" products.

James Strang is to me a window into Smith's methods. He managed to compete successfully in the magic department, enough to win the support of many of Smith's family and followers. Significant about the gullibility and integrity of so many around Smith and his movement.

When you think about it, religion was the social media frenzy of that day. Key players wanted their own platform from which to amass wealth by gaining more followers than the others. The more followers meant leveraging more power and gaining more wealth. For Protestantism, Methodism, Mormonism, Seventh Day Adventism etc. read Twitter, Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram etc. The methodology is the same, each platform claiming uniquely better features, followers claiming one is better than the other etc.

When one had a vision, the next would have a bigger and better one. If the leader was losing ground a new feature gets added. The pattern is almost identical. It's just individuals wanting power and money, and sheep wanting to follow the best/most popular one. People want to collect in groups of commonality. If your friends are on Twitter, you're more likely to be on Twitter. Etc. It's the same mass social dynamic today as it was back then.

Mormonism is the MySpace of religions....it isn't changing quickly enough to remain relevant.

The Book Of Abraham destroys all truth claims of the Church, leaving just the community benefits and the centrally held me misused €billions.

[_Maksutov]

When you think about it, religion was the social media frenzy of that day. Key players wanted their own platform from which to amass wealth by gaining more followers than the others. The more followers meant leveraging more power and gaining more wealth. For Protestantism, Methodism, Mormonism, Seventh Day Adventism etc. read Twitter, Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram etc. The methodology is the same, each platform claiming uniquely better features, followers claiming one is better than the other etc.

When one had a vision, the next would have a bigger and better one. If the leader was losing ground a new feature gets added. The pattern is almost identical. It's just individuals wanting power and money, and sheep wanting to follow the best/most popular one. People want to collect in groups of commonality. If your friends are on Twitter, you're more likely to be on Twitter. Etc. It's the same mass social dynamic today as it was back then.

Mormonism is the MySpace of religions....

Indeed. Smith was a contemporary of P. T. Barnum and operating in a similar social milieu, willing to exploit ignorance, love of spectacle and myth to reach his ends.

Though they never created a separate theocratic kingdom, the Spiritualists and then the Theosophists and UFO contactees operated in the same way. Mediums would channel eachother's contacts in the spirit world; theosophists all had differing relations with the same Ascended Masters/White Brotherhood; the UFO contactees had their varying experiences with similar Space Brothers, often contacting them telepathically and yet never having concrete evidence of them....

[_Shulem]

ANYTIME. You have some great resources and insights into all this. Thanks for your contributions to helping sort through so many matters.

Philo, I want you to look closely at this verse crafted by Joseph Smith who was the true author of the Book of Abraham:

But the records of the fathers, even the patriarchs, concerning the right of Priesthood, the Lord my God preserved in mine own hands; therefore a knowledge of the beginning of the creation, and also of the planets, and of the stars, as they were made known unto the fathers, have I kept even unto this day, and I shall endeavor to write some of these things upon this record, for the benefit of my posterity that shall come after me.

Abraham said he had some records of his forefathers that talked about priesthood and astronomy. He notes that those old records were "PRESERVED" as if they were original writings of his fathers, documents that had been kept in the family line. That is exactly what is being expressed in this claim that Abraham had original documents that had been handed down, AUTOGRAPHS of the patriarchs.

Then note that Abraham is going to add his 2 cents to the record when he says "I shall endeavor to write some of these things upon this record", in a nutshell, he's going to add his autograph and write with his own hand upon the family scrolls.

Joseph Smith claimed his Egyptian documents were preserved and written by Abraham and Joseph's own hands. Thus we see what Joseph Smith really meant when he said, "Written by his own hand" -- original autographs.