Posted in Book of Abraham Books history Prophets Revelation Scholarship Scripture Translation

Review of Terryl Givens and Brian Hauglid, The Pearl of Greatest Price: Mormonism’s Most Controversial Scripture

A new book related to the Pearl of Great Price has just been published by two well-known LDS scholars, Dr. Terryl Givens and Dr. Brian Hauglid, both currently associated with…

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Posted in Book of Abraham Egyptian Evidence history

Puzzling Statement from Joseph Smith III May Raise a Book of Abraham Question: Could More of the Original Papyri Have Survived?

After a long trip from Shanghai to Amsterdam via Dubai yesterday, I awoke this morning with an intriguing question sent from Ryan Larsen, a fellow member of the Church and…

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Posted in Book of Abraham Egyptian language Origins Scholarship Translation

Royal Skousen’s Interesting Theory on the Book of Abraham and Its Relationship to the Papyri

A reader raised an interesting question after reading Dr. Royal Skousen’s C.V. at BYU, where he mentions a theory he is exploring that has not yet been published. Under the…

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Posted in Book of Abraham Critics Scripture

A Few Reasons Why Hugh Nibley Is Still Relevant for Book of Abraham Scholarship

I’m grateful to the Interpreter Foundation for publishing my lengthy, controversial, and painful (at least to me) article reviewing the Joseph Smith Papers’ volume on the Book of Abraham, a…

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BOA Facs. 1
Posted in Book of Abraham history Scripture

The Twin BOA Manuscripts: A Window into Creation of the Grammar and Alphabet of the Egyptian Language?

While I believe there is significant evidence showing that the twin manuscripts (Manuscript A and Manuscript B) of the Book of Abraham do not represent live dictation from Joseph Smith…

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BOA-Phelps-Letter
Posted in Book of Abraham Critics history Scripture

Kirtland’s Rosetta Stone? The Importance of Word Order in the “Egyptian” of the Grammar and Alphabet of the Egyptian Language

There may be an important story hidden in one of the easily-overlooked details in the always puzzling Kirtland Egyptian Papers, especially the Grammar and Alphabet of the Egyptian Language (GAEL)…

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JSP-BOA
Posted in Book of Abraham Critics history Scripture

The Twin Book of Abraham Manuscripts: Do They Reflect Live Translation Produced by Joseph Smith, or Were They Copied From an Existing Document?

A number of critics of the Book of Abraham and even some LDS scholars have alleged that a pair of Book of Abraham manuscripts with a few Egyptian characters in…

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Posted in Book of Abraham Critics Evidence Scripture

The New Hauglid and Jensen Podcast from the Maxwell Institute: A Window into the Personal Views of the Editors of the JSP Volume on the Book of Abraham

The Maxwell Institute recently revamped their website after roughly a week of downtime, introducing dramatic changes (and some painful losses). The new website currently gives pride of place to a…

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BOA-scripts
Posted in Book of Abraham history Scripture

Update on Inspiration for W.W. Phelps’ Use of an Archaic Hebrew Letter Beth for #2 in the Egyptian Counting Document

I previously noted that one of the Hebrew books Oliver Cowdery brought to Kirtland, Ohio near the end of 1835 showed an archaic form of the Hebrew letter beth which…

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Posted in Book of Abraham history Scripture

More Connections Between the Kirtland Egyptian Papers and Prior Documents

In a previous post, I discussed William Schryver’s 2010 presentation that pointed out some surprising connections in the Kirtland Egyptian Papers that are related to the Book of Abraham project….

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