While there, on preparation day, he attended a lecture given by a german bible scholar. Chiasmus and the book of mormon utah lighthouse ministry. Hebraisms and other ancient peculiarities in the book of. We now turn to the question of chiasmus in the book of mormon. 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. Book of mormon stories the church of jesus christ of latterday. I initially made it in the forum where i found the original. Indeed, the presence of chiasmus in the book of mormon may be evidence of joseph smiths own literary style and genius. That parallelism chiasmus existed in hebrew writing was knowsin joseph smiths day in books that were available to joseph smiith. Chiasmus is both a necessary and natural way of understanding book of mormon literature. For example, and it came to pass that as i, nephi, went forth to slay food, behold. Chiasmus is one of the most frequently cited evidences for the authenticity of the book of mormon. Im not sure exactly what forum would be suitable for this thread.
For those unfamiliar with the term, chiasmus is an ancient literary device that has been found in greek, latin, and hebrew writings. The book of mormon the church of jesus christ of latterday saints. They claim that such findings support claims of hebrew origins in the text on the basis that. The presence of chiasmus in mayan texts may only disclose that the rhetorical device can emerge independently in the writings of an isolated ancient culture. Chiasmus in the book of mormon mormonism, the mormon church. The book of mormon is a sacred text of the latter day saint movement, which, according to. 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.
Be sure to read john welchs chapter, chiasmus in the book of mormon. Also consider that there are several examples in the book of mormon, including alma 36, which is one of the best chiasmus anywhere. Nevertheless, we would expect it to be present in central america if writings of the book of mormon peoples endured and influenced ancient groups of american peoples. A hebraism is a reflection of a hebrew idiom or word in a translation language. Aug 11, 2009 i first heard about chiasmus in the book of mormon as a student at byu. Includes six copies as well as letters to the editor and handwritten notes.
The most commonly cited example of chiasmus in the book of mormon is the prophet almas religious experience, as recorded in alma 36. Video on the discovery of 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. Apr 21, 2016 in several articles, i have examined specific cases of alleged chiasmus in the book of mormon. There are many references to steel in the book of mormon. Oct 05, 2012 the book of mormon has many examples and, at first sight, this seems impressive. Chiasmus in the book of mormon religious studies center. The book of mormon is een ware verademing het parool. A there is an intelligent omnipotent being, who is selfexistent and infinitely b good and benevolent matter eternally existed. For the book of mormon, first published in 1830, the translation language is english. In the first place, we have demonstrated the extensive existence of chiasmus in the book of mormon beyond any possible doubt. 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. What is chiasmus and why is it so important in the book of. The king james quotations in the book of mormon, the history of the text of the book of mormon.
In the process of this journey to the promised land, which we eventually discover to be the americas, nephi, the righteous son of lehi, is the only member of the family that does not murmur, or question, the decisions and direction of god. The book of mormon, testifying of its past, 34, 12344321 and 123456654321. Welch discovered a variety of instances of chiasmus in the book of mormon and along with his discovery came attention to the phenomenon. The phenomenon which makes that possible is the presence of chiasmus in the book of mormon. Hebraisms and other ancient peculiarities in the book of mormon don parry 2003 the contents of all bmaf publications are the sole responsibility of the individual authors and therefore do not necessarily represent the views of bmaf or the church of jesus christ of latterday saints. 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.
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. A good example to figure out is baptismwhat it means, its essence and. So it is, in my opinion, with the issue of chiasmus in the book of mormon. Stephen smoot is back and he is going deep on this episode. Some of these examples may seem to be compelling, but when closely examined, they turn out to be little more than wishful thinking. Book of mormon definition and meaning collins english dictionary. Such simple examples of chiasmus are well known in english speech. 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. 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. What is chiasmus and how is it used in the book of mormon. The chiastic structure, according to welch, is as follows.
The discovery of chiasmus in the book of mormon is one of the most significant scholarly contributions to understanding and appreciating the nephite record. Examples of chiasmus can be found in the book of mormon. Elder holland speaks at book of mormon chiasmus conference. 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.
The complete text reformatted takes the entire text of the book of mormon and reformats it so that readers can clearly identify its poetic forms. 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. 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 first chapter of the book claims that it was written in the language of the egyptians but according to the learning of the jews 1 nephi 1. It was also seen in sanskrit, mesopotamian, chinese and egyptian texts. 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. Aug 18, 2017 wednesday was the fiftieth anniversary of welchs discovery. Oct 03, 2017 we had a guest on our show and many of you know him already. These book of mormon stories have been written espe cially for. Chiasmus, the book of mormon, and the aquarian gospel. The existence of chiasmus parallelism in the book of mormon tells nothing about whether it is an ancient work. Chiasmus in mayan texts book of mormon archaeological forum. Some other useful resources include the video of john welchs lecture, chiasmus in the book of mormon a masterful 54minute lesson that could be a valuable resource for a class or any serious student of the book of mormon. 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.
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. The book of mormon is full of examples of faith, of which nephi is just one. 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 of mormon, and additional ancient texts from both the old and new worlds. Time now for a few final evaluations of what we have learned about chiasmus in the book of mormon. Published in the new era, february 1972, pages 611. Furthermore, while it is common in the bible, old and new testaments, as well as the book of mormon, it is by no means restricted to these. The book of mormon false testament learn the bible. Serving in the lds south german mission at the time, in the city. The book of mormon false testament introduction while reading the book of mormon, this socalled other testament of jesus christ, i noticed something very eyeopening, something that gives away the true nature and origin of this book. Book of mormonevidenceshebraismschiasmus fairmormon. The bible and the book of mormon work closely together to fulfill a common. In the simplest, broadest sense, a chiasmus is a literary device that uses inverted parallelism, which can be labelled as a b b a. Yale anthropologist marion schwartz noted that in the americas the whitetailed deer is a good example of an animal. Should we consider it contrived that ishmael is mentioned only twice in the entire book of mormon and that these two occurrences just happen to fall symmetrically around 1 nephi 11 1 ne.
At remarks given at brigham young university wednesday, john welch, who first identified the ancient writing style chiasmus in the book of mormon, said, the. Chapter 15 chiasmus in the book of mormon reachout trust. In this class welch discovered that new testament scholars had recently become aware of an hebrew literary form called chiasmus. Chiasmus in the book of mormon or the book of mormon does it again new era, 1972 february. Select one of the links above to view examples of chiasmus in various books of the book of mormon. 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. Book of mormonanthropologylanguagehebraismschiasmus. Aug 22, 2016 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 byu scholarsarchive. Chiasmus, mesoamerican evidences, cement, olives, ancient names like alma, and other evidences for the authenticity of the book of mormon a divine ancient record from the new world that testifies of jesus christ. Chiasmus in the book of mormon book of mormon central. It is basically inverted parallelism where words, phrases, or concepts are introduced in ascending order and then repeated in descending order.
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