View source for Criticism of Mormonism/Books/One Nation Under Gods/Appendix A

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{{H1
|L=Criticism of Mormonism/Books/One Nation Under Gods/Appendix A
|H=Response to claims made in "Appendix A: Abraham's Book?"
|T=[[../../|One Nation Under Gods]]
|A=Richard Abanes
|<=[[../Postscript|Postscript]]
|>=[[../Appendix B|Appendix B: Failed Joseph Smith Prophecies"]]
}}
{{ChartOneNationUnderGodsAppendixA}}
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|L=Criticism of Mormonism/Books/One Nation Under Gods/Appendix A
|H=Response to claims made in One Nation Under Gods, "Appendix A: Abraham's Book?"
|S=
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==Quick Navigation==
*[[Criticism of Mormonism/Books/One Nation Under Gods/Appendix A#Response to claim: 449 - "Surely Smith would be able to translate the writings, thereby proving his God-given abilities"|Response to claim: 449 - "Surely Smith would be able to translate the writings, thereby proving his God-given abilities"]]
*[[Criticism of Mormonism/Books/One Nation Under Gods/Appendix A#Response to claim: 449 - Joseph "was positive" that he could translate the Book of Abraham scrolls because "the inscriptions were so similar to those on the ''Book of Mormon'' golden plates..."|Response to claim: 449 - Joseph "was positive" that he could translate the Book of Abraham scrolls because "the inscriptions were so similar to those on the ''Book of Mormon'' golden plates..."]]
*[[Criticism of Mormonism/Books/One Nation Under Gods/Appendix A#Response to claim: 450 - The book claims that "modern Mormons" believe that the ''Book of Abraham'' "proves" Joseph Smith's "powers of translation"|Response to claim: 450 - The book claims that "modern Mormons" believe that the ''Book of Abraham'' "proves" Joseph Smith's "powers of translation"]]
*[[Criticism of Mormonism/Books/One Nation Under Gods/Appendix A#Response to claim: 450 - "The ancient documents Smith acquired were only copies of common Egyptian funeral texts"|Response to claim: 450 - "The ancient documents Smith acquired were only copies of common Egyptian funeral texts"]]
*[[Criticism of Mormonism/Books/One Nation Under Gods/Appendix A#Response to claim: 450-451 - Joseph's interpretations of the facsimilies has been rejected by Egyptologists|Response to claim: 450-451 - Joseph's interpretations of the facsimilies has been rejected by Egyptologists]]
*[[Criticism of Mormonism/Books/One Nation Under Gods/Appendix A#Response to claim: 451 - The book reproduces a reconstruction of what Facsimile 1 is alleged to have looked like from Charles M. Larson's book ''By His Own Hand Upon Papyrus''|Response to claim: 451 - The book reproduces a reconstruction of what Facsimile 1 is alleged to have looked like from Charles M. Larson's book ''By His Own Hand Upon Papyrus'']]
*[[Criticism of Mormonism/Books/One Nation Under Gods/Appendix A#Response to claim: 455 - The author completely omits the fact that the Church published an article in the ''Improvement Era'' soon after the discovery of the papyrus fragments that acknowledged that they were from the ''Book of Breathings''|Response to claim: 455 - The author completely omits the fact that the Church published an article in the ''Improvement Era'' soon after the discovery of the papyrus fragments that acknowledged that they were from the ''Book of Breathings'']]
*[[Criticism of Mormonism/Books/One Nation Under Gods/Appendix A#Response to claim: 455 - The scrolls were written approximately 2000 years after Abraham's death, and were therefore could not have been written by his hand as Joseph claimed|Response to claim: 455 - The scrolls were written approximately 2000 years after Abraham's death, and were therefore could not have been written by his hand as Joseph claimed]]
*[[Criticism of Mormonism/Books/One Nation Under Gods/Appendix A#Response to claim: 456-457 - The ''Book of Abraham'' was "translated" by expanding single Egyptian characters into entire paragraphs of text|Response to claim: 456-457 - The ''Book of Abraham'' was "translated" by expanding single Egyptian characters into entire paragraphs of text]]
{{parabreak}}

==Response to claim: 449 - "Surely Smith would be able to translate the writings, thereby proving his God-given abilities"==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=One Nation Under Gods
|claim=
{{AuthorQuote|Surely Smith would be able to translate the writings, thereby proving his God-given abilities.}}
|authorsources=
Author's opinion.
}}
{{propaganda|Joseph was not translating the scrolls in order to provide some sort of proof of his "God-given abilities." This is simply a sarcastic statement on the part of the author.
}}
*[[../Sarcasm|Sarcasm]]

==Response to claim: 449 - Joseph "was positive" that he could translate the Book of Abraham scrolls because "the inscriptions were so similar to those on the ''Book of Mormon'' golden plates..."==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=One Nation Under Gods
|claim=
Joseph "was positive" that he could translate the Book of Abraham scrolls because "the inscriptions were so similar to those on the ''Book of Mormon'' golden plates..."
|authorsources=
No source provided.
}}
{{misinformation|Joseph believed he could translate the Book of Abraham because he said he had translated the ''Book of Mormon'' "by the gift and power of God." If Joseph is perpetuating a fraud, as the author believes, why on earth would Joseph be ''positive'' that he could translate an ancient document when he knew he had made up the existence of the Book of Mormon plates?  This theory is not even self-consistent.
}}

==Response to claim: 450 - The book claims that "modern Mormons" believe that the ''Book of Abraham'' "proves" Joseph Smith's "powers of translation"==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=One Nation Under Gods
|claim=
The book claims that "modern Mormons" believe that the ''Book of Abraham'' "proves" Joseph Smith's "powers of translation."
|authorsources=
No source provided.
}}
{{disinformation|No, "modern Mormons" simply believe that Joseph translated the Book of Abraham from papyri by the gift and power of God.
}}

==Response to claim: 450 - "The ancient documents Smith acquired were only copies of common Egyptian funeral texts"==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=One Nation Under Gods
|claim=
{{AuthorQuote|The ancient documents Smith acquired were only copies of common Egyptian funeral texts; namely, ''The Book of Breathings'' (which Smith turned into the ''Book of Abraham'') and ''Book of the Dead'' (which Smith said had been written by the Bible's Joseph).}}
|authorsources=
No source provided.
}}
{{misinformation|Only fragments of the papyri remain. Those fragments do not contain the Book of Abraham, as acknowledged by the Church in 1968. It is unclear how the author developed his association of the ''Book of Breathings'' with the ''Book of Abraham'' and the ''Book of the Dead'' with the writings of Joseph.
}}

==Response to claim: 450-451 - Joseph's interpretations of the facsimilies has been rejected by Egyptologists==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=One Nation Under Gods
|claim=
Joseph's interpretations of the facsimilies has been rejected by Egyptologists.
|authorsources=
Statements are provided in the main text by Dr. A.H. Sayce (Oxford, England), Dr. W.M. Flinders Petrie (London University), James H. Breasted, Ph.D. (Haskell Oriental Museum, University of Chicago), Dr. Arthur C. Mace (Assistant Curator, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Department of Egyptian Art), and Professor S.A.B. Mercer, Ph.D. (Western Theological Seminary, Custodian Hibbard Collection, Egyptian Reproductions).
}}
{{information|This is correct.
}}
*[[Book of Abraham/Joseph Smith Papyri/Facsimiles]]

==Response to claim: 451 - The book reproduces a reconstruction of what Facsimile 1 is alleged to have looked like from Charles M. Larson's book ''By His Own Hand Upon Papyrus''==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=One Nation Under Gods
|claim=
The book reproduces a reconstruction of what Facsimile 1 is alleged to have looked like from Charles M. Larson's book ''By His Own Hand Upon Papyrus''. The author assumes that Larson's reconstruction is valid, noting, among other things that Joseph Smith "missed drawing in the falcon altogether" and that he "incorrectly drew the hand positioning of the figure lying down."
|authorsources=
Charles M. Larson, ''By His Own Hand Upon Papyrus: A New Look At the Joseph Smith Papyri'', 1985, 1992 edition.
}}
{{misinformation|Larson's reconstruction of Facsimile 1 has some serious problems.
}}
{{:Question: Does Facsimile 1 show a hand? Or does it show the wing of a second bird?}}
{{:Source:Lanny Bell:the Mormon Book of Abraham:the questionable traces above the head of the Osiris figure are actually the remains of his right hand}}
{{:Question: Should the restoration of Facsimile 1 include a phallus?}}
{{:Source:Lanny Bell:there would not be enough available space to restore the hand of Anubis, the erect phallus of the Osiris, and the body and wings of Isis}}
{{:Question: Was the original head of the priest in Facsimile 1 actually the jackal head of Anubis?}}
{{:Question: Was the priest depicted in Facsimile 1 holding a knife or some other object?}}

==Response to claim: 455 - The author completely omits the fact that the Church published an article in the ''Improvement Era'' soon after the discovery of the papyrus fragments that acknowledged that they were from the ''Book of Breathings''==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=One Nation Under Gods
|claim=
The author completely omits the fact that the Church published an article in the ''Improvement Era'' soon after the discovery of the papyrus fragments that acknowledged that they were from the ''Book of Breathings''.
}}
{{misinformation|To have included this, of course, would fly in the face of the author's constant assertions throughout the book that the Church hides any information that might be potentially embarrassing.
}}
*[[Book of Abraham/Joseph Smith Papyri/Identity and nature]]
*[[../../Notable omissions|Notable omissions]]

==Response to claim: 455 - The scrolls were written approximately 2000 years after Abraham's death, and were therefore could not have been written by his hand as Joseph claimed====
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=One Nation Under Gods
|claim=
The scrolls were written approximately 2000 years after Abraham's death, and were therefore could not have been written by his hand as Joseph claimed.
}}
{{information|This is correct.
}}
{{:Question: Why does the Book of Abraham state that it was written by Abraham's "own hand upon papyrus" if the papyri date to after the Abrahamic period?}}

==Response to claim: 456-457 - The ''Book of Abraham'' was "translated" by expanding single Egyptian characters into entire paragraphs of text==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=One Nation Under Gods
|claim=
The ''Book of Abraham'' was "translated" by expanding single Egyptian characters into entire paragraphs of text.
}}
{{misinformation|The author assumes that the Kirtland Egyptian Papers were created prior to the Book of Abraham being dictated, when the opposite is true.
}}
{{:Question: In the Kirtland Egyptian Papers, why is each Egyptian character matched to an entire paragraph of English text?}}

{{endnotes sources}}



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