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< Criticism of Mormonism | Books | By His Own Hand upon Papyrus: A New Look at the Joseph Smith Papyri
A FAIR Analysis of: By His Own Hand upon Papyrus: A New Look at the Joseph Smith Papyri A work by author: Charles M. Larson
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Claims made in "Chapter 2: The Book of Abraham: A Timely Document" |
The author claims that the Book of Mormon was written "in a strange, long-forgotten language called Reformed Egyptian."Author's sources: *Mormon 9:32
And now, behold, we have written this record according to our knowledge, in the characters which are called among us the reformed Egyptian, being handed down and altered by us, according to our manner of speech.
The author states that Joseph's followers would ask "How do we really know the Book of Mormon is what you say?" and "Show us the plates — if there ever were any!"Author's sources: None cited.
The author claims that Church growth in Kirtland "became stagnant" until Joseph acquired the papyri and translated them, thus impressing the Church with his ability as a seer.Author's sources: None cited.
But the Kirtland apostasy took place in 1837-38, two years after Joseph Smith began work on the book of Abraham. Moreover, rather than stagnating, "the LDS population in Kirtland multiplied from about 100 in 1832 to over 1,286 in 1836."7 In Kirtland alone, the Church was nearly doubling annually at this time. This is stagnation? Larson provides no documentation for any of his claims here; his approach is pure, unsubstantiated speculation.
—John Gee, "A Tragedy of Errors. A review of 'By His Own Hand Upon Papyrus: A New Look at the Joseph Smith Papyri' by Charles M. Larson,' FARMS Review, Volume - 4, Issue - 1, Pages: 93-119 off-site
Notes
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