This study involves an analysis and evaluation of criticisms made of some of the work of Joseph Smith, the Mormon Prophet, and a reevaluation of his work and character in the light of the findings of the study. The criticisms were concerned in particular with the method used in translating into English certain material from the language of the original source found on papyrus in an Egyptian tomb. This material is part of a book known as "The Book of Abraham." In general the criticisms dealt with the life's work and character of Joseph.

The purpose of this study is to compare all the major printings of the texts of "The Book of Abraham" and the "Writings of Joseph Smith," both presently contained in "The Pearl of Great Price", to note the various changes in the texts and to evaluate the significance of those changes.

In her attempt to find a strictly human origin for certain doctrines contained in the Book of Abraham, and the later teachings of Joseph Smith, Mrs. Fawn M. Brodie relies upon the writings of one Thomas Dick. Dick was a nineteenth century Scottish scientist-theologian who wrote several volumes on religious and scientific subjects. It is known that at least two volumes were known to at least some of the early Latter-day Saints, for passages from them were quoted in the Messenger and Advocate. The purpose of this thesis has been to research the entire ten volumes of Dick's writings in order to determine the entirety of his theology. The paper first relates the life and general philosophy of Thomas Dick, and then investigates specifics of his theology under the general chapter headings of "God," "Man," and "Salvation." The final two chapters of the thesis deal with those specific aspects of Joseph Smith's theology which Mrs. Brodie claims were influenced by Dick's writings. The conclusion reached as a result of this study is: while it cannot be demonstrated that any of the Prophet's theology has any direct foundation in Thomas Dick's, there may have been impetus gained from Dick's writings in the direction Joseph Smith's theology took, but only if it could be demonstrated that Joseph Smith had read them, and this has not been done, by Mrs. Brodie, nor anyone else.

Facsimile No. 3 of the Book of Abraham contains parallels to other Egyptian throne scenes found elsewhere, which fact has led many to pass Facsimile No. 3 off as commonplace. However, the lack of a broad comparative study examining these types of scenes in their varying contexts has rendered most conclusions regarding Facsimile No. 3 superficial at best. Hugh Nibley was perhaps the first to notice this problem, arguing that "The great abundance of pictures of the Facsimile No. 3 variety calls for the widest possible comparative study. In a case like this the student's first obligation is to compare, as widely and as carefully as possible." This thesis takes a critical step in solving this problem by looking at both the textual and iconographic elements found in Facsimile No.3 and comparing them with the larger corpus of Egyptian texts, temples, tombs, and stelae. Significantly, this study compares Facsimile No. 3 with the throne scenes from every other publicly known copy of the Book of Breathings, the ancient Egyptian document on which Facsimile No. 3 was found.In this thesis, I argue that Facsimile No. 3 is not as commonplace as some scholars have argued in the past. I begin this thesis with an introduction which presents some of the main issues surrounding Facsimile No. 3, including some of the likely reasons as to why it has remained the least studied of the three Facsimiles of the Book of Abraham. The first chapter contains a literature review of the published writings and theories that deal with Facsimile No. 3. Chapter Two gives a closer look at the hieroglyphs of Facsimile No. 3 and discusses some of the challenges relating to the translations that have been offered for them. The iconography of Facsimile No. 3 is discussed in the third chapter, where it is compared with the larger corpus of Book of Breathings vignettes. This discussion is especially important, as it is the first study to date which compares Facsimile No. 3 with the vignettes from all other extant copies of the Book of Breathings. In Chapter Four, this comparative study broadens, and parallels to Facsimile No. 3 are looked for in Ptolemaic copies of the Book of the Dead, Temples, Tombs, and funerary stelae.