INSTITUTE MANUAL: “In 1967 eleven fragments of the Joseph Smith papyri were rediscovered by Doctor Aziz S. Atiya, in the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art. Studies of them have confirmed that they are mainly ancient Egyptian funerary texts of the sort commonly buried with royalty and nobility and designed to guide them through their eternal journeyings. This has renewed the question about the connection between the records and the book of Abraham. Joseph Smith did not explain the method of translating the book of Abraham, just as he did not explain fully how the Book of Mormon was translated. Nevertheless, like the Book of Mormon, the book of Abraham is its own evidence that it came about through the gift and power of God.” -LDS Institute Manual for Church History in the Fulness of Times, published 2003, Chapter 20: Doctrinal Developments in Nauvoo. [source]
COMMENTARY: Who cares if it’s mistranslated? It’s scripture! But what do I know? I’m just another apostate.
