The phenomenon which makes that possible is the presence of chiasmus in the book of mormon. 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. Poetry and work from the bible contains a number of chiasmus examples. Note that a chiasmus includes anadiplosis, but not every anadiplosis reverses itself in the.
Now, 50 years since welchs discovery of chiasmus in the book of mormon, we see that his find is. Chapter 15 chiasmus in the book of mormon reachout trust. Because mormons claim that examples of chiastic writing in the book of mormon help authenticate the book. For this article i am going to discuss an ancient literary form known as chiasmus. 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. Chiasmus in the book of mormon or the book of mormon does it again new era, 1972 february. 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. Yesterday i was blessed to speak about the book of mormon at the library of congress and to offer a prayer at the united states senate. 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.
Here is a sample of publications that have given a list of criteria that a text should have in order to be identified as a chiasm. From khi comes chi chi is made up of two lines crossing each other as in the shape of an x. 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. Since its publication in 1830, the book of mormon has garnered much attention. In 1967 chiasmus was discovered in the book of mormon, and the findings were published in byu studies. Wednesday was the fiftieth anniversary of welchs discovery. Chiasmus is one of the most frequently cited evidences for the authenticity of the book of mormon. What more can we learn from 10 of the best chiasms in the book. It is a parallelism in structure rather than rhyme, a parallelism of thought or idea. Some lds writers are trying to establish the historicity of the book of mormon by maintaining that it contains a poetic style, sometimes used in the bible, called chiasmus see.
Some of the best chiasmus in history are in the book of. John welch, who discovered chiasmus in the book of mormon in 1967 wrote the following. The latest journal of book of mormon studies, 162 2007, features a personal remiscence by jack welch of his discovery of chiasmus in the bom on wednesday, august 16, 1967. Some of these examples may seem to be compelling, but when closely examined, they turn out to be little more than wishful thinking. Title page of the book of mormon chapter heading 1 nephi 1 an account of their sufferings 1 nephi 1 i, nephi, having been born 1 nephi 4 he promised and he also made an oath 1 nephi 14 angel tells nephi of blessings and curses.
The discovery of apparent instances of complex chiasmus in the book of. The verbs in this case are led and followed and the adverb in both clauses is the word bravely. Chiasmus is a poetic form that is common in ancient hebrew texts. The bible, old and new testaments, abound with examples and it is accepted that it is typical of one form of hebraic. Published in the new era, february 1972, pages 611. Textual evidences for the book of mormon religious. Select one of the links above to view examples of chiasmus in various books of the book of mormon. That parallelism chiasmus existed in hebrew writing was knowsin joseph smiths day in books that were available to joseph smiith. In rhetoric, chiasmus is a verbal pattern a type of antithesis in which the second half of an expression is balanced against the first with the parts reversed. Chiasms appear in greek, latin, english and other languages, but it was most highly developed in hebrew. Chiasmus in the book of mormon 73 name he used for chiasmus in 1854 however john forbesforbes4forbess completed a much more extensive study the symmetrical structures of scripture with the publication of this book it is possible to begin speaking of relatively widespread awareness of chiasmic forms in the bible a wave of other writers fol lowed forbes and in 1860 a section on. I first heard about chiasmus in the book of mormon as a student at byu.
Chiasmus derives from the greek word khiasmos, a word that is khiazein, marked with the letter khi. The ab, ba structure can be complicated into an abc,cba structure as it is in the following quotation from genesis 9. I am grateful for the opportunity i had to share my faith in jesus christ and testimony of the eternal truths contained in the book of mormon. It is basically inverted parallelism where words, phrases, or concepts are introduced in ascending order and then repeated in descending order. There is a power in the book of mormon which will begin to flow into your lives the moment you begin a serious study of it. Chiasmus in the book of mormon brigham young university. In classic rhetoric, this figure of speech can be differentiated from an antimetabole, which is repetition of words in. If you know of any books that i havent mentioned below, please share. Some of the publications are available in full online. What can we learn from 10 of the best chiasms in the book of.
Alma makes this spiritual turning point the literary focal point of this entire chapter, one of the finest examples of chiastic composition anywhere in world literature. The more lines in a chiasmus, the more likely it is the result of composition and not extemporaneous off the cuff speech or streamofconsciousness writing. What can we learn from 10 of the best chiasms in the book of mormon. Winston churchills closing words in his speech on june 4, 1940, contains one of the most famous examples of another kind of rhetorical use of. Since then, two organizations farms and fraa have published extensive literature to show that the book of mormon translated by joseph smith jr.
Since that time, several other examples of chiasmus have been found in the book of mormon, and both lds and nonlds scholars have come to better understand how chiasmus was used in the bible, the book. Benjamin tells us that the message of this chapter was given to him by an angel. Chiasmus is one aspect of that way of writing, or, in other words, one of the literary techniques present in the bible, that has recently attracted the attention of. You will find the power to stay on the strait and narrow path. They claim that such findings support claims of hebrew origins in the text on the basis that. The existence of chiasmusparallelism in 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. They also point out that this style was not identified as chiasmus until after the time of. Welch was just a young missionary on germany at the time. Chiasmus in the book of mormon thoughts and truth from. Chiasmus in the book of mormon mormonism, the mormon. Examples of chiasmus can be found in the book of mormon. Welch, chiasmus in the book of mormon, byu studies 10, no.
Kwaku has a moment during this episode and ian questions whether or not ubiquitous is actually a word. Old king cole was a merry old soul, and a merry old soul was he, and he who fails. This compilation of groundbreaking book of mormon articles is selected from over fifty years of lds scholarship published by byu studies. Bishop lowth, whose lectures on hebrew poetry in 1741 first introduced the name parallelism for the hebrew poetic style, pointed out that this structure, based as it is on meaning, survives translation into the prose of any language with.
Identifying a chiasm in a text can be problematic and is usually subject to ones interpretation. A literary structure known as chiasmus exists in the book of mormon. So it is, in my opinion, with the issue of chiasmus in the book of mormon. Never let a fool kiss you or a kiss fool you mardy grothe 1999. Youll have the satisfaction of seeing the mentioned book animated in the next cartoon in anthropomorphized glory. Also consider that there are several examples in the book of mormon, including alma 36, which is one of the best chiasmus anywhere. I initially made it in the forum where i found the original. Because chiasmus relies, to an extent, on relationships between ideas or concepts, as well as on words e. For those unfamiliar with the term, chiasmus is an ancient literary device that has been found in greek, latin, and hebrew writings. The discovery of chiasmus in the bom by common consent. There are numerous examples of direct parallelism among the proverbs, e. Welch first pointed out the existence of chiasms in the book of mormon in his masters 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, brigham young university, 1970, including alma 36 on pages 12831. Critique of alma 36 as an extended chiasm the dialogue journal. Often in latin this is represented with different bits of grammar, like the placement of verbs and.
Includes six copies as well as letters to the editor and handwritten notes. Chiasmus was first recognized by a handful of scholars in 1820, but not wellknown until 1942. The king james quotations in the book of mormon, the history of the text of the book of mormon. The book of mormon, testifying of its past, 34, 12344321 and 123456654321. Chiasmus in the book of mormon book of mormon central. Chiasmus was particularly popular both in greek and in latin literature, where it was used to articulate.
Video on the discovery of chiasmus in the book of mormon. Im not sure exactly what forum would be suitable for this thread. Does chiasmus appear in the book of mormon by chance. Definition and examples of chiasmus figure of speech. Chiasmus in the book mosiah looking further at benjamins speech, the whole of mosiah chapter3 is a chiasmus. Definitions of linguistics and the book of mormon, synonyms, antonyms, derivatives of linguistics and the book of mormon, analogical dictionary of linguistics and the book of mormon english.
What can we learn from 10 of the best chiasms in the. 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 the most commonly referenced pattern is a type of parallelism, called a chiasm. So to celebrate the discovery of chiasmus fifty years ago, we at book of mormon central. The discovery of chiasmus in the book of mormon is one of the most significant scholarly contributions to understanding and appreciating the nephite record. Serving in the lds south german mission at the time, in the city. The chiastic structure, according to welch, is as follows. Chiasmus and book of mormon textual studies deseret book. The term chiastic derives from the mid17th century term chiasmus, which refers to a crosswise arrangement of concepts or words that are repeated in reverse order. Title page i nephi ii nephi jacob enos jarom omni words. 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. Book of mormonevidenceshebraismschiasmus fairmormon.
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