By Jerald and Sandra Tanner

In the Spring of 1966 a group of Mormons published the first issue of a publication entitled, Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought. The editors of this journal claimed that they would present both sides of an issue, but we were rather skeptical and felt the they might eventually be controlled by the Mormon leaders and become like the Improvement Era. We felt that they would not accept an article from us. This spring, however, we worked with Grant Heward and prepared an article which we submitted to them. This article included some material which we have never printed before. In this article we produced photographic proof that Facsimile No. 2 of the Book of Abraham was altered before it was first published. We could hardly imagine that they would print this article since it dealt such a devastating blow to the authenticity of the Book of Abraham. To our great delight, however, they published it in the Summer 1968 issue. We understand that they printed 8,000 copies! This will reach many of the Mormon people who do not read our Messenger.

Just before the article appeared, one of the editors wrote us a letter in which he stated:

Actually it’s hard for me to believe that we’re actually going to publish your article. . . . I think that you can’t really say that we aren’t a forum any more. At least, we’ve tried hard to move in that direction.

We must admit that the editors of Dialogue have made a courageous move in the last issue. They have given us a chance to present our views, and they have allowed Dr. Nibley to make a rebuttal. This is certainly fair. We must admit that this is a real dialogue. More important than this, however, is the fact that they have submitted photographs of the papyri to some of the most qualified Egyptologists in the world and have printed their translations and interpretations concerning the papyri. We must congratulate them for this move. It shows both honesty and courage.

---

---