LDS apologist argument #1: the 'Short Scroll Theory' — the recovered fragments are only part of a longer scroll

Mike outlines the 'Short Scroll Theory,' one of the main LDS apologetic responses to the papyri problem. This theory holds that the fragments found at the Metropolitan Museum are only a small portion of the original scrolls — the parts that happened to survive — and that the portion Smith actually used to produce the Book of Abraham was part of the longer scroll that was destroyed in the Great Chicago Fire. Therefore, they argue, the surviving fragments cannot be used to evaluate Smith's translation.