Nnexamples of chiasmus in the book of mormon

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. For this article i am going to discuss an ancient literary form known as chiasmus. Jan 01, 2004 in 1967 chiasmus was discovered in the book of mormon, and the findings were published in byu studies. 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. Now, 50 years since welchs discovery of chiasmus in the book of mormon, we see that his find is. 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. The existence of chiasmus parallelism in the book of mormon tells nothing about whether it is an ancient work. What more can we learn from 10 of the best chiasms in the book.

Oct 03, 2017 the crew talks about chiasmus in 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 patterns have been found in the doctrine and covenants or other 19th century. Here the text of the book of mormon has been reformatted to highlight many of its parallel structures, including chiasmus. 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. In fact, many nursery rhymes have this same type of structure e. Chiasmus in the book of mormon mormonism, the mormon church. May 17, 2008 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. Wednesday was the fiftieth anniversary of welchs discovery.

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 phenomenon which makes that possible is the presence of chiasmus in the book of mormon. The most commonly cited example of chiasmus in the book of mormon is the prophet almas religious experience, as recorded in alma 36. 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. 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. A new and valuable resource for exploring parallelism in the book of mormon is poetic parallelisms in the book of mormon. 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. In the first place, we have demonstrated the extensive existence of chiasmus in the book of mormon beyond any possible doubt. Book of mormonanthropologylanguagehebraismschiasmus. A new translation with interpretive keys from 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. 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. Examples of chiasmus can be found in the book of mormon. Book of mormon evidences, part 2 presents more of the factors that suggest the book of mormon may be an ancient document.

So it is, in my opinion, with the issue of chiasmus in the book of mormon. Chiasmus in the book of mormon religious studies center. This compilation of groundbreaking book of mormon articles is selected from over fifty years of lds scholarship published by byu studies. This volume features articles on hebraisms and chiasmus in. Chiasmus in the book of mormon thoughts and truth from the. Since then, two organizations farms and fraa have published extensive literature to show that the book of mormon translated by joseph smith jr. Im not sure exactly what forum would be suitable for this thread. Welch was just a young missionary on germany at the time. That parallelism chiasmus existed in hebrew writing was knowsin joseph smiths day in books that were available to joseph smiith. Select one of the links above to view examples of chiasmus in various books of the book of mormon. It is a parallelism in structure rather than rhyme, a parallelism of thought or idea. This form of inverted parallelism has been found in the bible, the book of mormon, and in many other ancient writings. 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. Time now for a few final evaluations of what we have learned about chiasmus in the book of mormon.

Foundation for ancient research and mormon studies. In addition, he has also published extensively on the history and role of chiasmus in sacred literature. The book of mormon is a sacred text of the latter day saint movement, which adherents believe contains writings of ancient prophets who lived on the american continent from approximately 2200 bc to ad. Chiasmus in mayan texts book of mormon archaeological forum. Ancient hebraic poetry found in the book of mormon is set. Aug 11, 2009 i first heard about chiasmus in the book of mormon as a student at byu. Chiasmus is a biblical literary form, where the writer lists certain key words or ideas in one order, and then goes back and repeats them in the opposite order. Aug 18, 2017 watch book of mormon centrals new video about the discovery of chiasmus in the book of mormon in john w. This article provides an introduction to chiasmus, explaining what it is and why mormons think it is. One way of identifying a chiastic quote is to mark the repeated words or phrases with the letters abba.

A great jubilee celebration is being held at byu this week to commemorate it ive. For those unfamiliar with the term, chiasmus is an ancient literary device that has been found in greek, latin, and hebrew writings. This form of inverted parallelism has been found in. He has since spent much time studying chiasmus in the book of mormon, the bible, and other sacred literature. Chiasmus in the book of mormon or the book of mormon does it again new era, 1972 february. She told me about a special event honoring her brother jack welchs discovery of chiasmus in the book of mormon. It is found in the bible and the quran and other ancient documents. 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. Published in the new era, february 1972, pages 611. Welch first identified chiasmus in the book of mormon in 1967. Chiasmus is an elegant literary device where parallel phrases are inverted. Chiasmus and book of mormon textual studies byu studies. Chiasmus in the book of mormon mormonism, the mormon. Supporters of the book of mormon claim it uses chiasmusa figure of speech utilizing inverted parallelismand claim it is evidence to support the books ancient origin.

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. Chiasmus is a poetic form that is common in ancient hebrew texts. Oct 05, 2012 chiasmus is a figure of speech by which the order of the words in the first of two parallel clauses is reversed in the second oxford companion to english literature, 1985 ed. Chiasmus is both a necessary and natural way of understanding book of mormon literature. 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. A significant development during the second half of the 20th century was the growing awareness and understanding of chiasmus in ancient literature.

More often than not, the prophets of the book of mormon use chiasmus as a device through which they can focus our attention. Chiasms appear in greek, latin, english and other languages, but it was most highly. A literary structure known as chiasmus exists in the book of mormon. Joseph smiths plagiarism of the bible in the book of. Some of these examples may seem to be compelling, but when closely examined, they turn out to be little more than wishful thinking. It is entirely possible that descendants of the book of mormon peoples knew of the device and used it in their own records. 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 is basically inverted parallelism where words, phrases, or concepts are introduced in ascending order and then repeated in descending order. They claim that such findings support claims of hebrew origins in the text on the basis that. 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. Thomasson sees center of this overarching chiasm as the atonement at alma 34. After attending a lecture in which the presence of a compositional feature called chiasmus in matthew was mentioned as an example of its hebraic style, welch began looking for chiasmus while he was reading the book of mormon in german. 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. Video on the discovery of chiasmus in the book of mormon. Chiasmus in the book of mormon book of mormon central. Chiasmus in the book of mormon brigham young university. Joseph smith published the book of mormon in 1830 in western new york. Foundation for ancient research and mormon studies, isbn 9780934893251 hugh w.

The better chiasmus in the book of mormon than even the beautiful one in alma 36 is king benjamins speech. Bishop lowth, whose lectures on hebrew poetry in 1741. The chiastic structure, according to welch, is as follows. 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 simplest, broadest sense, a chiasmus is a literary device that uses inverted parallelism, which can be labelled as a b b a. Book of mormonevidenceshebraismschiasmus fairmormon. Recognizing parallelisms and chiasmus in the scriptures. 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. Does chiasmus appear in the book of mormon by chance. Chiasmus in the book of mormon thoughts and truth from.

Although there are excellent examples of chiasmus in the bible, there are also passages that some biblical scholars think are chiasmus and other. Smith actually knew about chiasmus when he translated the book of mormon in, although some other people at that time did if he did not know about chiasmus, then its presence in the book might be. It is a continuation of book of mormon evidences, part one. This discovery has had a profound impact on book of mormon. 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. Serving in the lds south german mission at the time, in the city. Pinnock of the first quorum of the seventy, although feeling that such study is faithpromoting, also cautioned. Now comes the question of chiasmus in the book of mormon. 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. 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 followed. Chiasmus and book of mormon textual studies deseret book. It is derived from the greek word chiazo, which denotes the letter x.

Elder holland speaks at book of mormon chiasmus conference. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the discovery of chiasmus, an ancient poetic writing style, in the book of mormon. The discovery of chiasmus in the bom by common consent. The discovery of chiasmus in the book of mormon is one of the most significant scholarly contributions to understanding and appreciating the nephite record. There are numerous examples of direct parallelism among the proverbs, e. Chapter 15 chiasmus in the book of mormon reachout trust. Since chiasmus occurs in many languages its use in the book of mormon does not prove either its semitic origin or that it is a style peculiar to inspired ancient scripture. Welch discovered a variety of instances of chiasmus in the book of mormon and along with his discovery came attention to the phenomenon. 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. I initially made it in the forum where i found the original.