The LDS Church now officially admits that none of the surviving Book of Abraham papyrus fragments mention Abraham or describe the events Joseph Smith claimed to have translated. Instead, both Mormon and non-Mormon Egyptologists agree that these fragments are ordinary Egyptian funerary texts, dating centuries after Abraham’s lifetime. Despite this, Joseph Smith insisted he was divinely translating the writings of Abraham and even attempted to create an “Egyptian grammar,” which has since been thoroughly debunked by scholars.
Confronted with overwhelming evidence that Joseph Smith’s translations were fabricated, the LDS Church has shifted its explanation. Instead of standing by Smith’s claim of literal translation, it now asserts that the Book of Abraham came “by revelation” — not from the papyrus itself, but through “the gift and power of God.” In effect, this defense transfers the responsibility for a proven false translation onto Jesus Christ Himself.
But the Bible gives us clear warnings about such deceptions:
- “When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass … the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously” (Deuteronomy 18:22).
- Jesus warned, “Many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many” (Matthew 24:11).
- Paul cautioned, “For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached … ye might well bear with him” (2 Corinthians 11:4).
The LDS Church’s claim that Jesus revealed the Book of Abraham content—despite Joseph Smith’s proven mistranslation—effectively attributes error and deception to Christ. Yet the Jesus of the Bible is the truth itself: “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). He cannot lie or deceive (Titus 1:2). To claim otherwise is to present a different Jesus, not the Savior revealed in the Bible.
The Bible also testifies that God’s Word is already complete and sufficient: “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine … that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works” (2 Timothy 3:16–17). Adding false revelations undermines the sufficiency of God’s inspired Word.
This video examines how the LDS Church’s attempt to defend Joseph Smith’s fraudulent translation ultimately shifts blame onto Jesus Himself—and asks the sobering question: Is the Jesus of Mormonism the same as the Jesus of the Bible?
