The Restoration of the GospelWidtsoe, Osborne J. P.
Religion
The Restoration of the Gospel
Widtsoe, Osborne J. P.
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
[Footnote N: "History of the Church," Vol. II, P. 235.]
Soon after receiving this certificate from Mr. Chandler some of the
Saints in Kirtland purchased from him the mummies and the papyrus.
Thereupon, the Prophet, with William W. Phelps and Oliver Cowdery
as scribes, began to translate the strange hieroglyphics. To their
infinite joy, they found that one of the rolls contained writings of
Abraham, whereas the other contained writings of Joseph, who was sold
into Egypt. The first of these the Prophet translated, in part. It
recounts the trials of Abraham in the idolatrous home of his fathers,
and his miraculous deliverance. It tells also of the creation of the
world, and of the spirits before, and reveals the system of astronomy
understood by the ancient patriarch. The Book of Abraham, an invaluable
and truly authentic record translated by divine inspiration, forms now
an important part of the Pearl of Great Price.
It appears that the papyrus-roll containing the writings of Joseph
was never translated. The Saints retained possession of the mummies,
and carried them along in their wanderings, until they became settled
in their new home--Nauvoo, the Beautiful. There, the mummies were
displayed in the Nauvoo Mansion, built by the Prophet. After the death
of the Prophet, however, the mummies and the papyrus-rolls fell into
the hands of the Prophet's family, and were sold. For some time they
were exhibited by a syndicate in St. Louis. Thence, they were sold to
a museum in Chicago. When the great fire swept Chicago in 1870, the
museum was destroyed; and with it, presumably, the historic mummies and
the sacred records of old. All that we have preserved to us, then, of
these interesting papyrus records is contained in the Pearl of Great
Price.
Thus the knowledge of the Saints was extended, the hand-dealings of God
with His ancient people were made known, and many sacred writings were
added to the scripture already possessed by the Church. The King James
version of the Bible was already accepted "as far as it was translated
correctly." The Book of Moses deals with the beginnings--with the
fundamentals. It reveals how man came first to know of God, of His
Son, Jesus Christ, and of the divine plan of salvation. It supplies
the living truth of man's relationship to God, which the Authorized
Version--through the interference of the opinions of men--states but
obscurely. It looks hopefully forward to the future, when the King
of glory shall come in. Without that portion of inspired scripture
contained in the Book of Moses, we should lack much in our knowledge of
the history of God and of man.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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