The discovery of chiasmus in the book of mormon is one of the most significant scholarly contributions to understanding and appreciating the nephite record. The bom is heavily dependent on the king james bible in a similar manner, so, boom, chiasmus. Step by step through the book of mormon, a covenant record of. The jews shall have the words of the nephites and the nephites shall have the words of the jews. It also has chiasmatic structure because it took its form from the bible.
Indeed, the presence of chiasmus in the book of mormon may be evidence of joseph smiths own literary style and genius. A much longer and very elegant biblical example of chiasmus is leviticus 24. Chiasmus in mayan texts book of mormon archaeological forum. Chiasmus includes several types of inverted parallelisms, short or long, in which words first appear in one order and then in the opposite order. Chiasmus has been found extensively in the bible, book of mormon, declaration of independence, and even modern speaches, raising the question as to whether chiasmus is. Mormons are appealing to examples of chiasmus in the book of. This revised and expanded edition also includes covering up the black hole in the book of mormon. Joseph smiths plagiarism of the bible in the book of mormon. Late war was a similar king james style book contemporary with joseph. Looking for some thoughtful perspectives on the following statistical analyses strongly suggest that several instances of chiasmus in the book of mormon and bible are not due to random chance.
To see this for ourselves, we had best begin with an example of chiasmus. In almas teachings of christ, his use of chiasmus makes it clear that christs mortal. It is a parallelism in structure rather than rhyme, a parallelism of thought or idea. Was wondering what the latest explanations from naysayers. The original book, written long ago, existed, but its sight is hidden to the searcher and the thinker. Book of mormon chiasmus and hebrew poetic parallelisms. For some it is a work of ancient origin, for others it is a dubious hoax full of inaccuracies and anachronisms.
A ye shall not clothe yourselves b after the manner of the follies of other men. A good example from the book of mormon is found 2 nephi 29. They also point out that this style was not identified as chiasmus until after the time of. Joseph smiths plagiarism of the bible in the book of. Poesy and prosody in the book of mormon the interpreter. Men will drink damnation to their souls unless a they humble themselves b and become as little children c believing that salvation is in the atoning blood of christ. In the first place, we have demonstrated the extensive existence of chiasmus in the book of mormon beyond any possible doubt. Book of mormonevidenceshebraismschiasmus fair fairmormon.
Over the last fifty years, alma 36 has, by far, been the most celebrated and studied example of chiasmus in the book of mormon. Examples of chiasmus can be found in the book of mormon. A and he shall turn the heart of the fathers b to the children, b and the heart of the children a to their fathers. What forms of chiasmus exist in the book of mormon. Chiasmus in the book of mormon book of mormon central. Additionally, simple speech patterns dont seem like an adequate explanation for lengthy instances e. Thomasson sees center of this overarching chiasm as the atonement at alma 34. This year marks 50 years since the discovery of chiasmus in the book of mormon on august 16, 1967. Oct 04, 2020 i know there has been a lot written about chiasmus and its occurrence as an ancient writing style. Sloan, journal of book of mormon studies, volume 6, issue 2, 1997. Serving in the lds south german mission at the time, in the city. Chiasmus is one of the most frequently cited evidences for the authenticity of the book of mormon. The apologetic claim is that chiasmus in the bom suggests antiquity.
Chiasmus remained a common literary device in much of ancient literature and was one which was expressly recognized, for example, by the scholiasts in. For this article i am going to discuss an ancient literary form known as chiasmus. Chiasms appear in greek, latin, english and other languages, but it was most highly developed in hebrew. Notice that line a parallels line a, and line b parallels line b. One might honestly debate the merit of the less clear examples of chiasmus in the book of mormon, in which believers may have. Robert smith makes the case that poetic art in the book of mormon is highly developed you just need to have the eye to recognize it. 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 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. Several brief examples of chiasmus in the book of mormon include. 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. Chiasmus in the book of mormon church of jesus christ. In the simplest, broadest sense, a chiasmus is a literary device that uses inverted parallelism, which can be labelled as a b b a. One of the more recent discoveries welch 1969 is the recognition that some writers in the book of mormon used an ancient literary form as chiasmus or chiasm.
The book of mormon, testifying of its past, 34, 12344321 and 123456654321. Welch, fewer are acquainted with the other important forms of parallelism that pervade the text, often placed. Double the most impressive form of chiasmus when more than two reversals occur in the same sentence. If chiasmus can be convincingly identified in the book of mormon, it will testify of the book s ancient origin. For example, in the 1830 edition of the book of mormon that and which. The word chiasmus comes from the greek chiazein, meaning to mark with an x, or a chi. The symbol for quetzalcoatl on the cross book of mormon. One example is the attitude of complacency within the church. Mark is joined by scholar and church leader michael madsen to discuss the various evidences of hebraic poetry in the book of mormon, specifically parallelism. The discovery of chiasmus in the book of mormon is one of the most significant scholarly.
Oct 26, 2012 for many additional examples of chiasmus from the writings of nephi, see the article, nephis convincing of christ through chiasmus. While i have not yet located an example of a chiasmus of speaker in the book of mormon, we can point to a similar example involving the reversal of the subjects in the text. Chiasms appear in greek, latin, english and other languages, but it. 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. Jan 3, 2021 explore ilona terrys board book of mormon stories, followed by. Johnson download mp3 herethis essay examines the ancient literary form of chiasmus within moses 1. Bible and book of mormon chiasmus and hebrew poetic. Book of mormon chiasmus and hebrew poetic parallelisms a great source of parallel form is the link below where the entire book of mormon has been arranged according to hebrew parallel form. Simile curses are wellattested literary forms in the old testament and ancient near east. An example of an old testament simile curse appears in 1 kings 14, which. Evidence of the ancient simile curse in the book of mormon book of mormon stories. 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. The following is one of many examples of chiasmus in the book.
Jan 01, 2004 here is beginners example of chiasmus from the book of the law of the lord, chapter 39, section 1, which shows good rhythm. Aug 02, 2012 simple chiasmus of two layers is nothing special as it may appear by accident the examples in the book of mormon are clearly well crafted and very complex with multiple layers. The chiasmus in the book of mormon are highly structured features, some of which are 17 levels deep alma 36. 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. It wasnt until 1967 when john welch first discovered chiasmus in the book of mormon.
Jan 01, 2012 if you engage lds apologists long enough, eventually youre bound to come across the topic of chiasmus in the book of mormon. To celebrate this 50th anniversary, throughout july and august book of mormon central will publish one knowhy each week that discusses chiasmus and its significance and value to understanding the bible, the book of mormon, and other ancient literatures. Also examined is the solomon spalding theory, common phrases, chiasmus hebrew poetic form, influence of freemasonry and folk magic, and the problems with the loss of the first 116 pages of the book of mormon manuscript. How did biblical and ancient near eastern authors use chiasmus. Poetic structures and textual criticism of the book of mormon. Examples of all four distinctive uses of chiasmus can be found in the book of mormon. Chiasmus conference speakers book of mormon central.
Aug 20, 2017 over the last fifty years, alma 36 has, by far, been the most celebrated and studied example of chiasmus in the book of mormon. Chiasmus is both a necessary and natural way of understanding book of mormon literature. The phenomenon which makes that possible is the presence of chiasmus in the book of mormon. No one in america, let alone in western new york, fully understood chiasmus in 1830. Old some view judeochristian religious history as a macro chiasm. Book of mormonanthropologylanguagehebraismschiasmus. The metaphor of bitter gall is one that alma might have derived from the. Select one of the links above to view examples of chiasmus in various books of the book of mormon. In nephis interpretation of the block of isaiah chapters.
Welch regards instances of chiasmus in the doctrine and covenants as less compelling than those in the book of mormon and as likely to be arrangements of words that happen to fall into chiastic order by chance or as a secondary characteristic of some other mode of expression others agree that joseph smith likely did not know about chiasmus. Use of chiasmus in american writing was virtually nonexistent until the midnineteenth century. Journal of book of mormon studies byu scholarsarchive. 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. Though many readers are aware of the stunning examples of chiasmus in the book of mormon, thanks to the pioneering work by john w. How did biblical and ancient near eastern authors use. Joseph smith had been dead ten full years before john forbess book was published in scotland.
Strangs rival to brigham young and sidney rigdon in the lds succession war book of the law of the lord. One might honestly debate the merit of the less clear examples of chiasmus in the book of mormon, in which believers may have been overenthusiastic. Chiasmus in the book of mormon mormonism, the mormon church. Time now for a few final evaluations of what we have learned about chiasmus in the book of mormon. For a sample of biographical sketches on andrew jackson davis, see. For detailsfascinating evidence that the book of mormon is an authentic ancient documentsee my chiasmus in the book of mormon page and see, for example, the classic 1969 article by john welch that announced this discovery. Although much has been written about chiasmus in the book of mormon, chiasmus is not the only hebrew poetic pattern found.
Chiasmus in the book of mormon judaicaworld archives. But this psalm also has the chiastic structure, also characteristic of hebrew poetry. An example of an old testament simile curse appears in. 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. In the first place, we have demonstrated the extensive existence of chiasmus in the book of mormon. The analyses are intended to separate chiasmus that may occur randomly over the course of a lengthy book or even chiasmus that may occur when the author is trying to mimic scriptural or repetitive. An example of chiastic structure would be two ideas, a and b, together with variants a and b, being presented as a,b,b,a. Chiasmus in the book of mormon religious studies center. Royal skousen is professor of linguistics and english language at brigham young university. Plain and precious persuading from a prophet of god by david e. They claim that such findings support claims of hebrew origins in the text on the basis that. Some have argued at length in the past that the book of mormon with its intricate chiastic structures are evidence of its ancient origins.
Chiasmus is a poetic form that is common in ancient hebrew texts. However, ive noticed that the document did not capture all of the forms, as i have discovered several other interesting parallel forms that ive. The book of mormon has several examples of this hebrew construction. This book contains over 325 examples of chiasmus in the book of mormon probably the largest collection on chiasmus in a hardcopy book. Probably the example of book of mormon chiasmus most cited and most heralded is. Much linguistic evidence has come to light since 1830 supporting the book of mormon as an authentic ancient document. The complex examples within the book of mormon show much greater sophistication than a childs nursery rhyme. Does chiasmus appear in the book of mormon by chance. His books are full of sentences written with this structure, and theyre often pretty confusing. A statesman is a politician who places himself at the service of the nation. 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. Chiasmus in the book of mormon mormonism, the mormon. The assumption that the book of mormon is western literature is not universally held. Welch discovered the presence of chiasmus on august 16, 1967 while on his mission in.
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