BOA-Phelps-Letter
Posted in Book of Abraham Critics history Scripture

Kirtland’s Rosetta Stone? The Importance of Word Order in the “Egyptian” of the Grammar and Alphabet of the Egyptian Language

There may be an important story hidden in one of the easily-overlooked details in the always puzzling Kirtland Egyptian Papers, especially the Grammar and Alphabet of the Egyptian Language (GAEL)…

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JSP-BOA
Posted in Book of Abraham Critics history Scripture

The Twin Book of Abraham Manuscripts: Do They Reflect Live Translation Produced by Joseph Smith, or Were They Copied From an Existing Document?

A number of critics of the Book of Abraham and even some LDS scholars have alleged that a pair of Book of Abraham manuscripts with a few Egyptian characters in…

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Posted in Book of Abraham Critics Evidence Scripture

The New Hauglid and Jensen Podcast from the Maxwell Institute: A Window into the Personal Views of the Editors of the JSP Volume on the Book of Abraham

The Maxwell Institute recently revamped their website after roughly a week of downtime, introducing dramatic changes (and some painful losses). The new website currently gives pride of place to a…

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Posted in Books BYU General history Scholarship

Lost Treasures from the Maxwell Institute?

I noted with some anxiety last week that my many hundreds of links to archived articles, books, and other scholarly materials at the Maxwell Institute (mi.byu.edu) all became dead as…

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Posted in Art Education General Photography

BYU: A Beautiful Solution for the Needs of Many Families and Students in China

I’ve come back to Utah for a few weeks to start an exciting and challenging new job. After having lived in China for 8 years, loving almost every day of…

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BOA-scripts
Posted in Book of Abraham history Scripture

Update on Inspiration for W.W. Phelps’ Use of an Archaic Hebrew Letter Beth for #2 in the Egyptian Counting Document

I previously noted that one of the Hebrew books Oliver Cowdery brought to Kirtland, Ohio near the end of 1835 showed an archaic form of the Hebrew letter beth which…

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Posted in Uncategorized

Inspired by Utah: A Warm and Encouraging Welcome for My Temporary Return

I’ve been in Salt Lake City, Utah for a few days as part of my transition to an exciting new job with a very young and promising consumer products company….

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Posted in Book of Abraham history Scripture

More Connections Between the Kirtland Egyptian Papers and Prior Documents

In a previous post, I discussed William Schryver’s 2010 presentation that pointed out some surprising connections in the Kirtland Egyptian Papers that are related to the Book of Abraham project….

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Posted in China Friends Society Stories

How to Make a Chinese Woman Cry (Please Try This!)

Last night my wife and I had the pleasure of speaking with a large group of students from a US university who were touring China to learn about business and…

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Hugh Nibley Observed
Posted in Book of Abraham Critics

He Whose Name Cannot Be Spoken: Hugh Nibley

Whether you agree with Hugh Nibley or not, those doing research on the Book of Abraham and the Kirtland Egyptian Papers must recognize that he was certainly the most prolific…

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