Reynolds editor, book of mormon authorship 1982, 3352. Chiasmus is a type of parallelism in which the second half of the text parallels in reverse order the first half. 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. In the early, stilldark hours of the morning, august 16, 1967, a young john w. This form of inverted parallelism has been found in the bible, the book of mormon, and in many other ancient writings. In the first place, we have demonstrated the extensive existence of chiasmus in the book of mormon beyond any possible doubt. 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.
Another famous author of the book of mormon who creatively employed the principles of chiasmus to great advantage was alma the younger. Critics of the book of mormon have claimed that a variety of linguistic anachronisms exist in it which cast doubt upon its historical authenticity. The musical of the church of jesus christ of latterday saints. Book of mormon notes a collection of notes about the book of mormon, from a faithful perspective. Here is an great example of chiasmus in a passage in which he persuades his brothers to gather their precious things from the land of. I loved the video, but i disagree with gregs closing statement chiasmus in the book of mormon is evidence that it is an ancient work and not a 19th century work. The earnest young men are challenged by the lack of interest from the locals, who are distracted by more pressing issues such as hivaids, famine. This writting style was essentially unknown in joseph smiths time. It is a parallelism in structure rather than rhyme, a parallelism of thought or idea. Literally, it is the reading of neviim, the prophets, in another land with their explanations and heavenly insights based on their constant advice to go back to the learning of their fathers. This process, termed conceptual chiasmus, uses a crisscrossing rhetorical structure to cause an overlapping of intellectual space.
Come, follow me recommended study aids book of mormon. For this article i am going to discuss an ancient literary form known as chiasmus. Chiasmus is both a necessary and natural way of understanding book of mormon literature. While the book of mormon is richly chiastic, extensive structural chiasmus has yet to be found in any other literature in the world other than the hebrew. Chiasmus can be used in the structure of entire passages to parallel concepts or ideas. The book of mormon contains the writings of men who lived upon the american continent approximately 600 b. The phenomenon which makes that possible is the presence of chiasmus in the book of mormon. Chiasms appear in greek, latin, english and other languages, but it was most highly developed in hebrew. Alma remembers one jesus christ while joseph smith translated the book of mormon into his own words, its obvious that both the choice and order of those words were frequently very specifically boo, by the source from which he received the. Possible evidence of authenticity let us turn now to the book of mormon. The book of mormon is set in north america in the first century. A literary structure known as chiasmus exists 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. The jewish way of prophesying did confuse me before but now makes sense and is more powerful. Chiasmus in the book of mormon mormonism, the mormon church. Tryk argues that the book of mormon is packed with elegant examples of chiasmus and other complex structures. Unlocking isaiah in the book of mormon deseret book. Many in the communities knew the mormon chapels would have food and water. Chiasmus in the book of mormon mormonism, the mormon. 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. Instead of picketing the book of mormon musical, for example, the mormon church. The first page of the book claims that it was written in the language of the egyptians but according to.
One of the main types of evidence to which mormons appeal in support of the authenticity of the book of mormon as ancient israelite literature is the rhetorical feature called chiasmus. Jubilee marks 50 years from book of mormon chiasmus. 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 writing. Chiasmus in the book of mormon we now turn to the question of chiasmus in the book of mormon. Shows the existence of complex chiastic usage in the text of the book of mormonthis seminal work has been reprinted numerous times, with revisions and additions, as in noel b. Welch practically since the day the book of mormon rolled off the press in 1830, those who believed in the book asserted that it obviously read like a hebrew text. These pages are written by jeff lindsay, a book of mormon aficionado, who takes full responsibility for the statements and opinions.
Those who were not so credulous insisted that it obviously read like anything but a hebrew text. Book of mormon, doctrine and covenants, pearl of great price. Practically since the day the book of mormon rolled off the press in 1830, those who believed in the book asserted that it obviously read like a hebrew text. The book of mormon photo galleries on, the most comprehensive source for broadway shows, broadway tickets and broadway information. Chiasmus in the book of mormon religious studies center. 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 book of mormon tickets book of mormon london london. The holy of holies of the book of mormon is a single verse which is a microcosm of the perfect temple text. Time now for a few final evaluations of what we have learned about chiasmus in the book of mormon. The discovery of chiasmus in the book of mormon is one of the most significant scholarly contributions to understanding and appreciating the. Chiasmus in the book of mormon judaicaworld archives. So it is, in my opinion, with the issue of chiasmus in the book of mormon. I have noticed that there are other elements which could be included with some of chiazmus groupings above. The study of ancient literature has been enriched in the second half of the 20th century by the growing awareness and understanding of chiasmus in ancient literature.
In the last fifty years, hundreds of chiasms from the book of mormon have been proposed and studied. Why is the presence of chiasmus in the book of mormon significant. Book of mormon characters mormonism, the mormon church. They are written to testify of the divinity of jesus christ. Chiasmus in mesoamerican texts book of mormon central. Here is an example of how insincere this translation attempt 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. The most commonly referenced pattern is a type of parallelism, called a chiasm. Replica of the original gold plates of the book of mormon. A full bibliography of publications about chiasmus is available from f. The essays in chiasmus in antiquity, first published in germany in 1981, examine the use and. Chiasmus in the book of mormon lds church is true blog. 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. During the storm, many took shelter in the 200 mormon chapels, as did many other people who were not mormon.
Chiasmus was first recognized by a handful of scholars in 1820, but not wellknown until 1942. Welch tells the story of his discovery of chiasmus in the book of mormon during the chiasmus jubilee celebrating the 50year anniversary of the discovery. Book of mormon central is designed and built by people who love the book of mormon. Chiasmus can be defined most simply as an inverted type of. 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.
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. The book of mormon name helaman is translated ish geyhinom which essentially is a smarta way of saying. It is also found throughout the quran and the book of mormon. Before i get flamed i would like to point out three of the more glaring anachronistic errors. Some of these examples may seem to be compelling, but when closely examined, they turn out to be little more than wishful thinking. Since its discovery in, people have wondered what to make of the book of mormon s use of chiasmus.
Dec 16, 20 there are more than 675,000 mormons in the philippines, and many thousands in the stricken areas. Our mission is to build enduring faith in jesus christ by making the book. Chiasmus in the book of mormon now comes the question of chiasmus in the book of mormon. Finally, the clip covers a little about why this was an important discovery and what chiasmus in the book of mormon could mean. 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.
The book of mormon explicit by original broadway cast on. Since then, two organizations farms and fraa have published extensive literature to show that the book of mormon translated by joseph smith jr. Welch published the first study of chiasmus in the book of mormon, 1 hundreds of additional book of mormon chiasms have been proposed. 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. An insiders view of mormon origins signature books. Chiasmus in alma 36 handouts for alpine north stake book. Thomasson sees center of this overarching chiasm as the atonement at alma 34. The work is not a serious, thoughtful certainly not scholarly translation of the book of mormon into hebrew.
The inverse parallelism that is the defining characteristic of chiasmus is thought to be difficult if not impossible to explain if joseph smith was the author. In a chiasmus, the text contains repetitions that are structured to form a precisely. 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 full text of this book is available free online at the maxwell institute. Select one of the links above to view examples of chiasmus in various books of the book of mormon. Chiasmus is a poetic form that is common in ancient hebrew texts. Mormon again leads the nephite armies in battles of blood and carnagethe book of mormon will come forth to convince all israel that jesus is the christthe lamanites shall be a dark, filthy, and loathsome people because of their unbelief, the lamanites will be scattered, and the spirit will cease to strive with themthey will receive the. Development of the show began in 2003 when parker and stone were noticed by lopez in the audience of a performance of avenue q. The book of mormon has a book, music and lyrics by south park creators matt stone and trey parker, and the mind behind the hit musical avenue q, robert lopez.
Be sure to read john welchs chapter, chiasmus in the book of mormon. Mormon scholars and apologists argue that there are impressive examples of chiasmus in the book of mormon that joseph smith could not have composed and certainly could not have dictated off the cuff. Truly, the lord speaks our individual languages so all of us can plainly understand the prophecies in isaiah and the book of mormon. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. If chiasmus is evidence of hebrew style in the bible, it must be evidence of hebrew style in the book of mormon. Click here to buy the book of mormon tickets today. 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 book of mormon follows two latterday saints missionaries as they attempt to preach the faith of the church of jesus christ of latterday saints to the inhabitants of a remote ugandan village. Welch noted in 1995, there are varying degrees of chiasticity, and while many proposed chiasms are impressive and interesting. Essentially, chiasmus is a kind of highly structured repetition. An excellent scholarly resource on chiasmus in the middle east, the book of mormon, and elsewhere is the book, chiasmus in antiquity, edited by john welch. The term chiasmus is never used, but this book clearly shows that hebrew poetic styles were recognized and studied even before joseph smiths time.
Does chiasmus appear in the book of mormon by chance. Chiasmus in the book of mormon philosophies of men. Now, 50 years since welchs discovery of chiasmus in the book of mormon, we see that his find is still reverberating in scholarly publications on the book of mormon. King benjamins complex ceremonial speech in mosiah 25 contains several excellent examples of chiasmus. Chiasmus in the book of mormon from the day the book of mormon rolled off the press in 1830, those who gave it credence asserted that it obviously read like a hebrew text. Welch was just a young missionary on germany at the time. 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. 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 pattern chiasmus creates here serves to reiterate and elaborate upon ideas. The money makers need to be more up front with this. Book of mormon evidences, part 2 presents more of the factors that suggest the book of mormon may be an ancient document. The most powerful and beautiful example of chiasmus in the book of mormon and perhaps anywhere.
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. The chiastic structure, according to welch, is as follows. 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 is a continuation of book of mormon evidences, part one. Kwaku has a moment during this episode and ian questions whether or not ubiquitous is actually a word. 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. This book unlocks the mystery of the chiasmas for me. This compilation of groundbreaking book of mormon articles is selected from over fifty years of lds scholarship published by byu studies. Welch speaks during the chiasmus jubilee, showing his markings in the book of mormon after he found the chiasm in alma 36. 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. The latterday saints use of the book of mormon is another part of lds haftorah. For example, heraclitus, one of the earliest greek philosophers, used chiasmus to accentuate his notion of eternal flux and opposition.
Chiasmus are found in the bible, and are considered a style element of ancient hebrew writing. Those who were not so convinced insisted that it obviously read like anything but a hebrew text. Since its discovery in the book of mormon in 1967, it has fascinated latterday saints. The overall structure of the speech is chiastic and houses smaller chiasms within it. Perhaps because he wished to emphasize that the temple is the center of his work, mormon organized the book of mormon in a chiastic form. The discovery of chiasmus in the book of mormon would have a profound impact on academic efforts to study of the book of mormon as an authentic ancient hebrew text. Wednesday was the fiftieth anniversary of welchs discovery. Chiasmus is an invertedparallel literary form that was employed by ancient hebrew biblical writers, among others. Book of mormon commentary alma 36 page 1 of 12 chiasmus in alma 36 my son give ear to my words v. The temple structure and sacral language of the book of mormon. The church of jesus christ of latterday saints uses four holy books.
They have the gift of being able to take a controversial subject and mock it almost to the point of being offensive without actually crossing the. Welch was a missionary serving in regensburg, germany, and chiasmus was an ancient literary technique he had only. Jubilee marks 50 years from book of mormon chiasmus discovery. Between 1817 and 1819 it was marketed for the use of. In october 20, the authors conducted a data analysis comparing the book of mormon to over 100,000 books from the pre1830s era. Chiasmus, the book of mormon, and the aquarian gospel.
Video on the discovery of chiasmus in the book of mormon. In 1967 chiasmus was discovered in the book of mormon, and the findings were published in byu studies. The most commonly cited example of chiasmus in the book of mormon is the prophet almas. 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. 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.
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. It was alma the younger whose conversion to the lord was so powerful and rich that it affected an entire generation at the time it happened and has since become one of the most inspirational stories recorded in the book of mormon. In this passage, every single phrase is mirrored by a related phrase. Book of mormonevidenceshebraismschiasmus fairmormon. 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. An example is found in a book by loftes tryk, the best kept secrets in the book of mormon, redondo beach, ca. Latterday saint women are finding and using their voices. Since its publication in 1830, the book of mormon has garnered much attention. Joseph smith published the book of mormon in 1830 in western new york. Chiasmus and book of mormon textual studies kindle. Linguistic anachronisms in the book of mormon are words that represent concepts that are not believed to have existed in the americas between 2500 b. Mormon missionaries are dying, killing and getting. Palmer threetime director of lds institutes of religion in california and utah, former instructor at the church college of new zealand, an lds seminary teacher at two utahbased locations, and mormon high priest group instructor, is an informed, informative, and original study of the roots of.
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. Welch discovered a variety of instances of chiasmus in the book of mormon and along with his discovery came attention to the phenomenon. What is chiasmus and why is it so important in the book of. Nov 15, 2017 latent antimormon bias may seem harmless enoughafter all, mormons are reluctant to call others out on it. Oct 03, 2017 the crew talks about chiasmus in book of mormon.
When adding biographies, be sure to add a category link seen at bottom of this edit page so that it will be added. The amazing true story of how chiasmus was discovered in. The book of mormon is another witness of jesus christ and confirms truths from the holy bible. Many latterday saints point out that the use of chiasmus in the book of mormon is proof that joseph smith translated a script that was hebrew in origin, since the chiasmus had not yet been discovered when the book of mormon was translated in 1829. These verses from the book of mormon use chiasmus to build an argument for embracing god. Chiasmus in the book of mormon book of mormon central. Chiasmus is one of the most frequently cited evidences for the authenticity of the book of mormon. May 17, 2011 the book of mormon made quite a splash when it first appeared on broadway. Now comes the question of chiasmus in the book of mormon.
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