Chiasmus, or inverted parallelism, is a twopart literary structure or system in which the second half is a mirror image of the first, i. This volume features articles on hebraisms and chiasmus in the book of mormon, as well as articles discussing emendation of the text, naturalistic assumptions, wordprint analyses, variations between copies of the first edition, and more. Chiasmus and book of mormon textual studies deseret book. The chiasmus in the book of mormon are highly structured features, some of. Practically since the day the book of mormon rolled off the press in 1830, those who believed in the book asserted that it obviously read like a hebrew text. It is found extensively in the bible and is also to be found in the book of mormon, ipso facto, etc. Chiasmus in the book of mormon byu scholarsarchive. Those who were not so credulous insisted that it obviously read like anything but a hebrew text.
In the first place, we have demonstrated the extensive existence of chiasmus in the book of mormon beyond any possible doubt. The use of chiasmus is popular in greek, latin and english languages, especially in shakespeares works, the hebrew texts of the bible, analects of confucius and the book of mormon. His first identification of chiasmus in the book of mormon was in mosiah 5, but examples of chiastic style have since been found throughout the book. Free admission preregistration encouraged chiasmus. Chiasmus balances words or phrases with similar, though not identical, meanings. A much longer and very elegant biblical example of chiasmus is leviticus 24. The book of mormon, testifying of its past, 34, 12344321 and 123456654321. What can we learn from 10 of the best chiasms in the book of. Many latterday saints point out that the use of chiasmus in the book of mormon is proof that joseph smith translated a script that was hebrew in origin, since the chiasmus had not yet been discovered when the book of mormon was translated in 1829. Mormons claim that examples of chiastic writing in the book of mormon help authenticate the book. Whether anyone had a name for it or not is beside the point.
The bible, old and new testaments, abound with examples and it is accepted that it is typical of one form of hebraic. Chiasmus in the book of mormon judaicaworld archives. In this passage, every single phrase is mirrored by a related phrase. The authors find that examples of chiasmus in the book of abraham or the doctrine and covenants are likely to be due to chance, but several wellknown examples of chiasmus in the book of mormon appear to be intentional with a high level of confidence. Chiasmus is a sophisticated literary device that ranges from the most simple, as illustrated above, to complex examples. In the last fifty years, hundreds of chiasms from the book of mormon have been proposed and studied. In chiasmus, the clauses display inverted parallelism. This article provides an introduction to chiasmus, explaining what it is and why mormons think it is evidence for the book of mormon, giving examples from the bible, and discussing whether the book of mormon contains clear instances of chiasmus. What can we learn from 10 of the best chiasms in the book.
A literary structure known as chiasmus exists in the book of mormon. Contrary to past mormon claims, chiasmus was not unknown at the time of joseph smith. Some have argued chiasmus is evidence of the texts historical authenticity, suggesting it reflects the semitic background of nephi and other authors of the book of mormon. Welch discovered the presence of chiasmus on august 16, 1967 while on his mission in germany, and since that time, chiasmus has served as a profound witness for the beauty and complexity of the book of mormon. There can be no question that chiasmus was used heavily in ancient israelite writing at and around the time of lehi, welch explained. Chiasmus refers to a sequence of elements of a sentence or verse, paragraph, chapter or even book which are then repeated and developed but in reverse order. The wednesday evening chiasmus jubilee will feature guest speakers, musical numbers, and special presentations on chiasmus in the book of mormon. Because mormons claim that examples of chiastic writing in the book of mormon help authenticate the book. But in the case of the chiasms from the book of mormon, these objections can be tossed aside as unconvincing, unsatisfactory, unimaginative, and unintelligent.
Chiasmus in the book of mormon the discovery of chiasmus in the book of mormon is one of the most significant scholarly contributions to understanding and appreciating the nephite record. Chiasmus in the book of mormon religious studies center. While there, on preparation day, he attended a lecture given by a german bible scholar. The most famous example of this is chapter 36 of the book of alma. Sep 01, 2017 this is the landmark true story of how a young missionary serving in germany, 50 years ago, discovered chiasmus in the book of mormon. It is claimed that the presence of chiasmus in the book of mormon is either coincidental, an artifact of the observer, or not impressive since examples of chiastic. The most powerful and beautiful example of chiasmus in the book of mormon and perhaps anywhere. Chiasmus in the book of mormon is both a necessary and a natural way of explaining some things in the. The book of mormon has many examples and, at first sight, this seems. Some of these examples may seem to be compelling, but when closely examined, they turn out to be little more than wishful thinking. Chiasmus and the book of mormon utah lighthouse ministry. The inverse parallelism that is the defining characteristic of chiasmus is thought to be difficult if not impossible to explain if joseph smith was the author.
Solomon spaulding wrote a manuscript that is now missing some critics believe it is the actual source of the book of mormon had another book, manuscript found, in which appears the following chiasmus. The pattern chiasmus creates here serves to reiterate and elaborate upon ideas. Chiasmus, the book of mormon, and the aquarian gospel. This compilation of groundbreaking book of mormon articles is selected from over fifty years of lds scholarship published by byu studies. Chiasmus in the book of mormon mormonism, the mormon. Found ancient plates, translated it and had many witnesses like the bom. The structure is strongly chiastic, but there are some very sophisticated and elegant perturbations which have been the subject of careful and lengthy analysis welch, 1991, welch, 1989, and brown, 1988. We had a guest on our show and many of you know him already. They also provide useful background information and other insights. The book of mormon has many examples and, at first sight, this seems impressive. Stephen smoot is back and he is going deep on this episode. It is entirely possible that descendants of the book of mormon peoples knew of the device and used it in their own records. Immediately, the mind imagines a causal link between the two events, ignoring. The chiastic structure, according to welch, is as follows.
A there is an intelligent omnipotent being, who is selfexistent and infinitely b good and benevolent matter eternally existed. They claim that such findings support claims of hebrew origins in the text on the basis that. Chiasmus in the scriptures biblical chiasm exchange. Chiasmus in the book of mormon mormonism, the mormon church. That parallelism chiasmus existed in hebrew writing was knowsin joseph smiths day in books that were available to joseph smiith. The discovery of chiasmus in the book of mormon is one of the most significant scholarly contributions to understanding and appreciating the nephite record. Chiasmus in the book of mormon or the book of mormon does it again new era, 1972 february. Hebrew poetry in the book of mormon, zarahemla record.
Now, 50 years since welchs discovery of chiasmus in the book of mormon, we see that his find is still reverberating in scholarly publications on the book of mormon. So it is, in my opinion, with the issue of chiasmus in the book of mormon. Chiasmus in the book of mormon book of mormon central. It is claimed that the presence of chiasmus in the book of mormon is either coincidental, an artifact of the observer, or not impressive since examples of chiastic patterns have been found in the doctrine and covenants or other 19th century writing. Chiasmus is one of the most frequently cited evidences for the authenticity of the book of mormon. In 1967 chiasmus was discovered in the book of mormon, and the findings were published in byu studies.
Examples of chiasmus can be found in the book of mormon. It was also seen in sanskrit, mesopotamian, chinese and egyptian texts. One of the main types of evidence to which mormons appeal in support of the authenticity of the book of mormon as ancient israelite literature is the rhetorical feature called chiasmus. The most commonly referenced pattern is a type of parallelism, called a chiasm. This discovery has had a profound impact on book of mormon. Jesus said, the sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath. To see this for ourselves, we had best begin with an example of chiasmus. However, a recently recognized phenomenon in the book of mormon has now made it possible for us to cite many specific examples of passages in the book of mormon which bear the distinct stamp of an ancient hebraic literary form. Some claim that the presence of chiasmus in the book of mormon is either coincidental, an artifact of the observer, or not impressive since examples of chiastic patterns have been found in the doctrine and covenants or other 19th century writing. Why is the presence of chiasmus in the book of mormon significant. Actually, the only thing that became obvious was the fact that neither the believers nor the unbelievers were citing very many specific examples. The existence of chiasmusparallelism in the book of mormon tells nothing about whether it.
Apr 21, 2016 in several articles, i have examined specific cases of alleged chiasmus in the book of mormon. Today mormon scholars have recognised that this literary form was known at that time but still insist it is unlikely that smith was aware of it. Welch noted in 1995, there are varying degrees of chiasticity, and while many proposed chiasms are impressive and interesting. Welch wrote his masters thesis on chiasmus and continued study on the subject. Discussed in detail in my thesis, a study relating chiasmus in the book of mormon to chiasmus in the old testament, ugaritic epics, homer and selected greek and latin authors m. The discovery of chiasmus in the book of mormon would have a profound impact on academic efforts to study of the book of mormon as an authentic ancient hebrew text. Select one of the links above to view examples of chiasmus in various books of the book of mormon.
The phenomenon which makes that possible is the presence of chiasmus in the book. For some it is a work of ancient origin, for others it is a dubious hoax full of inaccuracies and anachronisms. Time now for a few final evaluations of what we have learned about chiasmus in the book of mormon. In the first place, we have demonstrated the extensive existence of chiasmus. Perhaps welch could have strengthened his premise by demonstrating that the parallel members in the book of mormon consist of semitic word pairs, the basis of ancient hebrew poetry. Welch discovered the presence of chiasmus on august 16, 1967 while on his mission in germany, a steady stream of publications since that time has thrown much light on this matter.
The discovery of chiasmus in the book of mormon is one of the most. Oct 26, 2012 the authors find that examples of chiasmus in the book of abraham or the doctrine and covenants are likely to be due to chance, but several wellknown examples of chiasmus in the book of mormon appear to be intentional with a high level of confidence. Chiasmus was particularly popular in the literature of the ancient world, including hebrew, greek, ancient kiche maya, and latin, where it was used to articulate the balance of order within the text. Since then, two organizations farms and fraa have published extensive literature to show that the book of mormon translated by joseph smith jr. The professor discussed the work of father paul gaechter, a catholic priest who had written a book titled, the literary art in the gospel of matthew.
In the late 1960s, a young latterday saint discovered that an ancient form of middle eastern poetry was found throughout the book of mormon, suggestive of its ancient semitic origins. Chiasmus is both a necessary and natural way of understanding book of mormon literature. Book of mormonevidenceshebraismschiasmus fairmormon. Oct 05, 2012 does this lend weight to mormon claims. The phenomenon which makes that possible is the presence of chiasmus in the book of mormon. Many of these chiasms have been identified and discussed, 3 but very little research has been done on the use of chiasmus in other ancient american writings. Chiasmus and book of mormon textual studies byu studies. Chiasmus in the book of mormon philosophies of men. So if chiasmus is proof of the ancient origin and truthfulness of the book of mormon, then it must mean the book of the law of the lord is also true, and we have all joined the wrong. The assumption that the book of mormon is western literature is not universally held. These verses from the book of mormon use chiasmus to build an argument for embracing god. For example, we find ourselves thinking about a friend, just before the person calls. It is claimed by many within the lds church that special literary patterns found in hebrew writing are also found in the book of mormon, which they feel helps prove that book comes from ancient jewish origins and not from joseph smiths mind.
Chiasmus in the book of mormon is both a necessary and a natural way of explaining some things in the book of mormon that go unaccounted for otherwise. Both chiasmus and antimetabole can be used to reinforce antithesis. What more can we learn from 10 of the best chiasms in the book. The existence of chiasmus parallelism in the book of mormon tells nothing about whether it is an ancient work. All of the long, complex examples that mormon scholar john welch has analyzed turn out on closer inspection not to be good examples of chiasmus at all. What is chiasmus and why is it so important in the book of. A scripture wellknown to latterday saints is a good example of a. Such simple examples of chiasmus are well known in english speech. The chiasmus in the book of mormon are highly structured features, some of which are 17 levels deep alma 36. The discovery of chiasmus in the book of mormon part 2. Chiasmus in the book of abraham pearl of great price central. If this was the only sort of chiasmus to be found in the book of mormon, then it would be weak evidence, at best, of any sort of ancient origin for the text. But o, what damned minutes tells he oer who dotes, yet doubts.
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