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Approaching Anachronisms in the Book of Abraham
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Approaching Anachronisms in the Book of Abraham
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Summary: There are several principles that students of the Book of Mormon should keep in mind when assesing claims of anachronisms in the Book of Abraham.
# Deny that the anachronism exists and assert that, although it has not yet been attested in an extant source, the posited characteristic does indeed date back to the Middle Bronze Age.
Acknowledge the anachronism, but assign it to Joseph Smith as a translator’s anachronism, which does not in and of itself compromise the Book of Abraham as a translation of an ancient source
Acknowledge the anachronism but assign it to an ancient redactor or copyist
Acknowledge the anachronism and assign it to Joseph Smith as the modern author of the text. This is generally the stance of our critics
Notes