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Book of Abraham
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===Distinct doctrines=== {{Main|Priesthood (Mormonism)|Mormon cosmology|Kolob|Pre-existence|Exaltation (Mormonism)|God in Mormonism}} {{See also|Curses of Cain and Ham and the LDS Church|Mormon teachings on skin color}} The Book of Abraham text is a source of some distinct Latter Day Saint doctrines, which Mormon author Randal S. Chase calls "truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ that were previously unknown to Church members of Joseph Smith's day."<ref>{{Harvnb|Chase|2014|p=160}}</ref> Examples include the nature of the [[Priesthood (Mormonism)|priesthood]],<ref>{{sourcetext|source=Pearl of Great Price|book=Abraham|chapter=1|verse=1β4}}.</ref> an understanding of the cosmos,<ref>{{sourcetext|source=Pearl of Great Price|book=Abraham|chapter=3}}.</ref> the [[Exaltation (Mormonism)|exaltation]] of humanity,<ref>{{sourcetext|source=Pearl of Great Price|book=Abraham|chapter=2|verse=10}}</ref> a [[Pre-existence|pre-mortal existence]], the first and second estates,<ref>{{sourcetext|source=Pearl of Great Price|book=Abraham|chapter=3|verse=18β28}}</ref> and the [[plurality of gods]].<ref>{{sourcetext|source=Pearl of Great Price|book=Abraham|chapter=4|verse=1}}</ref> The Book of Abraham expands upon the nature of the [[priesthood (Latter Day Saints)|priesthood]] in the Latter Day Saint movement, and it is suggested in the work that those who are foreordained to the priesthood earned this right by valor or nobility in the pre-mortal life.<ref>{{sourcetext|source=Pearl of Great Price|book=Abraham|chapter=3|verse=22β23}}</ref> In a similar vein, the book explicitly denotes that Pharaoh was a descendant of Ham<ref>{{sourcetext|source=Pearl of Great Price|book=Abraham|chapter=1|verse=21}}</ref> and thus "of that lineage by which he could not have the right of Priesthood".<ref>{{sourcetext|source=Pearl of Great Price|book=Abraham|chapter=1|verse=27}}</ref> This passage is the only one found in any Mormon scripture that bars a particular lineage of people from holding the priesthood. Even though nothing in the Book of Abraham explicitly connects the line of Pharaoh and Ham to black Africans,<ref>{{harvnb|Mauss|2003|p=238}}</ref> this passage was used as a scriptural basis for withholding the priesthood from black individuals.<ref>{{harvnb|Bringhurst|1981|p=193}}</ref> An 1868 ''[[Juvenile Instructor]]'' article points to the Pearl of Great Price as the "source of racial attitudes in church doctrine",<ref name=":2" /> and in 1900, First Presidency member [[George Q. Cannon]] began using the story of Pharaoh as a scriptural basis for the ban.<ref name="Reeve 2015">{{cite book|author1-link=W. Paul Reeve |last1=Reeve |first1=W. Paul |title=Religion of a Different Color: Race and the Mormon Struggle for Whiteness |date=2015 |publisher=Oxford University Press|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=95j4BQAAQBAJ |location=New York |isbn=978-0-19-975407-6 }}</ref>{{rp|205}} In 1912, the First Presidency responded to an inquiry about the priesthood ban by using the story of Pharaoh.<ref>{{cite book |title=Dialogue |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RwTrAAAAMAAJ |publisher=Dialogue Foundation|year=2001 |page=267}}</ref> By the early 1900s, it became the foundation of church policy in regards to the priesthood ban.<ref name="Reeve 2015" />{{rp|205}} The 2002 ''Doctrine and Covenants Student Manual'' points to Abraham 1:21β27 as the reasoning behind [[black people and priesthood (LDS)|not giving black people the priesthood until 1978]].<ref>{{cite book |url=https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/manual/doctrine-and-covenants-student-manual/official-declaration-2-every-faithful-worthy-man?lang=eng |title=Official Declaration 2, 'Every Faithful, Worthy Man' |year=2002 |publisher=[[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]] |pages=634β635 }}</ref> Chapter 3 of the Book of Abraham describes a unique (and purportedly Egyptian)<ref name="chase204"/><ref name=ritner59>{{Harvnb|Ritner|2013|p=59}}</ref> understanding of the hierarchy of heavenly bodies, each with different movements and measurements of time.<ref name="auto">{{sourcetext|source=Pearl of Great Price|book=Abraham|chapter=3|verse=4}}.</ref> In regard to this chapter, Randal S. Chase notes, "With divine help, Abraham was able to gain greater comprehension of the order of the galaxies, stars, and planets than he could have obtained from earthly sources."<ref name="chase204"/> At the pinnacle of the cosmos is the slowest-rotating body, [[Kolob]], which, according to the text, is the star closest to where God lives.<ref>{{sourcetext|source=Pearl of Great Price|book=Abraham|chapter=3|verse=3β16}}.</ref> The Book of Abraham is the only work in the Latter Day Saint canon to mention the star Kolob.<ref>{{cite web |title=Kolob |url=https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/gs/kolob |publisher=[[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]] |access-date=August 3, 2016}}</ref> According to the Book: {{blockquote|[Abraham] saw the stars, that they were very great, and that one of them was nearest unto the throne of God;{{nbsp}}[...] and the name of the great one is Kolob, because it is near unto me, for I am the Lord thy God: I have set this one to govern all those which belong to the same order as that upon which thou standest.<ref name="ReferenceA1">{{sourcetext|source=Pearl of Great Price|book=Abraham|chapter=3|verse=2|range=-3}}</ref>}} Based on this verse, the LDS Church claims that "Kolob is the star nearest to the presence of God [and] the governing star in all the universe."<ref name=studyguide/> Time moves slowly on the celestial body; one Kolob-day corresponds to 1,000 earth-years.<ref name="auto"/> The Church also notes: "Kolob is also symbolic of Jesus Christ, the central figure in God's plan of salvation."<ref name=studyguide/> The Book of Abraham also explores pre-mortal existence. The LDS Church website explains: "Life did not begin at birth, as is commonly believed. Prior to coming to earth, individuals existed as spirits."<ref name=ldst&h/> These spirits are eternal and of different intelligences.<ref>{{sourcetext|source=Pearl of Great Price|book=Abraham|chapter=3|verse=18β19}}</ref> Prior to mortal existence, spirits exist in the "first estate". Once certain spirits (i.e., those who choose to follow the plan of salvation offered by God the Father of their own accord) take on a mortal form, they enter into what is called the "second estate".<ref name=studyguide>{{harvnb|Church Education System|2000|pp=28β41}}</ref><ref>{{sourcetext|source=Pearl of Great Price|book=Abraham|chapter=3|verse=26}}.</ref> The doctrine of the second estate is explicitly named only in this book.<ref>{{cite web |title=Second Estate |url=http://eom.byu.edu/index.php/Second_Estate |publisher=[[Brigham Young University]] |access-date=August 5, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160923144738/http://eom.byu.edu/index.php/Second_Estate |archive-date=2016-09-23}}</ref> The purpose of earthly life, therefore, is for humans to prepare for a meeting with God; the Church, citing {{sourcetext|source=Pearl of Great Price|book=Abraham|chapter=3|verse=26}}, notes: "All who accept and obey the saving principles and ordinances of the gospel of Jesus Christ will receive eternal life, the greatest gift of God, and will have 'glory added upon their heads for ever and ever'."<ref name=studyguide/><ref name="ldst&h">{{cite web|date=July 2014|title=Translation and Historicity of the Book of Abraham|url=https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/topics/translation-and-historicity-of-the-book-of-abraham?lang=eng|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210419061435/https://churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-topics-essays/translation-and-historicity-of-the-book-of-abraham?lang=eng|archive-date=April 19, 2021|access-date=May 25, 2021|website=Gospel Topics Essays|publisher=[[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]]}}</ref> Also notable is the Book of Abraham's description of a plurality of gods, and that "the gods"{{#tag:ref|The identities of the gods themselves are unspecified in the Book itself, but the LDS Church teaches that [[God the Father]] ([[Elohim]]), [[Jesus Christ]] ([[Jehovah]]), [[Adam]] ([[Michael (archangel)|Michael]]), and "many of the great and noble ones" ({{sourcetext|source=Pearl of Great Price|book=Abraham|chapter=3|verse=22}}) participated in the [[Genesis creation narrative|creation]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Doctrines of the Gospel Student Manual Chapter 7: The Creation |url=https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/doctrines-of-the-gospel-student-manual/chapter-7-the-creation?lang=eng |publisher=[[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]] |access-date=August 4, 2016 }}</ref>|group="nb"}} created the Earth, not ''[[creatio ex nihilo|ex nihilo]]'', but rather from pre-existing, eternal matter.<ref name=ldst&h/><ref name=ritner42/> This shift away from [[monotheism]] and towards [[henotheism]] occurred {{circa|1838β39}}, when Smith was imprisoned in the Liberty Jail in [[Clay County, Missouri]] (this was after the majority of the Book of Abraham had been supposedly translated, but prior to its publication).<ref name=ritner313340>{{Harvnb|Ritner|2013|pp=31β33, 40}}.</ref> Smith noted that there would be "a time come in the {{sic}} which nothing shall be with held {{sic}} whither {{sic}} there be one god or many gods they {{sic}} shall be manifest all thrones and dominions, principalities and powers shall be revealed and set forth upon all who have indured {{sic}} valiently {{sic}} for the gospel of Jesus Christ" and that all will be revealed "according to that which was ordained in the midst of the councyl {{sic}} of the eternal God of all other Gods before this world was."<ref name=ritner4041>{{Harvnb|Ritner|2013|pp=40β41}}.</ref>
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