The Book of Abraham has been viewed by some as preserving racist ideas that were common in Joseph Smith’s day. This is largely due to the fact that some people in Latter-day Saint history have erroneously interpreted several passages in the Book of Abraham in racist ways. Conversely, others, in strong reaction to any racist interpretations, appear to have made interpretive errors of their own by...

The Book of Abraham is unique in the scriptural canon of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, because it is the only book in that canon that has pictures. Since 1842 when it was first published, the Book of Abraham has been accompanied by three facsimiles of Egyptian characters and figures that illustrate the text. Joseph Smith provided explanations for many of the figures in these...

A couple of weeks ago, Book of Mormon Central staff had a chance to sit down with Dr. Kerry Muhlestein and ask him some questions about the Book of Abraham. Dr. Muhlestein has a PhD in Egyptology from University of California, Los Angeles, and is the director of the BYU Egypt Excavation Project. He was also a research consultant and peer reviewer for the Book of Abraham content on BMC’s Pearl of...

Last month, on July 15, 2020, Book of Mormon Central published a blog post highlighting resources on the Book of Abraham made available through BMC’s Pearl of Great Price Central research initiative. Recently, one of the project’s volunteer research consultants and peer reviewers, Egyptologist John Gee, sat down with BMC to give his thoughts on the Pearl of Great Price Central initiative and on...

This post is a modified version of the introductory page to Pearl of Great Price Central’s Book of Abraham Insights series. Controversy has surrounded the Book of Abraham ever since it was first published by the Church in 1842 in Nauvoo, Illinois. Joseph Smith’s interpretations of three facsimiles that accompany the text have come under the scrutiny of Egyptologists...

On January 31, 2020, Pearl of Great Price Central published its fortieth Insight related to the Book of Abraham. The publication of Book of Abraham Insight #40 ( “The Relationship Between the Book of Abraham and the Joseph Smith Papyri” ) marks the culmination of an initial run of articles exploring the Book of Abraham from textual, historical, narrative, linguistic, and doctrinal perspectives...

Watch New Book of Abraham Video Cross-posted from Pearl of Great Price Central. Published serially from 1 March 1842 to 16 May 1842 and canonized by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on 10 October 1880, the Book of Abraham has been valued by Latter-day Saints for its important teachings on the nature of the Abrahamic covenant, the pre-mortal existence of humanity, the...

Last week Pearl of Great Price Central published a Book of Abraham Insight that explores the very real probability that the word Shinehah in the Book of Abraham is attested in ancient Egyptian texts from Abraham’s day. According to the opening paragraph of the Insight: One of the astronomical terms defined in the Book of Abraham is Shinehah, which is said to be the sun ( Abraham 3:13 )...

Pearl of Great Price Central Book of Mormon Central is pleased to announce a new research initiative on the Pearl of Great Price that aims to make this book of Latter-day Saint scripture accessible, comprehensible, and defensible to the entire world. Pearl of Great Price Central will, over time, centralize study resources and other material on the individual books of the Pearl of Great Price just...

The Joseph Smith Papers Project, under the auspices of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, has published a new volume in the landmark series. The Joseph Smith Papers, Revelations and Translations, Vol. 4: Book of Abraham and Related Manuscripts includes, for the first time, the extant Book of Abraham manuscripts, the first printed edition of the Book of Abraham, the...