Our Heavenly Father has reserved many of his most noble spirits.

Perhaps I might say his finest team for this final phase.

Those noble spirits, those finest players, those heroes are you.

I testify that the gathering is now, and it is real. In the year I was born,

the total membership of the church was less than 600,000 people, with no members in South America.

Today, there are more than 16 million members worldwide, with nearly 3 million members in South America.

I am Ryan McKnight.

I'm Kara Santa Maria.

I am Christopher Smith. Hi, I Kara Santa Maria. I am Christopher Smith.

Hi, I'm Andrew Torres.

This is Naked Mormonism.

The Serial Mormon History Podcast.

Today's show is part two of the logical deconstruction of the Book of Abraham.

Last episode was a brief rundown of apologetic arguments used to claim, quote, unquote, historical plausibility for the Book of Abraham, which is a nice way to dance around the issue that it can't be proven

to be historically probable or even authentic. So plausibility is the only level of authenticity

we can ascribe to it. This is the final position of retreat for those claiming something

contrary to all the evidence academia and science has provided. Anything is plausible, much in the same way that anything is possible, but possibility and

plausibility are merely hypotheses used to ascertain the accuracy of models in scientific

probability.

Theories are constructed as best possible ways to explain all the evidence to the highest degree of probability,

and theories are fluid and subject to change upon the introduction of new verifiable information.

No theory or historical model could be constructed, which includes an authentic Book of Abraham being what Joseph Smith claimed it to be.

...