Chiasmus in the book of mormon or the book of mormon does it again new era, 1972 february. What can we learn from 10 of the best chiasms in the book of mormon. Jan 01, 2004 in 1967 chiasmus was discovered in the book of mormon, and the findings were published in byu studies. Painting is poetry which is seen and not heard, and poetry is a painting. Chiasmus in the book mosiah looking further at benjamins speech, the whole of mosiah chapter3 is a chiasmus. Chiasmus is an elegant literary device where parallel phrases are inverted.
For those unfamiliar with the term, chiasmus is an ancient literary device that has been found in greek, latin, and hebrew writings. Thomasson sees center of this overarching chiasm as the atonement at alma 34. A complex chiasmus consists of several lines that extend the parallelism beyond two pairs of parallel elements. Youll have the satisfaction of seeing the mentioned book animated in the next cartoon in anthropomorphized glory. Mormons seem to unanimously agree that 1 nephi is a chiasmus, even though none of them can agree on what precisely that chiasmus is. The book of alma is the longest of all the books of the book of mormon, consisting of 63 chapters. 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. Alma lived in the city of zarahemla, as recorded in the book of mormon, which contains the history of the lamanites who battled the nephites because. Does chiasmus appear in the book of mormon by chance. 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. However, ive noticed that the document did not capture all of the forms, as i have discovered several other interesting parallel forms that ive. His findings were truly surprising, revealing that clear, distinct, and elegant passages of. Now comes the question of chiasmus in the book of mormon.
Chiasmus in the book of mormon mormonism, the mormon. Foundation for ancient research and mormon studies, 1989. This final observation seems to show that alma, mormon, or joseph smith have structured the first twothirds of the book of alma according to a series of parallels hardy, pg. Chiasmus was popular in the ancient languages like greek, latin, and especially hebrew. It is found in the bible and the quran and other ancient documents. 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. His experience is related in the book of mosiah but only here in the 36th chapter of the book of alma does he use chiasmus in relating the experience to present a powerful message to his son. Welch, criteria for identifying and evaluating the presence of chiasmus. My daily book of mormon devotional 365 day personal study guide by packer. Happily, however, corianton, unlike ammonihah, repents. The presence of semitic literary forms such as chiasmus in the book of mormon is an external witness that the book is what the prophet joseph smith taught that it is.
Chiasmus and book of mormon textual studies deseret book. Chiasmus in the book of mormon thoughts and truth from. In the simplest, broadest sense, a chiasmus is a literary device that uses inverted parallelism, which can be labelled as a b b a. Welch welch, chiastic syllabus of the book of mormon, abccba. This chart illustrates the deep structure of alma 36. The term chiasmus is never used, but this book clearly shows that hebrew poetic styles were recognized and studied even before joseph smiths time. The existence of chiasmus parallelism in the book of mormon tells nothing about whether it is an ancient work. Welch claims that it is unlikely, although not impossible, 33 that smith knew about chiasmus at the time of the book of mormons publication, 34 which implies that chiasmus could only be present in the text. Book of mormon commentary alma 36 page 1 of 12 chiasmus in alma 36 my son give ear to my words v. Welch first identified chiasmus in the book of mormon in 1967. What is chiasmus and how is it used in the book of mormon. It is a parallelism in structure rather than rhyme, a parallelism of thought or idea. The book of mormon is a highly repetitive book that runs on, with few identifiable pericopes. Chiasmus in the book of mormon book of mormon central.
This book of mormon is brought to you for free and open access by the all journals at byu scholarsarchive. Chiasmus in the book of mormon brigham young university. Almas poetic reflections in alma 29, likely coming on the cusp of a. For this article i am going to discuss an ancient literary form known as chiasmus. Chiasmus in the book of mormon thoughts and truth from the. Alma the younger was the son of the convert alma king noahs priest, and he rebelled against his fathers christian teachings and sought to destroy the church with king mosiahs four sons. Chiasmus in the book of mormon religious studies center. Some of these examples may seem to be compelling, but when closely examined, they turn out to be little more than wishful thinking. Alma used chiasmus to tell the story of his conversion to his son helaman. 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. A great jubilee celebration is being held at byu this week to commemorate it ive talked to a lot of critics of the book of mormon about this, and the most popular response is that chiasmus isnt that hard to figure out or write, and that joseph smith must have just. Eyring has been a counselor in the first presidency of the church of jesus christ of latterday saints since october 2007. 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 prophet alma uses chiasmus to very forcefully protray his conversion process.
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. To celebrate this day, we held a gala event on august 16th, for a chiasmus jubilee hosted and organized by byu studies and book of mormon central. The most commonly cited example of chiasmus in the book of mormon is the prophet alma s religious experience, as recorded in alma 36. Chiasms appear in greek, latin, english and other languages, but it was most highly developed in hebrew. Why is the presence of chiasmus in the book of mormon. 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. 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. Chiasmus is both a necessary and natural way of understanding book of mormon literature. No one in america, let alone in western new york, fully understood chiasmus in 1830. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the discovery of chiasmus, an ancient poetic writing style, in the book of mormon.
If chiasmus can be convincingly identified in the book of mormon, it will testify of the book s ancient origin. Joseph smith published the book of mormon in 1830 in western new york. Maxwell institute for religious scholarship, 2007, 565. Chiasmus is one of the most frequently cited evidences for the authenticity of the book of mormon. A there is an intelligent omnipotent being, who is selfexistent and infinitely b good and benevolent matter eternally existed. 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. Includes six copies as well as letters to the editor and handwritten notes. If you know of any books that i havent mentioned below, please share. How much was known about chiasmus in 1829 when the book of mormon was translated. Each days assignment ends either with the end of a chapter or with a somewhat logical stopping point in the text itself. Welch claims that it is unlikely, although not impossible, 33 that smith knew about chiasmus at the time of the book of mormon s publication, 34 which implies that chiasmus could only be present in the text. Jul 28, 2012 happily, however, corianton, unlike ammonihah, repents. In fact, chiasmus was not searched for and discovered in the book of mormon until the late 1960s, when lds scholar john welch learned of scholarly work on chiasmus in antiquity and hypothesized that the book of mormon might contain examples as well. The easiest solution to these discrepancies is that there really is no organized structure to be found.
What is chiasmus and why is it so important in the book of. Chiasmus in the book of mormon mormonism, the mormon church. Why is the presence of chiasmus in the book of mormon significant. A literary structure known as chiasmus exists in the book of mormon. There are plenty of 365day and oneyear book of mormon reading schedules and charts out there, but i didnt like any of them, so i made my own. 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.
Published in the new era, february 1972, pages 611. The discovery of apparent instances of complex chiasmus in the book of. How much was known about chiasmus in 1829 when the. Since its publication in 1830, the book of mormon has garnered much attention. What can we learn from 10 of the best chiasms in the book of. Register of jack welchs chiasmus collection 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. 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. Joseph smith had been dead ten full years before john forbess book was published in scotland. Chiasmus is a poetic form that is common in ancient hebrew texts. Jesus christ is the crux of the chiasm, just as he is the center of the gospel and the only means whereby salvation can be attained.
Compared with any chiastic passage in hebrew literature, alma chapter 36 equals or betters them all in terms of balance, rhythm, impact. 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. In his blessing to his son helaman, alma uses chiasmus in recounting his conversion to the gospel of jesus. So it is, in my opinion, with the issue of chiasmus in the book of mormon. Chiasmus of alma 36 chiasmus is a style of writing known in antiquity and mused by many ancient and some modern writers.
Chiasmus was first recognized by a handful of scholars in 1820, but not wellknown until 1942. I initially made it in the forum where i found the original. Time now for a few final evaluations of what we have learned about chiasmus in the book of mormon. Book of mormonevidenceshebraismschiasmus fairmormon.
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. 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. Alma is the longest book in the book of mormon and consists of sixtythree chapters, taking up almost a third of the volume. It is basically inverted parallelism where words, phrases, or concepts are introduced in ascending order and then repeated in descending order.
That parallelism chiasmus existed in hebrew writing was knowsin joseph smiths day in books that were available to joseph smiith. Book of mormonanthropologylanguagehebraismschiasmus. 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 considered as evidence for the authenticity of the book as a modern translation of. Since then, two organizations farms and fraa have published extensive literature to show that the book of mormon translated by joseph smith jr. The first page of the book claims that it was written in the language of the egyptians but according to the learning of the jews. The chiastic structure, according to welch, is as follows.
The 365day book of mormon reading schedule with printable. Im not sure exactly what forum would be suitable for this thread. 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. Does chiasmus prove anything about the book of mormon. In my work poetic parallelisms in the book of mormon, i specifically did not format alma 22. Almas chiasmus book of mormon, student, sayings, words, word of wisdom. This compilation of groundbreaking book of mormon articles is selected from over fifty years of lds scholarship published by byu studies. The title refers to alma the younger, a prophet and chief judge of the nephites. The discovery of chiasmus in the book of mormon is one of the most significant scholarly contributions to understanding and appreciating the nephite record. In his blessing to his son helaman, alma uses chiasmus in recounting his conversion to the gospel of jesus christ. I first heard about chiasmus in the book of mormon as a student at byu. 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.
It consists of arranging a series of words or ideas in one order, and then repeating it in reverse order. 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. Free shipping get free shipping free 58 day shipping within the u. Aug 11, 2009 i first heard about chiasmus in the book of mormon as a student at byu.
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. The existence of chiasmusparallelism in the book of mormon. Welch, basic structural outline, abcdefghijihfecgdba. Aug 29, 2017 in august 1967, fifty years ago this month, john welch was a young latterday saint on his mission in germany. Chiasmus makes this poem harmonic, complete, and brilliant. How much was known about chiasmus in 1829 when the book of. The book records the first 39 years of what the nephites termed the reign of the judges, a period in which the nephite nation adopted a constitutional theocratic government in which the judicial and executive branches of the government were combined. In the first place, we have demonstrated the extensive existence of chiasmus in the book of mormon beyond any possible doubt. Our results do not prove that the book of mormon is. Book of mormon chiasmus and hebrew poetic parallelisms.
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