Book of Abraham Evidence
Book of Abraham Evidence: A Faith-Centered Summary of Recent Scholarship
This article is a written summary of a long-form video published by the Thoughtful Faith YouTube channel, created to help missionaries and members better understand common questions about the Book of Abraham. The video brings together recent research from multiple scholars to address long-standing criticisms, especially claims that Joseph Smith fabricated the Book of Abraham. Rather than relying on sound bites or outdated assumptions, the presentation carefully examines historical documents, eyewitness accounts, and the Kirtland Egyptian Papers to show why the strongest critical arguments do not hold up.
TL;DR: Why the Book of Abraham Evidence Still Matters
The strongest claims against the Book of Abraham depend on assumptions that we have all the papyri Joseph Smith owned and that the Kirtland Egyptian Papers were used to translate Egyptian into English. Modern scholarship shows both assumptions are false. Large portions of the papyri are missing, the Egyptian papers were created after the Book of Abraham text already existed, and the book itself aligns with Joseph Smith’s other revelatory translations. While questions remain, the evidence strongly supports the Book of Abraham as inspired scripture rather than a failed translation.
Watch the Full Video Discussion
Do We Have All the Book of Abraham Papyri?
One of the most common critical claims is that we possess all the papyri Joseph Smith used, and therefore know the original source of the Book of Abraham. The video demonstrates that this claim is historically inaccurate.
Multiple eyewitnesses from the 1830s and 1840s—including W. W. Phelps, Oliver Cowdery, Henry Caswall, Josiah Quincy Jr., and Charlotte Haven—describe two long rolls of papyrus in addition to smaller fragments. Some of these papyri were later housed in a Chicago museum that was destroyed in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.
Descriptions of the papyri also mention black and red ink, yet the surviving fragments (often called the Book of Breathings) contain no red ink at all. This alone demonstrates that what survives today represents only a portion of what Joseph Smith originally possessed.
What Are the Kirtland Egyptian Papers Really?
The Kirtland Egyptian Papers have long been presented as evidence that Joseph Smith attempted—and failed—to translate Egyptian. The video explains that this interpretation rests on assumption rather than careful analysis.
The collection includes alphabet documents, a grammar, a counting document, and manuscripts of the Book of Abraham. Critics assume these were translation tools. However, a detailed examination shows that the explanations in these documents depend heavily on the already-existing text of the Book of Abraham and other earlier revelations such as Doctrine and Covenants sections 76 and 88.
Why Dependency Matters
If the alphabet and grammar documents were meant to produce the Book of Abraham, they would not be filled with specific names, doctrines, and phrases unique to a text that supposedly did not yet exist. Instead, the vocabulary is narrow, contextual, and story-driven—evidence that the Book of Abraham text came first.
As the video explains, there is “too much of the story for these documents not to depend on the Book of Abraham, but too little for them to have produced it.”
Most of the Characters Are Not Egyptian
Another critical discovery highlighted in the video is that most characters in the Egyptian alphabet and counting documents are not Egyptian at all. Many are invented symbols, composites, or characters drawn from older European ciphers, including Masonic systems.
Even the Egyptian counting document contains no Egyptian characters. This makes it impossible for these documents to function as an Egyptian translation guide.
The Cipher Explanation: Encoding, Not Translating
The evidence strongly suggests the Kirtland Egyptian Papers functioned as cipher keys. Rather than translating Egyptian into English, the project appears to have worked in the opposite direction: encoding English revelations into symbolic characters.
In the early 1830s, Church leaders were actively concerned about protecting sensitive information. They already used code names in published revelations. Creating symbolic “pure language” representations fit both the historical context and the intellectual interests of figures like W. W. Phelps.
In this system, a single character could represent an entire paragraph of revealed text. This explains why Book of Abraham manuscripts sometimes show a single character aligned with a large section of English text.
Joseph Smith’s Own Statements About the Papyri
A crucial point often overlooked by critics is Joseph Smith’s own commentary on specific papyri, particularly a fragment known as JSP XI. Joseph explicitly stated that he had not been given the translation of those characters and that further explanation would come “in the due time of the Lord.”
This directly contradicts claims that Joseph believed those characters were the source text of the Book of Abraham.
Understanding the Book of Abraham Facsimiles
The video also addresses criticisms of the facsimiles, emphasizing an important distinction: facsimiles are drawings, not text. Interpreting images is fundamentally different from translating written language.
Egyptologist Dr. Kerry Muhlestein explains that Egyptology spans over 3,000 years, meanings change over time, and scholars regularly revise earlier conclusions. During the period when the papyri were created (around 200 BC), Egyptians actively mixed Jewish and Egyptian traditions, including stories about Abraham.
Historical evidence shows that Egyptian images like those found in the facsimiles were sometimes associated with Abraham. This makes Joseph Smith’s interpretations far less implausible than critics claim.
Missing Scroll vs. Catalyst Theory
The video acknowledges that questions remain. Two primary explanations are still discussed among faithful scholars:
- The Missing Scroll Theory, which holds that the Book of Abraham came from papyri that were later destroyed
- The Catalyst Theory, which suggests the papyri prompted revelation rather than serving as a direct source text
What the evidence clearly rules out is the idea that the surviving papyri and the Kirtland Egyptian Papers represent a failed academic translation.
Why This Book of Abraham Evidence Strengthens Faith
The video concludes by emphasizing that many critical arguments rely on scholarship that is over 50 years old and no longer defensible. New research paints a far more complex and faithful picture of how the Book of Abraham came forth.
Regardless of unresolved questions, the Book of Abraham teaches profound doctrines about premortal life, covenant identity, and humanity’s relationship with God. For believers, its spiritual power and doctrinal depth remain strong evidence of divine inspiration.
The presenters bear testimony that the Book of Abraham leads people closer to Jesus Christ and helps them better understand who they are as children of God—regardless of the mechanism through which it was revealed.