View source for Question: Was the Church forthright in identifying the rediscovered papyri prior to their examination by non-LDS Egyptologists?

{{FairMormon}}
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==Question: Was the Church forthright in identifying the rediscovered papyri prior to their examination by non-LDS Egyptologists?==
===The January 1968 issue of the ''Improvement Era'' demonstrates that the Church was very forthright about this issue===

The Church announced that the fragments contained a funerary text in the January 1968 ''Improvement Era'' (the predecessor to today's ''Ensign'' magazine). Of the 11 fragments, one fragment has Facsimile 1, and the other 10 fragments are funerary texts, which the Church claimed from the moment the papyri were rediscovered. There is no evidence that the Church has ever claimed that any of the 10 remaining fragments contain text which is contained in the Book of Abraham.

The critics are telling us nothing new when they dramatically "announce" that the JSP contain Egyptian funerary documents.  The Church disseminated this information as widely as possible from the very beginning.

===The timeline of events===

A review of the time-line of the papyri demonstrates that the Church quickly publicized the nature of the JSP in the official magazine of the time, ''The Improvement Era''.

There were 11 fragments discovered and given to the church. The Church was very quick in releasing this information to the membership and the world.

;November 27, 1967
:Church receives papyri.
;December 10&ndash;11, 1967
:Deadline to submit material for the January 1968 ''Improvement Era''.
;December 26&ndash;31, 1967
:January 1968 ''Improvement Era'' issue mailed to subscribers.<ref>{{IE|author=Jay M. Todd|article=Egyptian Papyri Rediscovered|date=January 1968|start=12|end=16}}</ref>
;February 1968
:Another fragment was discovered in the Church historian's files, and publicized in the February 1968 ''Improvement Era''.<ref>{{IE1|author=Jay M. Todd|article=New Light on Joseph Smith's Egyptian Papyri: Additional Fragment Disclosed|date=February 1968|start=40}}; {{IE|author=Jay M. Todd|article=Background of the Church Historian's Fragment|date=February 1968|start=40A|end=40I}}</ref>

[[File:IE_Jan1968_cover.jpg|thumb|500 px|center|Cover of the January 1968 issue of the ''Improvement Era'', the Church's official magazine of the time. Note the color photograph of the recovered [http://scriptures.lds.org/en/abr/fac_1 Facsimile 1].]]

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[[Category:An Insider's View of Mormon Origins]]
[[Category:Letter to a CES Director]]

[[de:Frage: Hat die Kirche die wiederentdeckten Dokumente ohne Umschweife identifiziert, bevor diese von Nicht-HLT-Ägyptologen untersucht wurden?]]
[[es:Pregunta: Fue la Iglesia franca en la identificación de los papiros redescubierto antes de su examen por los egiptólogos no mormones?]]
[[pt:Pergunta: A Igreja foi franco em identificar o papiro redescoberto antes de seu exame por não-SUD egiptólogos?]]
[[Category:Questions]]