1. Adam and Eve and the Fall
(4000 B.C.), Enoch (3000 B.C.), Noah and the Flood (2400 B.C.), and the tower of Babel (2200 B.C.) preceded Abraham’s time. Abraham, who was born
in about 2000 B.C., was the father of Isaac and the grandfather of
Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel.
2.On 3 July 1835 a man named
Michael Chandler brought 4 Egyptian
mummies and several papyrus scrolls of ancient Egyptian writings to Kirtland.
The mummies and papyri had been discovered in Egypt several years earlier by
Antonio Lebolo. Kirtland was one of many stops in the eastern United States for
Chandler’s mummy exhibition. Chandler was offering the mummies and rolls of
papyrus for sale and, at the urging of the
Joseph, several members of the
Church donated money to purchase them. In a statement dated 5 July 1835,
Joseph Smith, declaring the importance of these ancient Egyptian writings,
recorded: “I commenced the translation of some of the characters or
hieroglyphics, and much to our joy found that one of the rolls contained the
writings of Abraham. … Truly we can say, the Lord is beginning to reveal the
abundance of peace and truth” (
History of the Church,2:236).
3. Joseph never communicated his method of
translating these records. As with all other scriptures, a testimony of the
truthfulness of these writings is primarily a matter of faith. The greatest
evidence of the truthfulness of the book of Abraham is not found in an analysis
of physical evidence nor historical background, but in prayerful consideration
of its content and power.
4. Why did Joseph say he translated the writings of Abraham
when the manuscripts do not date to Abraham's time? In 1966 eleven
fragments of papyri once possessed by the Prophet Joseph Smith were discovered
in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. They were given to the
Church and have been analyzed by scholars who date them between about
100 B.C.and A.D. 100. A common objection to the
authenticity of the book of Abraham is that the manuscripts are not old enough
to have been written by Abraham, who lived almost two thousand years before
Christ. Joseph Smith never claimed that the papyri were autographic (written by
Abraham himself), nor that they dated from the time of Abraham. It is common to
refer to an author’s works as “his” writings, whether he penned them himself,
dictated them to others, or others copied his writings later.
5. The Book of Abraham was originally
published a few excerpts at a time in Times and Seasons, a Church publication, beginning in March
1842 at Nauvoo, Illinois . Joseph Smith indicated that he would publish more of
the book of Abraham later, but he was martyred before he was able to do so.
Concerning the potential length of the completed translation, Oliver Cowdery
once said that “volumes” would be necessary to contain it (Messenger and Advocate, Dec.
1835, 236).
In addition to hieroglyphic writings, the manuscript also
contained Egyptian drawings. On 23 February 1842, the Prophet Joseph Smith
asked Reuben Hedlock, a professional wood engraver and member of the Church, to
prepare woodcuts of three of those drawings so they could be printed. Hedlock
finished the engravings in one week, and Joseph Smith published the copies
(facsimiles) along with the book of Abraham. Joseph Smith’s explanations of the
drawings accompany the facsimiles.
6. After the death of Joseph Smith, the
four mummies and the papyri became the property of Joseph’s mother, Lucy Mack
Smith. At Lucy’s death in 1856, Emma Smith, sold the collection to Mr.
A. Combs. Several theories have been offered regarding what happened
subsequently to the mummies and the papyri. It appears that at least 2 of the
mummies were burned in the great Chicago fire of 1871. In the early spring of
1966, Dr. Aziz S. Atiya, a University of Utah professor, discovered
several fragments of the book of Abraham papyri while doing research at the
Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. These fragments were presented to
the Church by the director of the museum on 27 November 1967. The current
whereabouts of the other mummies and the other portions of the papyri are
unknown (H. Donl Peterson,” in Studies in Scripture, Volume Two, 183–85).
7. The book of Abraham reveals truths of the
gospel of
Jesus Christ that were previously unknown to Church
members of Joseph Smith’s day. It also casts a bright light upon difficult
passages found in other scriptural texts.
8. Abraham
1:1- Ur,is generally identified with modern Mugheir
in present-day Iraq. About 150 miles from the Persian Gulf and 875 miles from
Egypt. Although the peoples of Chaldea and Egypt were separated geographically,
it appears that in the days of Abraham they shared religious beliefs and
practices. “At this time Egyptian influence was felt throughout the Fertile
Crescent [a geographic region that extends in a curve from Egypt north into
Mesopotamia, then east and south again toward the Persian Gulf]. Much of the
advanced learning of the people of the Nile was exported abroad, including some
of their religious customs” (Abraham, Friend of God [1979], 42–43).
9. Abraham 1:1, 5, 12.
Because of the people’s wickedness, Abraham’s life was endangered by his
continued residence in the land of Chaldea-
There are two possible sites on the map where Ur may have been
located.- See Bible map 9
10.
Abraham 1:2. “Remember that Abraham sought for his
appointment to the priesthood. He did not wait for God to come to him; he
sought diligently through prayer and obedient living to learn the will of
God. “As we follow Abraham’s example, we will grow from grace to grace, we
will find greater happiness and peace and rest, we will find favor with God and
with man. As we follow his example, we will confirm upon ourselves and our
families joy and fulfillment in this life and for all eternity” (SWKimball,
Ensign, June 1975).
“The true disciple has an
inborn questioning to know, personally, all that God is willing to teach us.
Nephi could have accepted gladly the vision of his father, Lehi. But Nephi
‘desired to know the things that [his] father had seen.’ (
1 Nephi
11:1.) Abraham sought, even though he had a father who had turned
from the faith, ‘for greater happiness and peace’ and ‘for mine appointment
unto the Priesthood.’ Abraham described himself as desiring ‘great knowledge,
and to be a greater follower of righteousness’ (questing for the word of
Christ. Divine discontent in the form of promptings can move us to feast
because we know that by feasting we can increase our knowledge, effectiveness,
and joy” (NAMaxwell,
Wherefore, Ye Must Press
Forward, 119)
D&C 84:33–38;
132:20–24, 28–31).
“The
order of priesthood spoken of in the scriptures is sometimes referred to as the
patriarchal order because it came down from father to son. …“Abraham, a
righteous servant of God, desiring as he said, ‘to be a greater follower of
righteousness,’ sought for these same blessings. Speaking of the order of the
priesthood, he said: ‘It was conferred upon me from the fathers; it came down
from the fathers, from the beginning of time … even the right of the firstborn,
or the first man, who is Adam, our first father, through the fathers unto me.’
(
Abr. 1:2–3.)” (ETBenson,
Ensign, Aug.
1985)
11.Abraham 1:2–4 - In
ancient times the Melchizedek Priesthood was passed from father to son. Abraham
was a rightful heir of the Melchizedek Priesthood, but because his father was
not worthy, Abraham sought the priesthood from other priesthood holders.
D&C 84:14–16; 107:40–52- "Abraham
says to Melchizedek, I believe all that thou hast taught me concerning the
priesthood and the coming of the Son of Man; so Melchizedek ordained Abraham
and sent him away. Abraham rejoiced, saying, Now I
have a priesthood” (Joseph Smith HC 5:555).
12. Abraham
1:4–6. - “We all know something of the
courage it takes for one to stand in opposition to united custom, and general
belief. None of us likes to be ridiculed. Few are able to withstand popular
opinion even when they know it is wrong, and it is difficult to comprehend the
magnificent courage displayed by Abraham in his profound obedience to Jehovah,
in the midst of his surroundings. His moral courage, his implicit faith in God,
his boldness in raising his voice in opposition to the prevailing wickedness,
is almost beyond comparison” (JFSmith, The Way to Perfection, 86)
13. Abraham 1:5–7, 12, 15-17;
1 Nephi 1:20; Alma
38:5;
Joshua 24:2). “The
family of Abraham had turned from righteousness and had become idolators.
Abraham therefore, himself a follower of God’s truth, preached righteousness to
them but without avail. For his insistence upon the worship of the only true
and Living God, he was persecuted and his life sought. So intense was the
hatred of the idolators that it was only by the intervention of the Lord that
he was saved from being offered up as a sacrifice to the idols of the people,”
(JAWidtsoe,
Evidences and Reconciliations, 398)
14. Abraham 1:11- Along with three
exceptionally faithful young men—Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, Neal A. Maxwell discussed these three
virtuous young women as “marvelous models on enduring uncertainty and on
trusting God”: “Matching those three young men are three young women whose
names we do not have. They are mentioned in the book of Abraham, remarkable
young women about whom I am anxious to know more. They were actually sacrificed
upon the altar because ‘they would not bow down to worship [an idol] of wood or
stone. ' Some day the faithful will get to meet them” (“Not My
Will, But Thine” [1988],
119–20).
15. Abraham 1:12–20-
“A religion that does not require the sacrifice of all things never has power
sufficient to produce the faith necessary unto life and salvation; for, from
the first existence of man, the faith necessary unto the enjoyment of life and
salvation never could be obtained without the sacrifice of all earthly things.
It was through this sacrifice, and this only, that God has ordained that men should
enjoy eternal life; and it is through the medium of the sacrifice of all
earthly things that men do actually know that they are doing the things that
are well pleasing in the sight of God. When a man has offered in sacrifice all
that he has for the truth’s sake, not even withholding his life, and believing
before God that he has been called to make this sacrifice because he seeks to
do his will, he does know, most assuredly, that God does and will accept his
sacrifice and offering, and that he has not, nor will not seek his face in
vain. Under these circumstances, then, he can obtain the faith necessary for
him to lay hold on eternal life. “… It is in vain for persons to fancy to
themselves that they are heirs with those, or can be heirs with them, who have
offered their all in sacrifice, and by this means obtained faith in God and
favor with him so as to obtain eternal life, unless they, in like manner, offer
unto him the same sacrifice, and through that offering obtain the knowledge
that they are accepted of him. …“… From the days of righteous Abel to
the present time, the knowledge that men have that they are accepted in the
sight of God is obtained by offering sacrifice. … “… Those, then, who
make the sacrifice, will have the testimony that their course is pleasing in
the sight of God; and those who have this testimony will have faith to lay hold
on eternal life, and will be enabled, through faith, to endure unto the end,
and receive the crown that is laid up for them that love the appearing of our
Lord Jesus Christ. But those who do not make the sacrifice cannot enjoy this
faith, because men are dependent upon this sacrifice in order to obtain this
faith: therefore, they cannot lay hold upon eternal life, because the
revelations of God do not guarantee unto them the authority so to do, and
without this guarantee faith could not exist” (
Lectures on Faith, 68–70).
17. Abraham 1:20 - Abraham’s
brief account obviously does not tell the whole story.
18.
Abraham 1:20–27. "After the immersion of the earth in the
waters of Noah came a day of new beginning. As in Adam’s day, the faithful
lived under a theocratic system, and as in the days before the flood, those who
chose to live after the manner of the world set up their own governments and
their own ways of worship. The seed of Shem, Ham, and Japheth began to populate
the earth, and it so continued for more than four hundred years, when Abraham,
who received theocratic power from Melchizedek, went down into Egypt. There he
found a descendant of Ham, reigning as Pharaoh, whose government was patterned
after the patriarchal governments of old, but which was devoid of priesthood
and revelation, and hence, as far as worship is concerned—a worship prescribed,
mandated, and commanded by pharaoh—had turned to idolatry.’ (BRMcConkie,
A
New Witness for the Articles of Faith, 660).
19. Abraham 1:25.
“Egypt was not the only nation, in these early times, which attempted to
imitate the patriarchal order of government. We have seen in Abraham’s record
that this was the order of government in the reign of Adam, and down to the
time of Noah. “Naturally that form of government would be perpetuated in large
degree by all tribes as they began to spread over the face of the earth. As men
multiplied they organized first in the family group, then into tribes and
eventually into nations. The greater powers would naturally occupy the most
favored spots. Stronger tribes would overcome the weaker and force them to join
the national government, or else they would be subdued and treated as slaves,
or placed under tribute. As the patriarchal order was handed down from father
to son so also would the political authority be perpetuated with the same
claims to authority. We know that in ancient times in Egypt, Assyria, Chaldea,
Babylon, Persia, and among all the petty nations of the Mesopotamia and
Palestine, the monarch was succeeded by his posterity in hereditary right” (JFSmith,
The Progress of Man, 3rd ed. [1944], 100–101.)
20. Abraham 1:24–27. At times in the past, the power and authority
to act in the name of the Lord was bestowed upon only a few worthy males and
withheld from all others. In the days of Moses’ leadership of the children of
Israel, for example, only the tribe of Levi had the privilege to hold the
priesthood . Our day is the “long-promised day … when every faithful, worthy
man in the Church may receive the holy priesthood.” On 8 June 1978, the First
Presidency announced: (
Official
Declaration 2).
The crown and throne are symbols of Pharaoh’s
authority and power as the king of Egypt. In Facsimile 3, figure 1 in the
book of Abraham, Abraham is portrayed as crowned and seated on a throne. Note
that the explanation states Abraham’s crown represents the priesthood
23.The confrontation on this earth between
the church of the devil and the true Church of Jesus Christ (see
1 Nephi 14:7–17).
22.
Abraham 1:26- Blessings Pharaoh received and did not receive? How could he
eventually receive the priesthood? (
D&C 138:32–35, 58–59).
Why does it take more than righteous behavior to officiate in the priesthood? (
Hebrews 5:4;
D&C 42:11;
138:30).
