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. The discovery of chiasmus in the bom by common consent, a. Book of mormonevidenceshebraismschiasmus fairmormon. It was also seen in sanskrit, mesopotamian, chinese and egyptian texts. The spirit said start where you left off yesterday.
A much longer and very elegant biblical example of chiasmus is leviticus 24. 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. Book of mormonanthropologylanguagehebraismschiasmus. However, that knowledge remained primarily in germany and had not crossed the ocean until a few years later after the book of mormon was translated. Chiasmus is a poetic form that is common in ancient hebrew texts. A great jubilee celebration is being held at byu this week to commemorate it. Even at that, the area where the understanding came to in regards to chiasmus was far from joseph smith. It was a decision of the smithsonians central office of public affairs to simplify the statement to respond to general questions regarding the smithsonians use of the book of mormon. How did joseph smith know how to write a chiasmus ancient. The existence of chiasmusparallelism in the book of mormon tells nothing about whether it is an ancient work. Video on the discovery of chiasmus in the book of mormon. Book of mormon, absorbed the idiom of the king james bible and used it in his.
The discovery and colonizing of america, chris columbus, loss of parts of the bible, apostasy, restoration of the gospel, coming forth of the book of mormon, building of zion, revolutionary war 35. Why is the presence of chiasmus in the book of mormon significant. A literary structure known as chiasmus exists in the book of mormon. They claim that such findings support claims of hebrew origins in the text on the basis that. 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. Chiasmus is both a necessary and natural way of understanding book of mormon literature. The discovery of chiasmus in the book of mormon is one of the most. Coincidentally, august 17, the day after the discovery of chiasmus in the book of mormon, was the oneyear anniversary of my two years as a missionary, a fitting center point at the very middle of my mission time in germany. Some of these examples may seem to be compelling, but when closely examined, they turn out to be little more than wishful thinking. If chiasmus can be convincingly identified in the book of mormon, it will testify of the book s ancient origin. 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. Now, 50 years since welchs discovery of chiasmus in the book of mormon, we see that his find is. Interlude chiasmus jubilee moronis america the north.
Joseph smiths plagiarism of the bible in the book of mormon. His discovery changed his life and book of mormon studies. Explanation about parallel literary structure revised presentation slide at society of biblical literature 2010. In august 1967, fifty years ago this month, john welch was a young latterday saint on his mission in germany. This revised and expanded edition also includes covering up the black hole in the book of mormon. 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.
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. 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. 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. Lds church mass resignation set for saturday in salt lake city. It is a book that will change your life if you apply yourself to a daily study of its pages and ask god in earnest prayer each. 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. Chiasmus in the book of mormon brigham young university. Elder holland speaks at book of mormon chiasmus conference.
From there, the inverse parallelism became apparent. Our example from the bible is considered to be a chiasmus. We still stand by our former statement on the book of mormon. The king james quotations in the book of mormon, the history of the text of the book of mormon. 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. Includes six copies as well as letters to the editor and handwritten notes. Aug 18, 2017 watch book of mormon centrals new video about the discovery of chiasmus in the book of mormon in john w. It is a parallelism in structure rather than rhyme, a parallelism of thought or idea. 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. 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 book of mormon central. 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. Welch argues in favor of ancient origins for book of mormon chiasmus, demonstrating that public awareness of this style was slight in america when the book of mormon was translated.
The bible, old and new testaments, abound with examples and it is accepted that it is typical of one form of hebraic. Watch book of mormon centrals new video about the discovery of chiasmus in the book of mormon in john w. What is chiasmus and how is it used in the book of mormon. The book of mormon, testifying of its past, 34, 12344321 and 123456654321. I first heard about chiasmus in the book of mormon as a student at byu. Time now for a few final evaluations of what we have learned about chiasmus in the book of mormon. What can we learn from 10 of the best chiasms 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. Means, motive, and opportunity this year marks the 50th anniversary of the discovery of chiasmus, an ancient poetic writing style, 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. Book of mormon difficulties, contradictions and explanations. For those unfamiliar with the term, chiasmus is an ancient literary device that has been found in greek, latin, and hebrew writings. The phenomenon which makes that possible is the presence of chiasmus in the book of mormon. I believed that the church was moving away from viewing the book of mormon as a historical record, and. Also consider that there are several examples in the book of mormon, including alma 36, which is one of the best chiasmus anywhere. Chiasmus in mayan texts book of mormon archaeological forum. Conference was the tipping point for me ive decided to resign from the church. Since then, two organizations farms and fraa have published extensive literature to show that the book of mormon translated by joseph smith jr.
Joseph smith had been dead ten full years before john forbess book was published in scotland. Chiasmus is one of the most frequently cited evidences for the authenticity of the book of mormon. In 1967 chiasmus was discovered in the book of mormon, and the findings were published in byu studies. Chiasmus in the book of mormon religious studies center. We had a guest on our show and many of you know him already. Since then, two organizations farms and fraa have published extensive literature to show that the book of mormon translated by. Serving in the lds south german mission at the time, in the city. The chiastic structure, according to welch, is as follows. Aug 29, 2017 in august 1967, fifty years ago this month, john welch was a young latterday saint on his mission in germany. He turned to the passage in mosiah and he saw, in the german book of mormon, two words stacked on top of one another. 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.
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. 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. In fact, many nursery rhymes have this same type of structure e. I am grateful for the opportunity i had to share my faith in jesus christ and testimony. It is entirely possible that descendants of the book of mormon peoples knew of the device and used it in their own records. Below is the statement we presently distribute for these general inquiries. The dictionary defines chiasmus as a reversal in the order of words in two otherwise parallel phrases. 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. 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. His findings were truly surprising, revealing that clear, distinct, and elegant passages of. No one in america, let alone in western new york, fully understood chiasmus in 1830. 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. So it is, in my opinion, with the issue of chiasmus in the book of mormon. Chiasmus in the book of mormon mormonism, the mormon church.
Examples of chiasmus can be found in the book of mormon. Nephi had a vision of the apostasy and saw that many plain and precious parts would be removed from the gospel. I made this ngram on chiasmus to show the significance of the. 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 adoption of biblical archaisms in the book of mormon and other. 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. Oct 05, 2012 because mormons claim that examples of chiastic writing in the book of mormon help authenticate the book. John welch, who discovered chiasmus in the book of mormon in 1967 wrote the following. 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. Thus, if the book of mormon contains intentional chiasmus, then the book of mormon is not a fraud. Exactly what happened during the rest of that wednesday and thursday is still a little unclear to me. Chiasmus in the book of mormon or the book of mormon does it again new era, 1972 february. Stephen smoot is back and he is going deep on this episode.
Published in the new era, february 1972, pages 611. Chiasmus is a sophisticated literary device that ranges from the most simple, as illustrated above, to complex examples. As for chiasmus, it was discovered prior to joseph smith translating the book of mormon. Chiasms appear in greek, latin, english and other languages, but it was most highly developed in hebrew. Recognizing parallelisms and chiasmus in the scriptures.
Chapter 15 chiasmus in the book of mormon reachout trust. 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. Oct 03, 2017 we had a guest on our show and many of you know him already. Select one of the links above to view examples of chiasmus in various books of the book of mormon. Because mormons claim that examples of chiastic writing in the book of mormon help authenticate the book. It is basically inverted parallelism where words, phrases, or concepts are introduced in ascending order and then repeated in descending order. Jan 01, 2004 in 1967 chiasmus was discovered in the book of mormon, and the findings were published in byu studies. There are a few things to look at with the mormon claim so lets begin. Chiasmus in the book of mormon mormonism, the mormon. I initially made it in the forum where i found the original. Thomasson sees center of this overarching chiasm as the atonement at alma 34. Does chiasmus appear in the book of mormon by chance. The discovery of chiasmus in the book of mormon is one of the most significant scholarly contributions to understanding and appreciating the nephite record.
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. Chiasmus is more conceptual than grammatical, focusing on ideas throughout the course of a story. Jesus having again cried with a loud voice, resigned his spirit. A there is an intelligent omnipotent being, who is selfexistent and infinitely b good and benevolent matter eternally existed. To see this for ourselves, we had best begin with an example of chiasmus. 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. 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.
Literary structure chiasm, chiasmus of the bible introduction what is literary structure. In the first place, we have demonstrated the extensive existence of chiasmus in the book of mormon beyond any possible doubt. Assuming the translators were good, and not too much was lost in translation, and mormon did somehow manage to put an abridged nephite history into chiasmus, and js gave us the best translation possible, it could work. The existence of chiasmus parallelism in the book of mormon tells nothing about whether it is an ancient work. Aug 11, 2009 i first heard about chiasmus in the book of mormon as a student at byu.
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