https://www.fairlatterdaysaints.org/answers/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Theological_Questions_Regarding_the_Book_of_AbrahamTheological Questions Regarding the Book of Abraham - Revision history2026-04-05T20:41:15ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.41.0https://www.fairlatterdaysaints.org/answers/index.php?title=Theological_Questions_Regarding_the_Book_of_Abraham&diff=265759&oldid=prevSpencerMarsh at 16:57, 12 March 20262026-03-12T16:57:48Z<p></p>
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</table>SpencerMarshhttps://www.fairlatterdaysaints.org/answers/index.php?title=Theological_Questions_Regarding_the_Book_of_Abraham&diff=265513&oldid=prevSpencerMarsh at 19:13, 19 February 20262026-02-19T19:13:43Z<p></p>
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<tr><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>:Abraham learned that wherever there are two stars one will be greater than the other, and that there are other stars greater than those two, until Kolob, which is the greatest of all. He learned that it is not size that makes one star or planet greater than another, but rather its proximity to Kolob. So it is with the children of God—their greatness and glory will depend upon their proximity to the Creator, Jesus Christ, who is “nearest unto the throne of God,” “the great one,” “the first creation,” and is “set to govern all those which belong to the same order.” Thus the great star, Kolob, is a symbol of Jesus Christ.</div></td><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>:Abraham learned that wherever there are two stars one will be greater than the other, and that there are other stars greater than those two, until Kolob, which is the greatest of all. He learned that it is not size that makes one star or planet greater than another, but rather its proximity to Kolob. So it is with the children of God—their greatness and glory will depend upon their proximity to the Creator, Jesus Christ, who is “nearest unto the throne of God,” “the great one,” “the first creation,” and is “set to govern all those which belong to the same order.” Thus the great star, Kolob, is a symbol of Jesus Christ.</div></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="diff-marker" data-marker="−"></td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>As we draw nearer to Christ, the more of His power will reach us and the greater we can become. This was the concept that Joseph was teaching us, using the facsimile as an illustration, and [https://rsc.byu.edu/vol-10-no-1-2009/encircling-astronomy-egyptians-approach-abraham-3 what Abraham was trying to teach the <del style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">Egyptian</del>]<del style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">s</del>. Neither of them was giving us a physics lesson.<ref>Sarah Allen, "The CES Letter Rebuttal &mdash; Part 18: CES Letter Book of Abraham Questions, Section I," ''FAIR Blog'', October 20, 2021, https://www.fairlatterdaysaints.org/blog/2021/10/20/the-ces-letter-rebuttal-part-18.</ref></blockquote></div></td><td class="diff-marker" data-marker="+"></td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>As we draw nearer to Christ, the more of His power will reach us and the greater we can become. This was the concept that Joseph was teaching us, using the facsimile as an illustration, and [https://rsc.byu.edu/vol-10-no-1-2009/encircling-astronomy-egyptians-approach-abraham-3 what Abraham was trying to teach the <ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">Egyptians</ins>]. Neither of them was giving us a physics lesson.<ref>Sarah Allen, "The CES Letter Rebuttal &mdash; Part 18: CES Letter Book of Abraham Questions, Section I," ''FAIR Blog'', October 20, 2021, https://www.fairlatterdaysaints.org/blog/2021/10/20/the-ces-letter-rebuttal-part-18.</ref></blockquote></div></td></tr>
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</table>SpencerMarshhttps://www.fairlatterdaysaints.org/answers/index.php?title=Theological_Questions_Regarding_the_Book_of_Abraham&diff=265495&oldid=prevSpencerMarsh at 16:14, 18 February 20262026-02-18T16:14:14Z<p></p>
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</table>SpencerMarshhttps://www.fairlatterdaysaints.org/answers/index.php?title=Theological_Questions_Regarding_the_Book_of_Abraham&diff=264857&oldid=prevSpencerMarsh at 06:14, 27 December 20252025-12-27T06:14:31Z<p></p>
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</table>SpencerMarshhttps://www.fairlatterdaysaints.org/answers/index.php?title=Theological_Questions_Regarding_the_Book_of_Abraham&diff=264763&oldid=prevSpencerMarsh at 07:16, 22 December 20252025-12-22T07:16:20Z<p></p>
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</table>SpencerMarshhttps://www.fairlatterdaysaints.org/answers/index.php?title=Theological_Questions_Regarding_the_Book_of_Abraham&diff=264687&oldid=prevSpencerMarsh at 10:37, 19 December 20252025-12-19T10:37:15Z<p></p>
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<tr><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>====Lack of Original Doctrinal Application====</div></td><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>====Lack of Original Doctrinal Application====</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class="diff-marker" data-marker="−"></td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Significantly, there is no evidence that Joseph Smith used the Book of Abraham to institute or justify a race-based priesthood restriction in his lifetime, nor that early Church leaders immediately applied it to policy in that way. <del style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">The BYU Studies </del>article on the topic notes that even Brigham Young and other early administrators who supported the historical ban did not explicitly cite this text as the doctrinal source for the policy. </div></td><td class="diff-marker" data-marker="+"></td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Significantly, there is no evidence that Joseph Smith used the Book of Abraham to institute or justify a race-based priesthood restriction in his lifetime, nor that early Church leaders immediately applied it to policy in that way. <ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">[https://byustudies.byu.edu/article/the-priesthood-ban-and-the-book-of-abraham An </ins>article on the topic<ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">] </ins>notes that even Brigham Young and other early administrators who supported the historical ban did not explicitly cite this text as the doctrinal source for the policy. </div></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>====Modern Interpretations and Disavowals====</div></td><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>====Modern Interpretations and Disavowals====</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class="diff-marker" data-marker="−"></td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Scholars and the Church’s own historical essays have clarified that the priesthood restriction was not formally rooted in a revealed, canonical doctrinal basis that is clearly articulated in the Book of Abraham. Interpretations tying the passage to Black Africans and racial characteristics emerged later under the influence of broader nineteenth-century racial theories, rather than from the scripture itself. Contemporary Church statements have disavowed past explanations that linked race to divine curse or inferiority. </div></td><td class="diff-marker" data-marker="+"></td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Scholars and <ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">[https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-topics-essays/race-and-the-priesthood?lang=eng </ins>the Church’s own historical essays<ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">] </ins>have clarified that the priesthood restriction was not formally rooted in a revealed, canonical doctrinal basis that is clearly articulated in the Book of Abraham. Interpretations tying the passage to Black Africans and racial characteristics emerged later under the influence of broader nineteenth-century racial theories, rather than from the scripture itself. Contemporary Church statements have disavowed past explanations that linked race to divine curse or inferiority. </div></td></tr>
<tr><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br></td><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br></td></tr>
<tr><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Textual, historical, and contextual analyses indicate that the Book of Abraham does not support the historical exclusion of people of Black African descent from priesthood ordination or temple ordinances. Its ancient narrative about lineage and inherited blessings was later misappropriated by some as a justification for racialized policy, but objectively, the text does not articulate a racial priesthood ban nor provide the doctrinal grounding that such a policy would require.</div></td><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Textual, historical, and contextual analyses indicate that the Book of Abraham does not support the historical exclusion of people of Black African descent from priesthood ordination or temple ordinances. Its ancient narrative about lineage and inherited blessings was later misappropriated by some as a justification for racialized policy, but objectively, the text does not articulate a racial priesthood ban nor provide the doctrinal grounding that such a policy would require.</div></td></tr>
</table>SpencerMarshhttps://www.fairlatterdaysaints.org/answers/index.php?title=Theological_Questions_Regarding_the_Book_of_Abraham&diff=264686&oldid=prevSpencerMarsh at 10:33, 19 December 20252025-12-19T10:33:17Z<p></p>
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<tr><td class="diff-marker" data-marker="−"></td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><del style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">{{UnderConstructionSuggestions}}</del></div></td><td colspan="2" class="diff-side-added"></td></tr>
<tr><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>'''Summary:''' Critics have raised several theological issues with the Book of Abraham. These include questions about race, lying, the inclusion of a God with an erect phallus in Facsimile 2, its inclusion of multiple gods instead of a singular god, and its relationship to science.</div></td><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>'''Summary:''' Critics have raised several theological issues with the Book of Abraham. These include questions about race, lying, the inclusion of a God with an erect phallus in Facsimile 2, its inclusion of multiple gods instead of a singular god, and its relationship to science.</div></td></tr>
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</table>SpencerMarshhttps://www.fairlatterdaysaints.org/answers/index.php?title=Theological_Questions_Regarding_the_Book_of_Abraham&diff=264685&oldid=prevSpencerMarsh at 10:32, 19 December 20252025-12-19T10:32:30Z<p></p>
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<tr><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>====Further Reading====</div></td><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>====Further Reading====</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class="diff-marker" data-marker="−"></td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>*Shannon, Avram R. "'That Lineage': Rival Priesthood Claims in Abraham 1." In ''Abraham and His Family in Scripture, History, and Tradition: Proceedings of the Conference Held May 3 & 10, 2025 at Brigham Young University, ed. Jeffrey M. Bradshaw, John S. Thompson, Matthew L. Bowen, and David R. Seely, 2 vols. (Interpreter Foundation; Eborn Books, 2025), 1:207&ndash;39.</div></td><td class="diff-marker" data-marker="+"></td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>*Shannon, Avram R. "'That Lineage': Rival Priesthood Claims in Abraham 1." In ''Abraham and His Family in Scripture, History, and Tradition: Proceedings of the Conference Held May 3 & 10, 2025 at Brigham Young University<ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">''</ins>, ed. Jeffrey M. Bradshaw, John S. Thompson, Matthew L. Bowen, and David R. Seely, 2 vols. (Interpreter Foundation; Eborn Books, 2025), 1:207&ndash;39.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>*Smoot, Stephen O., John Gee, Kerry Muhlestein, and John S. Thompson. "[https://byustudies.byu.edu/article/the-priesthood-ban-and-the-book-of-abraham The Priesthood Ban and the Book of Abraham]." In ''BYU Studies Quarterly'' 61, no. 4 (2022): 56&ndash;64.</div></td><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>*Smoot, Stephen O., John Gee, Kerry Muhlestein, and John S. Thompson. "[https://byustudies.byu.edu/article/the-priesthood-ban-and-the-book-of-abraham The Priesthood Ban and the Book of Abraham]." In ''BYU Studies Quarterly'' 61, no. 4 (2022): 56&ndash;64.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>*Thompson, John S. "[https://interpreterfoundation.org/journal/being-of-that-lineage-generational-curses-and-inheritance-in-the-book-of-abraham 'Being of That Linage': Generational Curses and Inheritance in the Book of Abraham]." ''Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship'' 54 (2022) : 97&ndash;146.</div></td><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>*Thompson, John S. "[https://interpreterfoundation.org/journal/being-of-that-lineage-generational-curses-and-inheritance-in-the-book-of-abraham 'Being of That Linage': Generational Curses and Inheritance in the Book of Abraham]." ''Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship'' 54 (2022) : 97&ndash;146.</div></td></tr>
</table>SpencerMarshhttps://www.fairlatterdaysaints.org/answers/index.php?title=Theological_Questions_Regarding_the_Book_of_Abraham&diff=264684&oldid=prevSpencerMarsh at 10:31, 19 December 20252025-12-19T10:31:44Z<p></p>
<a href="https://www.fairlatterdaysaints.org/answers/index.php?title=Theological_Questions_Regarding_the_Book_of_Abraham&diff=264684&oldid=264663">Show changes</a>SpencerMarshhttps://www.fairlatterdaysaints.org/answers/index.php?title=Theological_Questions_Regarding_the_Book_of_Abraham&diff=264663&oldid=prevSpencerMarsh at 20:20, 17 December 20252025-12-17T20:20:42Z<p></p>
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<td colspan="2" style="background-color: #fff; color: #202122; text-align: center;">Revision as of 20:20, 17 December 2025</td>
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<tr><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>'''Summary:''' Critics have raised several theological issues with the Book of Abraham. These include questions about race, lying, the inclusion of a God with an erect phallus in Facsimile 2, its inclusion of multiple gods instead of a singular god, and its relationship to science.</div></td><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>'''Summary:''' Critics have raised several theological issues with the Book of Abraham. These include questions about race, lying, the inclusion of a God with an erect phallus in Facsimile 2, its inclusion of multiple gods instead of a singular god, and its relationship to science.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class="diff-marker" data-marker="−"></td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><del style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;"></del></div></td><td colspan="2" class="diff-side-added"></td></tr>
<tr><td class="diff-marker" data-marker="−"></td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><del style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">''Contents:''</del></div></td><td colspan="2" class="diff-side-added"></td></tr>
<tr><td class="diff-marker" data-marker="−"></td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><del style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">*[[Theological Questions Regarding the Book of Abraham#Lying|Lying]]</del></div></td><td colspan="2" class="diff-side-added"></td></tr>
<tr><td class="diff-marker" data-marker="−"></td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><del style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">*[[Theological Questions Regarding the Book of Abraham#Mention of Plural Gods|Mention of Plural Gods]]</del></div></td><td colspan="2" class="diff-side-added"></td></tr>
<tr><td class="diff-marker" data-marker="−"></td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><del style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">*[[Theological Questions Regarding the Book of Abraham#Min as God with an Erect Phallus|Min as God with an Erect Phallus]]</del></div></td><td colspan="2" class="diff-side-added"></td></tr>
<tr><td class="diff-marker" data-marker="−"></td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><del style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">*[[Theological Questions Regarding the Book of Abraham#Race|Race]]</del></div></td><td colspan="2" class="diff-side-added"></td></tr>
<tr><td class="diff-marker" data-marker="−"></td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><del style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">*[[Theological Questions Regarding the Book of Abraham#Science|Science]]</del></div></td><td colspan="2" class="diff-side-added"></td></tr>
<tr><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>----</div></td><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>----</div></td></tr>
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</table>SpencerMarsh