Artifacts are an element of religious history.
Within the history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Director of the Church History Library claimed that one important artifact was determined to be “nuthin’ but a forgery.”
The Director, Keith A. Erekson, said, “From the very first day, it just didn’t add up. I’d look at it and think, there’s something wrong here.”
Since 1989, a copy of the Book of Mormon has been preserved in the historical collections of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which some had claimed had been annotated and autographed by Elvis Presley.
The first page contains the signature “E. A. Presley”, and throughout the book the margins are covered with annotations that Elvis had written throughout the book. And on the last page (in the index) was written, “Father, I want more! I need more now. Help me!”
Erekson noted that since the first day the book had been donated, others had questioned whether or not the book was authentic. He said that despite a general resemblance to his signature, significant differences appear in nearly every letter.
Erekson and others encourage members of the church not to lose faith when stories like these come out.
BYU Religion Professor, Casey Griffiths, said, “I think its part of being a mature member of the church, to recognize that sometimes memories are faulty and that things that we thought are important really aren’t.”
Rare book collector and forgery expert, Reid Moon,i noted, “That’s why we’re encouraged to base our testimony on the scriptures, and not an artifact.”
