View source for Book of Abraham/Joseph Smith Papyri/Text

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{{T5
|L=Book of Abraham/Joseph Smith Papyri/Text
|H=Why is the Book of Abraham text not on the papyri?
|S=We do not claim to know why the text of the Book of Abraham (or the missing Book of Joseph) is not in evidence on the fragments of papyrus that were recovered. Critics, of course, simply assume this to be conclusive evidence that Joseph was a fraud. From a believer's perspective, however, there are several possible theories to account for this: 1) The text was revealed much in the same manner as that of the Book of Mormon, without the need for the actual papyri, 2) The text was present on portions of the papyri that are missing, and 3) The Book of Abraham manuscript was attached to the Book of Breathings manuscript and was lost. 4) Perhaps there was a way of understanding the Egyptian ideograms anciently that is unknown to Egyptology in our day, yet to be discovered, deciphered or acknowledged, that could yield an interpretation of a text that is different than the standard Egyptological reading.
|V=<embedvideo service="youtube">https://youtu.be/R7f0s53lTfY?t=569</embedvideo>
|L1=Question: Was the text of the Book of Abraham received through revelation?
|L2=Question: What is the Book of Abraham "Missing Papyrus theory"?
|L3=Historical Sources on Translation of Book of Abraham
|L4=Gospel Topics on LDS.org, "Translation and Historicity of the Book of Abraham"
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{{:Question: Was the text of the Book of Abraham received through revelation?}}
{{:Question: What is the Book of Abraham "Missing Papyrus theory"?}}
{{ChurchResponseBar
|link=https://www.lds.org/topics/translation-and-historicity-of-the-book-of-abraham
|title=Translation and Historicity of the Book of Abraham
|publication=Gospel Topics on LDS.org
|date=8 July 2014
|summary=It is likely futile to assess Joseph’s ability to translate papyri when we now have only a fraction of the papyri he had in his possession. Eyewitnesses spoke of “a long roll” or multiple “rolls” of papyrus.32 Since only fragments survive, it is likely that much of the papyri accessible to Joseph when he translated the book of Abraham is not among these fragments. The loss of a significant portion of the papyri means the relationship of the papyri to the published text cannot be settled conclusively by reference to the papyri.
...
Alternatively, Joseph’s study of the papyri may have led to a revelation about key events and teachings in the life of Abraham, much as he had earlier received a revelation about the life of Moses while studying the Bible. This view assumes a broader definition of the words translator and translation.33 According to this view, Joseph’s translation was not a literal rendering of the papyri as a conventional translation would be. Rather, the physical artifacts provided an occasion for meditation, reflection, and revelation. They catalyzed a process whereby God gave to Joseph Smith a revelation about the life of Abraham, even if that revelation did not directly correlate to the characters on the papyri.
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{{SummaryItem
|link=Book of Abraham/Joseph Smith Papyri/Jewish redaction
|subject=The "Jewish Redaction" theory
|summary=This theory assumes that the Book of Abraham was on a scroll which is no longer extant. While it's true that the extant portions of the JSP are from the Book of the Dead and the Book of Breathings and do not, according to Egyptologists, translate to anything like the LDS Book of Abraham, this doesn't necessarily mean that the translation didn't derive from Joseph's papyri. There are other scenarios that are compatible with Joseph's claims. We know from other sources, for instance, that sometimes scrolls were attached together. 
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|link=Book_of_Abraham/Joseph_Smith_Papyri/Text/Double entendre
|subject=The "Double Entendre" theory, or Multiple Meanings
|summary=There are several flavors of this theory, but it assumes that (1) even if significant portions of the papyri are missing, key pieces of the papyri are NOT missing and (2) there are multiple meanings to be found in the text of the extant papyri.  Some versions of this theory employ the idea that the Kirtland Egyptian Papers represent some sort of "key" of understanding.  Some versions of this theory draw upon others listed above, bringing in elements of the catalyst idea, or the Jewish redaction idea, while rejecting the idea that the key portions of the papyrus that represent the text, or that represent the ideas on which the text is based, are missing.
}} -->
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[[es:El Libro de Abraham/Papiros de José Smith/Texto]]
[[pt:O Livro de Abraão/Joseph Smith Papiros/Texto]]

[[Category:Book of Abraham]]