For the week 10 blog post, read the Book of Abraham passed out in class (which you could also find online I'm sure). Then discuss how you might go about assessing a document like this. Are there any fine points in this text that lead you to think it is not from the supposed time of Abraham (2000BC?). In studying religion we have been surrounded by all kinds of claims about the world, and I am curious if there is any kind of critical approach that you can define through a discussion of this text.
Wow, where to begin. When I first started reading this it sounded like a lot of other texts we have looked at, then I read closer and noticed somethings which REALLY made me doubt that Abraham wrote this. At some points when I was reading I had to re-read a sentence one or more times to see if I actually read it correctly because it seemed so outlandish. In chapter one what really stood out to me was that it said when Egypt was first discovered it was underwater...I'm fairly certain that is blatantly false and was during John Smith's time as well.
Also, just like in the book of Mormon the book of Abraham was written messily so nothing was straight forward, "And the Gods called the light Day, and the darkness they called Night. And it came to pass that from the evening until morning they called anight; and from the morning until the evening they called day; and this was the first, or the beginning, of that which they called day and night." (chapter 4). It just seems to be rambling and not getting to the point which is important so people know what they are choosing to believe and follow.
I looked up the hieroglyphics that John Smith translated and they were reviewed later on when people had the ability to properly translate them, turns out they are believed to be common funerary writing. It seems like John Smith acquired these papers and turned them into a religious writing to help his cause when really they already had a specific purpose for Egyptians.
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