• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

FAIR

  • Find Answers
  • Blog
  • Media & Apps
  • Conference
  • Bookstore
  • Archive
  • About
  • Get Involved
  • Search

A Book of Abraham Bullseye

August 5, 2013 by John Gee

Middle Bronze Age autobiographies from Syria are, in the words of A. L. Oppenheim, “without parallel in texts of this type from Mesopotamia and Egypt.” They are very distinct in form and features. They also differ considerably from the same kinds of texts from the same area from a later date. As it turns out, however, those distinct features appear in the Book of Abraham which depicts Abraham as coming from Middle Bronze Age Syria.

I explore the connections in an article, which just appeared on Friday. The article is:

John Gee, “Abraham and Idrimi,” Journal of the Book of Mormon and Other Restoration Scripture 22/1 (2013): 34-39.

I do not know that it has appeared in electronic form, but it has appeared in print. (Interested parties can find the reference for the Oppenheim quote in the article.)

So here is the problem. The Book of Abraham was published by Joseph Smith in 1842. The first Middle Bronze Age Syrian autobiography was published in 1949. If Joseph Smith had made up the Book of Abraham, he would have had to compose an autobiography set in a certain time and place and use the correct literary features and publish it a hundred years before anyone else would publish one from an archaeological dig. The process by which he may or may not have done it is simply irrelevant. None of the proposed processes can account for the literary parallels.

*This was cross-posted from Forn Spoll Fira.

Filed Under: Book of Abraham

Reader Interactions

Trackbacks

  1. 5 August 2013 | MormonVoices says:
    August 6, 2013 at 4:39 pm

    […] http://www.fairblog.org/2013/08/05/a-book-of-abraham-bullseye/ […]

Primary Sidebar

Faithful Study Resources for Come, Follow Me

Subscribe to Blog

Enter your email address:

Subscribe to Podcast

Podcast icon
Subscribe to podcast in iTunes
Subscribe to podcast elsewhere
Listen with FAIR app
Android app on Google Play Download on the App Store

Pages

  • Blog Guidelines

FAIR Latest

  • Beauty for Ashes
  • Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Doctrine and Covenants 67–70 – Autumn Dickson
  • Viewing Today’s Culture Through the Lens of the Gospel
  • And We Talk of Christ: Forgiving Through His Light
  • Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Doctrine and Covenants 64–66 – Autumn Dickson

Blog Categories

Recent Comments

  • Nick on As a Little Child
  • David on Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Doctrine and Covenants 49–50 – Autumn Dickson
  • Ana on Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Doctrine and Covenants 45 – Autumn Dickson
  • Kal- El Luke Skywalker on As a Little Child
  • Ned Scarisbrick on An Easter Message from FAIR

Archives

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • iTunes
  • YouTube
Android app on Google Play Download on the App Store

Footer

FairMormon Logo

FAIR is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing well-documented answers to criticisms of the doctrine, practice, and history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Donate to FAIR

We are a volunteer organization. We invite you to give back.

Donate Now

Site Footer