View source for Book of Abraham/Joseph Smith Papyri/Church disclosure of "Book of the Dead"

{{Main Page}}
{{Navigation:Book of Abraham}}

<onlyinclude>
{{H2
|L=Book of Abraham/Joseph Smith Papyri/Church disclosure of "Book of the Dead"
|H=When did the Church disclose that the Joseph Smith Papyri were an Egyptian funerary text?
|S=Critics often assert that the Church did not identify the Joseph Smith Papyri as an Egyptian funerary text until after Egyptologists examined them. They also claim that the Church is hiding or "covering up" the papyri's actual contents. Both assertions are incorrect. In fact, the Church ran a multi-part series with color pictures of the papyri in the Improvement Era (the predecessor to the Ensign) less than two months after they were received from the Metropolitan Museum. The series repeatedly affirmed that the recovered papyri contained Egyptian funerary materials and not the text of Book of Abraham.
|L1=Question: Was the Church forthright in identifying the rediscovered papyrus prior to their examination by non-LDS Egyptologists?
|L2=Improvement Era (January 1968): "Often the funerary texts contained passages from the 'Book of the Dead,' a book that was to assist in the safe passage of the dead person into the spirit world"
|L3=Question: What did the Church announce in 1968 when the Joseph Smith papyri fragments were discovered?
|L4=Question: How long did the Church know about the papyri before they published information about them?
}}
</onlyinclude>
{{:Question: Was the Church forthright in identifying the rediscovered papyrus prior to their examination by non-LDS Egyptologists?}}
{{:Source:Improvement Era:January 1968:Often the funerary texts contained passages from the "Book of the Dead," a book that was to assist in the safe passage of the dead person into the spirit world}}
{{:Question: What did the Church announce in 1968 when the Joseph Smith papyri fragments were discovered?}}
{{:Question: How long did the Church know about the papyri before they published information about them?}}

{{Critical sources box:Book of Abraham/Joseph Smith Papyri/Church disclosure of "Book of the Dead"/CriticalSources}}
{{endnotes sources}}
<!-- PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE ANYTHING BELOW THIS LINE -->
[[Category:Book of Abraham]]

[[de:Buch Abraham/Joseph Smith Papyri/Buch der Toten]]
[[es:El Libro de Abraham/Papiros de José Smith/Iglesia divulgación de "Libro de los Muertos"]]
[[pt:O Livro de Abraão/Joseph Smith Papiros/Divulgação Igreja do "Livro dos Mortos"]]