THE BOOK OF ABRAHAM

ITS AUTHENTICITY ESTABLISHED AS A DIVINE AND ANCIENT RECORD

WITH COPIOUS REFERENCES TO ANCIENT AND MODERN AUTHORITIES

BY ELDER GEO. REYNOLDS.

1879 SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH

CHAPTER IV.

ABRAHAM IN EGYPT.--CONFIRMATORY STATEMENTS OR JOSEPHUS, NICOLAUS OF DAMASCUS, AND OTHERS.--ABRAHAM'S INFLUENCE ON THE RELIGIONS OF EGYPT, PERSIA AND HINDOOSTAN.--TRACES OF GOSPEL TEACHING IN THE MYTHOLOGIES OF EGYPT, PERSIA, CHALDEA, GREECE AND ROME.--FIRST DEPARTURES FROM THE TRUE FAITH.--THE EGYPTIAN WORSHIP OF ADAM AND THE PATRIARCHS.--THE BOOK OF THE DEAD.

THE Book of Abraham states that God commanded the patriarch to show unto the Egyptians the things that He had revealed unto him. Josephus, in narrating this portion of Abraham's history--being only partially acquainted with the facts of the case from the authorities at his disposal--tell us that Abraham went down into Egypt to avoid the famine in Canaan, and to "become an auditor of their priests, and to know what they said concerning the gods; designing either to follow them if they had better notions than he, or to convert them into a better way if his own notions proved the truest." (1 )

After his arrival in Egypt, and the circumstances arising out of the attempt of Pharaoh to add Sarah to the number of his wives, the outcome of which placed the monarch under obligations to the patriarch, Josephus states that "Pharaoh gave Abraham leave to enter into conversation with the most learned among the Egyptians, from which conversation his virtue and his reputation became more conspicuous than they had been before. For whereas the Egyptians were formerly addicted to different customs, and despised one another's sacred and accustomed rites, and were very angry one with another on that account, Abraham conferred with each of them, and, confuting the reasonings they made use of, every one for his own practices, he demonstrated that such reasonings were vain and void of truth; whereupon he was admired by them in those conferences as a very wise man, and one of great sagacity, when he discoursed upon any subject he undertook; and this not only in understanding it, but in persuading other men also to assent to him." (2 )

In another place the Jewish historian states, "He (Abraham) was a person of great sagacity, both for understanding all things, and persuading his hearers, and not mistaken in his opinions; for which reason he began to have higher notions of virtue than others had, and he determined to renew and to change the opinion all men happened then to have concerning God." (3 )

So far as Josephus' testimony, confirmatory of this portion of the Book of Abraham, is concerned, we deem the above abundant. In later chapters we shall show the great political and religious changes that Abraham's visits to Egypt produced.

From Egypt we will turn to Persia, and from the writings of various modern authors adduce testimony to prove that Abraham's power as a religious teacher was felt, known and recognized in the faith and creed of that nation.

In the sacred book of the ancient Persians and modern Parsees-- the Zend Avista--"it is declared that the religion taught in it was received from Abraham; and according to Hyde, who supports his statements by quotations and references, this was believed by leading Arabian writers not only of Persian Magianism but of Indian Brahmanism." The same writer remarks: "The claims of Magianism to have been influenced by the revelations made to Abraham are far from being discountenanced by the laws of historical probability. For the war waged so successfully by Abraham in behalf of his kinsman, Lot, against the five kings, among whom was the king of Elam (i.e., Persia), is of itself a sufficient proof that the Father of the Faithful, Abraham, the Hebrew from Ur of the Chaldees, must have been as well known to the eastern kingdoms as Moses was in after times." (4 )

It is generally admitted that in the days of Abraham the forefathers of the Persians and Brahmins were one people, inhabiting one region of country. It is supposed that the ancestors of the latter race moved to India from 1500 to 1300 years B. C. That these two races are of common descent is urged from the close relationship existing between the Sanskrit, the language of the Brahmins, and the Zend or Persian; it is also said that the "remarkable identity between the Brahminical and Persian mythologies indicates, unerringly, the original union of the two." It may also be noticed that Hitzig, in his "Geschichte des Volkes Israel," reasons from the identity of certain practices observed by Abraham and the patriarchs of Israel on the one hand, and by Brahminical Hindoos on the other, that a community of some kind once existed between these people.

The two nations being thus admitted, by authors of research, to have been one people in Abraham's time, it is supposable that the Brahmin as well as the Persian branch of the family would exhibit some traces of Abraham's ministry. On this point it has been written "Abraham's influence extended to Bactria, and the most complete proof at once of its spread, and the spread with it of the name and renown of Abraham, is contained in the language and name of the Brahminical Hindoos." (5 )

"The name Brahma signifies he who multiplies; the name Abraham likewise means the father of a multitude. (Arabic, Rahama, a multitude. Genesis xxii, 5.) The wife of Brahma was named Savitree. The wife of Abraham was named Sarai or Sarah." (6 )

Mr. Goodsir, remarking on this last extract, writes: "These coincidences appear to us to be well deserving of attention, though we are not aware that they have ever before been noticed. We leave them and the whole question of the identity of Brahma and Abraham to the judgment of our readers, merely observing, in conclusion, that having found Adam and Noah and Ham to have been the father-gods of Egyptian mythology, and Japhet the father-god of that of Greece, there is abundant analogy as well as probability in our inference that the father-god of the Indian superstition was Abraham."

Admitting the truth of the following extract from the writings of Nicolaus of Damascus, referred to by Josephus, it is very easy to understand when and how Abraham obtained his great influence in Persia; and we know of no conflicting testimony to render the statements unworthy of our consideration. He writes, in the fourth book of his history: "Abram reigned in Damascus, being a foreigner, who came with an army out of the land above Babylon, called the land of the Chaldees; but after a long time he got him up and removed from that country also, with his people, and went into the land then called the land of Canaan, but now the land of Judea. * * * Now the name of Abram is even still famous in the country of Damascus, and there is shewed a village named from him, the habitation of Abraham."

We now come to the consideration of the traces, ofttimes scarcely discernable, found in the pagan religions of the ancient nations of the eastern continent, of a time when the worship of the true God was taught and understood in their midst, for we fully believe that having made of one blood all the nations of the earth, "God guided and ruled over pagan nations in a manner the same in kind, though much modified in degree, as in the case of the chosen people; and for the same great final end." Let it not be supposed, in the following pages, that we desire to extenuate the sinfulness, or to palliate the foulness of idolatrous, cruel, unclean and licentious paganism in any of its branches. Our desire is to exalt the goodness of God, as well as to show that under all the vileness, the indecency, the lust and cruelty of many of the forms of ancient paganism, could be found a sub-stratum of pure revealed truth, testifying to us that at some period the fathers of these peoples held intercourse with the servants of the true God, but had fallen away from the principles of righteousness aforetime taught them, and after their own peculiar ways and to suit their own peculiar notions and desires, had heaped to themselves gods and demons, creeds and rites, ceremonies and mysteries, oracles and auguries, differing in different nations according to the force of circumstances and the direction given to them by master minds.

As a proof of the truth of our position, we have but to refer to the fact that it has been demonstrated that the further we go back through the centuries to the primeval days succeeding the dispersion of mankind at the Tower of Babel, the more frequent and more noticeable are the traces of pure religious truth found intermingled with the follies and vagueries of man-made religions. As an example of this, it is recounted by Levy, the Roman historian, that certain sacred books having been found at the burying place of Numa, the great religious legislator of early Rome, they were burned because they were not suited to the times in which they were discovered, when Rome had added scores of gods to its Pantheon, though they were considered suited to the early era in which they were written, when Numa forbade images and their worship as well as the offering of human sacrifices.

It is not difficult for those who believe in the Bible as it is written, to understand that immediately after the flood there was but one form of faith upon the earth, and that the true one. Noah was a preacher of righteousness both before and after the deluge, and because of their obedience to God's laws, he and his family were saved from the universal destruction that came upon the wicked. But their descendants, in an early day, began to depart from the purity of the truths that had saved "the fathers," and a knowledge of the forms of iniquity that existed amongst the antediluvians was in some manner conveyed to them, and incorporated in their debased new systems of worship. Noah, Melchizedek and others battled with but partial success against these growing infamies, and Abraham was especially called of the Lord to usher in a new dispensation. We have seen, in part, how he fulfilled this call; we shall now refer to some Gospel ideas that for many centuries afterwards were found incorporated amongst the filth and rubbish of paganism, some in Egypt, some in Persia, some in Chaldea, some in Greece, Rome and other nations. From this almost universal admixture of the true and the false it is evident that there was some primeval source from which the ancient gentile nations drew that which was good and true in their religions.

In our researches into the mythology of these peoples we find, amongst others, the following Gospel ideas:

The belief in the existence of one great father God.

The prophecy and expectation of the coming of a Son of God in the flesh.

A reverence for Adam as the great prince of his race, in some nations, extended to his worship as the father of the terrestrial gods.

The belief in a resurrection, and in future rewards and punishments.

The necessity of faith in the gods, and under certain very remarkable circumstances, to be hereafter noticed, of repentance and baptism.

The administration of washings and anointings.

Traditions, more or less perfect, of the great war in heaven when Lucifer and his angels were cast down upon the earth.

The belief in good and bad angels, ministers of the will of heaven.

A belief in the eternity of matter, and

The almost universal practice of sacrifice.

To give strength to the above assertions we shall now appeal to a number of well-known authors.

The Rev. Mr. Goodsir, in his work on Ethnic Inspiration, writes: "The principles of mythology enable us to discern the true order in which the various erroneous and morbid developments of human belief arose. It proves both that monotheism--the knowledge of the true God, preceded the various forms of polytheism, and especially the worship of the heavenly bodies; and that the worship of dead men preceded other forms of false or idolatrous worship; and the same facts which show that the worship of dead men was the first step in false religion, prove at the same time the original grafting of this on the belief of a heavenly Creator and Father. Were there no other than the single case of Egypt, as explained from its language, hieroglyphics and monuments, by Mr. Os-born, it would place the matter beyond all doubt, so clear and well-supported is that case. Adam and Eve, Noah and Tamer, Ham, Mizraim (7 ) and Phut were all deified there, while the supreme God was incontrovertibly known; and the sun was only a symbol and the supposed abode of Adam. There is reason to believe that the state of things in Chaldea and Babylon was substantially the same as this."

To this we may append the remark that the Egyptians appear to have recognized the partial truth that there be "that are called gods, whether in heaven or on earth, as there be gods many and lords many," but were ignorant of the corollary, "but to us there is but one God the Father." (1 Corinthians, viii, v. 5, 6.)

It must be evident from the light thown on the early history of the world, more especially of Egypt, by the Book of Abraham, that under the almost universally existing form of patriarchal government that "the fathers" were not only High Priests unto God by right of their "fatherhood," but also the kings of the earth by that same right, (8 ) and it was 0ne of the easiest things in the world for the descendants of these men, who ruled by right divine, to not only reverence them as ministers of heaven's will in all things, temporal and spiritual, but also to deify and afterwards worship them. Indeed in the case of most of these holy patriarchs it was but a very small step in advance of their true position in relation to the sons of men; for "He called them Gods unto whom the word of God came, and the scriptures cannot be broken." (John, x, 35.)

We next appeal to Mr. Osborn, author of "The Religions of the World." In writing of the Egyptian mythology, he states: "This most ancient mythology, as described by authors who lived before the Christian era, and as set forth on the walls of the temples in which its ritual or worship was performed, was taught to the initiated and concealed from the vulgar, that God created all things at the first by the primary emanation from himself, his firstborn, who was the author and giver of all knowledge in heaven and on earth, being at the same time the wisdom and the word of God. The birth of this all-powerful being, his manifestation as an infant, his nurture and education through all the succeeding periods of childhood and of boyhood, constituted the grand mystery of the entire system." So convinced were the priests of this people of the coming of a Son of God, that they had chambers prepared in their temples for his nativity.

Another quotation from Mr. Osborn will, we trust, make the matter yet clearer to our readers. He says: "The founders of the nation knew not only of Ham and Mizriam, but of various men and women contemporary with, them, even of our first parents, Adam and Eve, as well as of our second progenitors, Noah and his wife Tamer. Adam has thus been handed down to us as Athom, the guide or governor of the sun; Eve as Hathor, who presided over the moon; Noah as Nuh, who presided over the Nile; while Ham, Mizraim, Phut, Neveth, or Neith, the wife of Ham, and others, occupied singular and sometimes multiform positions and offices in the Egyptian Pantheon." (9 )

We will now leave modern writers, and draw attention to that wonderful papyrus, the Ancient Egyptian Ritual or Book of the Dead, and from its hieroglyphics show the relation in which Adam stood in their mythology, reminding our readers that the abode of the great father of humanity was supposed by them to be the sun, and that the chief seat of his worship was at Heliopolis, the city of the sun, the On of the Scriptures, Aseniath, a daughter of one of whose priests was married to Joseph, the son of Jacob.

Our extracts are necessarily brief, and simply intended to prove the trustworthiness of the quotations already made.

In the fifteenth chapter it is written :

"The praise of Athom (10 ) when he sets from the land of life, saith the Osir, (11 )

" Glory be to Athom, setting from the gate of life,

"When his colors glow in the western gate of the horizon,

"Hail to thee setting from the land of life,

"Thou father of the Gods."

Again, (chapter xvii,) Adam is represented as saying:

"I am the great God, creating myself;

"I am the great Phoenix which is in On;

"I am the creator of beings and existences."

In another place it proclaims:

"Glory be to thee, O Sun; glory be to thee, O Athom,

"When thou goest down, perfect, crowned and glorious."

Adam is also called "the old man whose palace is at On," the "God alone in the firmament," "Father Athom," "Righteous Athom," and much more. Probably were we better versed in the mysteries of its hieroglyphics and idioms, the translation of this wonderful testimony to the belief of the ancients in the immortality of the soul, which this ritual is, would be yet plainer and more instructive. As it is, much of its imagery is very difficult for modern minds to grasp.

From the Egyptians we will turn to the Persians, the people next most likely to show traces in their religion of the influence left by the preaching of the Gospel in patriarchal days. Mr. Hyde, in his "Religion of the Ancient Persians," points out how that Magianism, as set forth in its sacred books, taught that the human race sprang from a single pair; that it bore testimony to the occurrence of the flood; that it mentions Noah and his sons; that as far as Abraham is concerned, it declares him to have been its own author; and that it makes mention also of Moses. Moreover, it contains predictions respecting the appearance on earth of a Savior, who would ultimately overthrow the kingdom of darkness and make supreme and universal the kingdom of light and of God. It also taught the existence of good and of bad angels, also a resurrection of the dead.

The religions of ancient Greece and Rome were, to a very great extent, originally drawn from those of Egypt, Persia and Phoenicia. Many traces of Gospel principles can be found in them, hidden concealed under the mass of filth and abomination that in later ages disgraced the religions of the kingdoms of brass and iron. Still, in all these nations it is admitted that "so far from atheism and godless irreligion being the rule, belief in the Divine, however mistaken, and worship of the Divine, however superstitious, everywhere prevailed." With regard to special Gospel ideas prevailing in all these nations, it has been remarked that "baptism was as completely a portion of the primeval ceremonial worship as was the tenet of immortality and resurrection a portion of the primeval creed." It is also noticeable that all the Greek schools of philosophy taught the doctrine of the eternity of matter, and not only had these races a knowledge of things that occurred in antediluvian days, but in their different, absurd ways they recounted the history of the war in heaven when Lucifer was cast out. Those curious on this point can read their accounts of the war between the Titians and Heaven, and of the giants against Jupiter.

Late discoveries at Nineveh have demonstrated that the Chaldeans had also a very distinct tradition of this pre-Adamite war, as many particulars relating thereto have been found transcribed on the earthen tiles exhumed from the mounds where that once mighty city is supposed to have stood. These tablets having been translated by Mr. Geo. Smith, of the British Museum, prove to be an account of the war in heaven before the creation of this earth, of the fall of man, of the flood, the building of the tower of Babel, etc. The similarity between the statements on these cuneiform records and the Bible account of the same events is very remarkable and interesting, while at the same time they prove how wide spread in ancient times was the knowledge of God's dealings with humanity.

(1 ) Josephus, Antiquities, Book 1, chap. viii.

(2 ) Ibid, Book 1, chap. viii.

(3 ) Ibid, Book 1, chap. vii.

(4 ) Ethnic Inspiration, by Mr. Goodsir, pages 73 and 80.

(5 ) Ibid.

(6 ) Osborn's "Religions of the World."

(7 ) Mizriam is identified with Osiris, chief lord of the land of the departed.

(8 ) Max Muller says "king" originally meant "father."

(9 ) "Religions of the World."

(10 ) The Egyptian form of the name Adam.

(11 ) The deceased.

THE BOOK OF ABRAHAM

ITS AUTHENTICITY ESTABLISHED AS A DIVINE AND ANCIENT RECORD

WITH COPIOUS REFERENCES TO ANCIENT AND MODERN AUTHORITIES

BY ELDER GEO. REYNOLDS.

1879 SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH

CHAPTER III.

ABRAHAM AS A PREACHER OF RIGHTEOUSNESS.--THE TESTIMONY OF PAUL.-- HIS MINISTRY IN UR AND HARAN.--GOD'S COVENANT WITH HIM BASED ON THE GOSPEL.

PAUL, the Apostle, in his epistle to the Galatians, writes: "And the Scripture foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the Gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed." The record of the covenant made by the Almighty contained in the Book of Genesis, conveys no intimation that the promise that in Abraham all the families of the earth should be blessed, was in any way connected with the preaching of the Gospel; we must, therefore, conclude that the Apostle quoted from some other authority, or that the Book of Genesis, as handed down to us in the Bible, has been mutilated or abridged. It is quite possible that both views are correct. Paul had unquestionably other sources of information with regard to God's dealings with the Father of the Faithful, than those possessed by modern Christendom; it is also exceedingly probable that the early Scriptures have not been handed down to us in their entirety. No matter, this does not affect the subject under consideration; the point to which we desire to draw attention is, that the Book of Abraham sustains the Apostle's statements that the covenant was based upon the preaching of the Gospel, whilst Paul's testimony, on the other hand, confirms the veracity of Abraham's record.

The covenant, as given by the latter, is as follows: "And the Lord appeared unto me, and said unto me, Arise, and take Lot with thee, for I have purposed to take thee away out of Haran, and to make of thee a minister to bear my name in a strange land, which I will give unto thy seed after thee for an everlasting possession when they hearken to my voice. For I am the Lord thy God; I dwell in heaven, the earth is my footstool; I stretch my hand over the sea, and it obeys my voice: I cause the wind and the fire to be my chariot; I say to the mountains, depart hence, and behold they are taken away by a whirlwind, in an instant, suddenly. My name is Jehovah, and I know the end from the beginning, therefore my hand shall be over thee, and I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee above measure, and make thy name great among all nations, and thou shalt be a blessing unto thy seed after thee, that in their hands they shall bear this ministry and priesthood unto all nations, and I will bless them through thy name; for as many as receive this Gospel shall be called after thy name, and shall be accounted thy seed, and shall rise up and bless thee, as their father; and I will bless them that bless thee; and will curse them that curse thee; and in thee (that is, in thy priesthood) and thy seed (that is, thy priesthood), for I give unto thee a promise that this right shall continue in thee, and in thy seed after thee (that is to say, the literal seed or seed of the body) shall all the families of the earth be blessed, even with the blessings of the Gospel, which are the blessings of salvation, even of life eternal."

We would here ask, what salvation could be brought to the heathen, how could they be justified through faith by the preaching of the Gospel to Abraham, if power and authority were not given him to preach its glad tidings? And again, how could they be benefited thereby if he did not avail himself of the privilege thus given of becoming a preacher of righteousness to his fellow man? Furthermore, we ask, is it reasonable to suppose that he, who was to be father of that race in whom all the families of the earth were to be blessed by the preaching of God's word, would not himself be a type of what such messengers of salvation should be? Is it supposable he would hold his peace and leave the work of regeneration entirely to his posterity, when it was promised that through the eternal truths revealed to him all mankind should regain the presence of their God? We think not, and further, we imagine that his record would lack consistency if some reference was not made to his ministry and labors. And several such references we actually find more or less direct and conclusive with regard to his acts as a priest of the Most High. In fact, the whole of his writings are pervaded with this spirit, and are full of his anxieties to be a preacher of truth and righteousness. The opening paragraph of his book abounds with this feeling, indeed it contains nothing else; he writes, "finding there was greater happiness and peace and rest for me, I sought for the blessings of the fathers, and the right whereunto I should be ordained to administer the same, having been myself a follower of righteousness, desiring also to be one who possessed great knowledge, and to be a greater follower of righteousness, and to possess a greater knowledge, and to be a father of many nations, a prince of peace; and desiring to receive instructions, and to keep the commandments of God, I became a rightful heir, (1 ) a High Priest, holding the right belonging to the fathers, it was confirmed upon me from the fathers; * * * I sought for mine appointment unto the priesthood; according to the appointment of God unto the fathers concerning the seed." After the attempt of the priest of Pharaoh to take his life, the Almighty tells him, "Behold I will lead thee by the hand, and I will take thee to put upon thee my name, even the priesthood of thy father, and my power shall be over thee. As it was with Noah, so shall it be with thee, that through thy ministry my name shall be known in the earth for ever, for I am thy God." Still further on the Lord says: "I have purposed to take thee away out of Haran, and to make of thee a minister to bear my name in a strange land." Not only in Canaan was he to be a messenger of God's word, but the Almighty afterwards tells him, "I shew these things unto thee before ye go down into Egypt, that ye may declare all these words."

Thus we find that Abraham, having sought for the privilege of becoming a preacher of righteousness, in answer to his desire the priesthood was given to him with the command to magnify it. It is not probable that such a man would fail in the hour of action. The friend of God and Father of the Faithful was one "who knew no such word as fail," in carrying out heaven's commands. That he did proclaim the law of the Lord wherever he went, is evidenced by his statement that in his youthful home in Ur, his kinsfolk utterly refused to hearken to his voice. So earnest did he become in his advocacy of the truth, that his death was decided upon, even by his own father, and he did not flinch from the issue, but the angel of God rescued him from the sacrificial altar; his work was not yet done. In another place he states, "I took the souls that we had won in Haran, and came forth in the way of the land of Canaan." We shall presently discover, by outside testimony, that his ministrations were not alone confined to Ur and Haran.

We feel fully persuaded that Abraham was not only great in his unflinching integrity and his unswerving faith, but he was also great as a leader of men--he commanded his children and his household after him-- and as a preacher of the divine word. We hold this opinion from the fact that his power in these directions is frequently referred to by ancient writers, and because the effects of the preaching of God's holy word can be traced in Gospel ideas mixed with the follies of heathenism in the mythology and religions of almost every leading nation of antiquity.

We have shown from the Book of Abraham, that in early life the patriarch desired to become a preacher of righteousness, that God conferred the priesthood upon him in answer to his desires, and commanded him to proclaim the truths He revealed, and furthermore, that Abraham joyously fulfilled His command. It is not to be supposed that strangers could tell the world much about Abraham's desires, or the Lord's covenants with him, but we can substantiate, from a multitude of sources, that as a preacher righteousness the patriarch has left his mark indelibly inscribed on the history of the world. That, indeed, as God promised so He has fulfilled, and has made Abraham's "name great among all nations," and has also brought to pass His gracious promise, "through thy (Abraham's) ministry my name shall be known in the earth forever."

To prove this will be our pleasure in succeeding chapters.

(1 ) Abraham, in another place, states that "the records of the fathers, even the patriarchs, concerning the right of priesthood, the Lord ray God preserved in my own hands." By this means, amongst others, he no doubt learned that he was "a rightful heir."

THE BOOK OF ABRAHAM

ITS AUTHENTICITY ESTABLISHED AS A DIVINE AND ANCIENT RECORD

WITH COPIOUS REFERENCES TO ANCIENT AND MODERN AUTHORITIES

BY ELDER GEO. REYNOLDS.

1879 SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH

>

CHAPTER II.

ABRAHAM'S EARLY LIFE IN UR.-- HUMAN SACRIFICES.--CAUSES WHICH LED ABRAHAM TO LEAVE CHALDEA.--CONFIRMATORY TESTIMONY OF JOSHUA, JOSEPHUS, THE BOOK OF JUDITH, ETC.

OF the early history of Abraham's life very little is said in the Book of Genesis. The mere fact is stated that his father's dwelling place was in Ur of the Chaldees, where the patriarch married his kinswoman Sarai, where also his brother Haran died. (1 ) After these events, it is recorded, Terah, his father, took a portion of the family and removed to Haran, where he dwelt until the day of his death, but the causes that led to his removal are not given.

The next chapter opens with the command of God to Abraham, "Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred," etc., but the reasons why God gave him that command are not mentioned, not even hinted at. The Book of Abraham supplies many interesting details on this point not to be found in the history given by Moses, and that the details thus supplied are consistent with the condition of life in Egypt and Chaldea at that time, and in many respects corroborated by the writings and sayings of men living in later ages, it now becomes our business to prove.

Abraham states, in the second paragraph, into which his book has been divided, that his fathers had "turned from their righteousness and from the holy commandments which the Lord their God had given unto them, unto the worship of the gods of the heathens," and that "they turned their hearts to the sacrifice of the heathen in offering up their children unto their dumb idols." In the next paragraph it is written, "Now at this time it was the custom of the priest of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, to offer up upon the altar which had been built in the land of Chaldea, for the offering unto these strange gods, men, women and children." A little further on Abraham writes, "And it came to pass that the priests laid violence upon me that they might slay me also. * * * And as they lifted up their hands upon me that they might offer me up and take away my life, behold, I lifted up my voice unto the Lord my God, and the Lord hearkened and heard, and he filled me with a vision of the Almighty, and the angel of his presence stood by me, and immediately unloosed my bands, and his voice was unto me, Abraham! Abraham! behold, my name is Jehovah, and I have heard thee, and I have come down to deliver thee, and to take thee away from thy father's house, and from all thy kinsfolk, into a strange land that thou knowest not of, and this because they have turned their hearts away from me, to worship the god of Elkenah, and the god of Lebnah, and the god of Mahmack-rah, and the god of Korash, and the god of Pharaoh, king of Egypt; therefore I am come down to visit them, and to destroy him who hath lifted up his hand against thee, Abraham, my son, to take away thy life."

To substantiate the truthfulness of the above statements, we ought to be able to bring testimony in favor of four points:

1st, That human sacrifice was practiced in Egypt and adjacent countries in Abraham's day.

2d, That Abraham's fathers were idolaters.

3d, That he was persecuted by his fellow countrymen because he opposed their idolatry.

4th, That God commanded Abraham to leave Chaldea, because his father's house had turned their hearts away from him to the worship of strange gods.

If the above points can be proven by other testimony than that of the Book of Abraham, we think we have strong evidence that the record is historically correct. Admit this, and we have taken a very decided step towards acknowledging the authenticity of the entire work. For it is very improbable, nay, almost absurd, to imagine that Joseph Smith, with his limited range of ancient historical knowledge, could have produced a work of this kind that would be historically correct. Had the work been a forgery, that is, had it originated with Joseph Smith, the probabilities are overwhelming that he would have made some egregious blunders, which could easily have been detected, and the whole affair, from beginning to end, proven a tissue of falsehoods.

Firstly, then, we have to show that human sacrifices were offered to the strange gods of the heathen in Abraham's day; more particularly in Egypt, as it is represented that it was the priest of Pharaoh who officiated on the occasions mentioned by the patriarch.

To substantiate this point we shall make but one quotation, as its author mentions so many other historians, ancient and modern, as his authorities, that in quoting it we call upon them to become our witnesses also. It is taken from Dissertation II, Whiston's Josephus, and is as follows: "It is evident from Sanchoniatho, Manetho, Pausanias, Diodorus, Siculus, Philo, Plutarch and Porphyry, that such (human) sacrifices were frequent both in Phoenicia and Egypt, and that long before the days of Abraham, as Sir John Marsham and Bishop Cumberland have fully proved: nay, that in other places (though not in Egypt) this cruel practice continued long after Abraham."

We may here draw attention to the statement that this cruel practice did not continue in Egypt after Abraham's day, owing, we doubt not, as will hereafter be shown, to the great influence that that patriarch wielded in later life with Pharaoh and his subjects, in favor of a more perfect way of serving heaven.

Again, that Abraham's fathers were idolaters, though the book of Genesis carries no such inferences, as also that Abraham was commanded by Jehovah to leave his father's house because of this idolatry, is proven, we consider, by the following extracts. We will first turn to the Book of Judith, in the Apocrypha (chap, v, verses 6 to 9). It is there represented that when the invading hosts of the king of Nineveh were approaching the land of Israel, the commanding general made some inquiries with regard to the history of its people. Then Achior, the captain of all the sons of Ammon, in answer to his inquiries, replied: "This people are descended of the Chaldeans, and they sojourned heretofore in Mesopotamia, because they would not follow the gods of their fathers which were in the land of Chaldea. For they left the way of their ancestors, and worshiped the God of heaven, the God whom they knew, so they cast them out from the face of their gods, and they fled into Mesopotamia and sojourned there many days."

From the above it is very evident that the facts relating to the "call of Abraham" were not only well known to the Hebrews, but to the people of the surrounding nations also. As Achior was one in high authority among the sons of Ammou, his words under the peculiar circumstances in which they were uttered, would carry great weight, and if unauthorized would meet with severe criticism and probable contradiction.

But the question is forever set at rest by the words of a greater than Achior. Joshua, the valiant, God-fearing leader of Israel, shortly before his death, gathered the people together and rehearsed in their hearing the great things the Lord had beforetime done for them. It is written that at this time (2 ) "Joshua said unto all the people, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nachor, and they served other Gods. And I took your father Abraham from the other-side of the flood and led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his seed." And again, (3 ) "Now, therefore, fear the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood and in Egypt, and serve ye the Lord. And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose ye this day whom ye will serve, whether the gods your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." Further evidence than this we deem unnecessary, as here we have the end of all controversy, even the word of the Lord on the matter.

We cannot prove, directly from the writings of any authors at our disposal, that an attempt was made to take Abraham's life for righteousness' sake; but we can show from the "Antiquities" of Josephus that he was maltreated for that cause. This historian, after referring to the doctrines taught by Abraham, regarding God, writes, "for which doctrines, when the Chaldeans and other people of Mesopotamia raised a tumult against him, he thought fit to leave that country; and at the command and by the assistance of God, he came and lived in the land of Canaan."

(1 ) Genesis, chap. xi.

(2 ) Joshua, chap, xxiv, v. 2, 3.

(3 ) Joshua, xxiv, v. 14, 15.

THE BOOK OF ABRAHAM

ITS AUTHENTICITY ESTABLISHED AS A DIVINE AND ANCIENT RECORD

WITH COPIOUS REFERENCES TO ANCIENT AND MODERN AUTHORITIES

BY ELDER GEO. REYNOLDS.

1879 SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH

CHAPTER I.

INTRODUCTORY.--THE DISCOVERY AND SUBSEQUENT HISTORY OF THE MUMMIES.--TRANSLATION OF THE PAPYRUS BY THE PROPHET JOSEPH SMITH.

THE late republication of the pearl of great price has drawn renewed attention to the Book of Abraham, which forms a portion of its contents. And as but very little has ever been said by the Elders of the Church in advocacy of its claims as an inspired record, written by one prophet of God in the infancy of the earth's history, and translated by another prophet of the Most High in the dispensation of the fulness of times, we think that a few chapters written to prove its genuineness and divine origin, will not be without value to the Latter-day Saints, and to the world at large. For while the people of God have said or written little in its defense, there have been those opposed to the revelations of God in these days, who have vigorously attacked it, who have styled its language "gibberish," and classed it among the "pious frauds" that have so often disgraced the history of religion, Christian and heathen. We hold, and we have confidence that we can prove, by history, science, and in various other ways, that the Book of Abraham is exactly what it claims to be, and that it was translated by the wisdom and power of God for the benefit of the human family, by the Prophet Joseph Smith.

Before entering into the discussion of its contents, we deem it advisable to say a few words with regard to the manner in which it fell into the possession of our martyred Prophet. The account he gives in his history of this incident, is to be found under date of December 30, 1835, (Vol. XV. Millennial Star,) from which we condense: He states that the records from which the Book of Abraham was translated were found in one of the catacombs, near the city of Thebes, in Egypt, in the year 1831, by a French traveler named Antonio Sebolo, who had received permission from Mehemet Ali, the then ruler of Egypt, to open it.

After vast labor, an entrance was effected on the 7th of July, 1831, and several hundred mummies discovered therein, in various stages of decomposition. M. Sebolo obtained eleven of the best preserved mummies and started with them for Paris, the capital of France. On the way he was taken sick, and after an illness of ten days, died at Trieste. In his will he left these valued remains of ancient Egyptian art to his nephew, Mr. M. H. Chandler, and after various vicissitudes they came into this latter gentleman's possession in April, 1833. He proceeded to make a living by their exhibition, and traveled about the country for that purpose, reaching Kirtland July 3d, 1835.

In the meantime he had opened the coffins and found "that in connection with two of the bodies was something rolled up with the same kind of linen, saturated with the same bitumen, which, when examined, proved to be two rolls of papyrus." "Two or three other small pieces of papyrus, with astronomical calculations, epitaphs, etc., were found with others of the mummies." In Joseph's history is the following account of Mr. C's visit to Kirtland.

"On the 3d of July Michael H. Chandler came to Kirtland to exhibit some Egyptian mummies. There were four human figures, together with some two or more rolls of papyrus covered with hieroglyphic figures and devices. As Mr. Chandler had been told I could translate them, he brought me some of the characters, and I gave him the interpretation, and like a gentleman he gave me the following certificate:

' KIRKLAND, July 6, 1835.

'This is to make known to all who may be desirous, concerning the knowledge of Mr. Joseph Smith, jun., in deciphering the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic characters in my possession, which I have, in many eminent cities, showed to the most learned; and, from the information that I could ever learn, or meet with, I find that of Mr. Joseph Smith, jun., to correspond in the most minute matters.

'MICHAEL H. CHANDLER,

' Traveling with, and proprietor of Egyptian mummies.' " (1 )

The Prophet, a few days later, writes: "Soon after this some of the Saints in Kirtland purchased the mummies and the papyrus, and I, with W. W. Phelps and O. Cowdery as scribes, commenced the translation of some of the characters or hieroglyphics, and much to our joy found that one of the rolls contained the writings of Abraham, another the writings of Joseph of Egypt, etc., a more full account of which will appear in their place as I proceed to examine and unfold them. Truly we can say the Lord is beginning to reveal the abundance of peace and truth."

From this time it appears from the history that Joseph set himself diligently to work to translate the records, as often as his other important duties permitted. Under date of October 1st, he records in his journal: "This afternoon I labored on the Egyptian alphabet, in company with Brothers O. Cowdery and W. W. Phelps, and during the research, the principles of astronomy as understood by Father Abraham and the ancients, unfolded to our understandings." It is desirable that these dates and facts should be remembered, as they have an important bearing on our future inquiries. Under date of October 7th, November 24th, and in other places, he refers to his labors in translating the papyrus.

He also makes frequent reference to showing his friends these records, and of explaining to them their contents, not only to those in the Church, but to numbers who were not members. We will simply cite one instance. "December 16th, 1835. Elders McLellin, B. Young, and J. Carter called and paid me a visit, with which I was much gratified. I exhibited and explained the Egyptian records to them, and explained many things concerning the dealings of God with the ancients, and the formation of the planetary system." (2 )

The next thing we deem in order is to give the Prophet's description of the appearance of the papyrus, which description, we may remark in passing, is identical with that of President John Taylor, who frequently saw them when in Brother Joseph's possession. The latter writes: (3 )

"The record of Abraham and Joseph, found with the mummies, is beautifully written on papyrus, with black, and a small part with red, ink or paint, in perfect preservation. The characters are such as you find upon the coffins of mummies, hieroglyphics, etc., with many characters or letters like the present (though probably not quite so square) form of Hebrew, without points."

Before proceeding further, it will doubtless be desirable to give a slight sketch of the contents of those portions of the Book of Abraham already translated and published. It opens with a short account of his early life at the home of his father in Ur of Chaldea, of the persecutions he suffered for righteousness' sake from his idolatrous kindred, and of the causes that led him to leave Chaldea for Canaan. It gives, at greater length than does the Bible, the covenants made with him by the Almighty, and affords some exceedingly interesting details with regard to the history of the priesthood in that early day.

Further on an account of Abraham's visit to Egypt is given, and the revelations of God to him, with regard to the order of the planetary worlds, the condition of the spirits of mankind in their pre-existent state, and a history of the creation of this earth are laid before the reader in plain and simple, but inspired and soul inspiring language. No short synopsis can give any idea of the beauty, grandeur and value of the truths made manifest by the Most High to his friend and servant, Abraham; truths which the world, to-day, in part ignores and partly comprehends.

We suggest to our readers the study of this important, though brief fragment, feeling assured that they will arise from its perusal with a more exalted and more comprehensive realization of the power, the glory and the love of God, than the study of any uninspired treatise could ever give, no matter how beautiful its language, or how sublime its thoughts.

It is our intention, as we pass along, to take up the various subjects treated in the Book of Abraham, and demonstrate the exact truthfulness of the record, by the writings of historians, ancient and modern, by the discoveries of archaeologists, Egyptiologists, astronomers and other scientists, and prove, we believe, beyond the possibility of successful contradiction, that no element of fraud enters into its composition.

So remarkable have been the confirmatory evidences that we have met in our investigations into this subject, that we are of the opinion that there is not a book in existence whose genuineness can be more easily proven than can that of the record of the Father of the Faithful. Being thus fully assured, we shall lay the forthcoming chapters before our readers with the joyful assurance that they will add to the already incontrovertible testimonies that Joseph Smith was a prophet, seer and revelator, and servant of the Most High God.

We make this last statement advisedly, because it must be evident to all who seriously consider the matter, that if the Book of Abraham as given to us by Joseph Smith be true, it must have been translated by a greater than human power. We well know that so far as the wisdom of this world is concerned, Joseph Smith was an unlearned man, unskilled in the higher branches of science, with little other knowledge than that which heaven conferred, but had he been a scientist of the highest order the production of the Book of Abraham would be but little less remarkable, as many of the truths taught therein (as we shall presently see) are in advance of the times, and were as unknown to the sage as to the simpleton in the year that the papyrus was translated, and indeed for many years afterwards. Consequently, human learning and human wisdom could not give them to the world. By some other power, which we claim was divine, they must have been revealed and made manifest.

(1 ) History of Joseph Smith, Millennial Star, Vol. XV, page 285.

(2 ) History of Joseph Smith, Millennial Star, Vol. XV, page 519.

(3 ) Ibul, Vol. XV, page 550.