In the early, stilldark hours of the morning, august 16, 1967, a young john w. Purchase annotated book of mormon for christmas the book of mosiah is organized into a complex chiasmus which focuses on the messianic teachings of the prophet abinadi and places emphasis on the powerful teachings of king benjamin and king mosiah welch, john w. Chiasmus is an invertedparallel literary form that was employed by ancient hebrew biblical writers, among others. Short summaries of these renderings are presented here.
The historical record has yielded no direct evidence that joseph smith actually knew about chiasmus when he translated the book of mormon in 1829, although some other people at that time did. Chiasmus in the book of mormon 73 name he used for chiasmus. The chiastic structure, according to welch, is as follows. One of the conclusions is that because both the bible and the book of mormon have the chiastic structure, then this gives validity to joseph smiths writings.
In august 1967, fifty years ago this month, john welch was a young latterday saint on his mission in germany. And it is not insignificant having now analyzed half of the bible. Robertss study which was published posthumously in 1985 as studies of the book of mormon. Raymond treat reports that much linguistic evidence has come to light since 1830 supporting the book of mormon as an authentic document.
Chiasm bookstore recommended books about chiastic structure. Chiasmus can be used in the structure of entire passages to parallel concepts or ideas. It is also found throughout the quran and the book of mormon. Chiasmus is one of the most frequently cited evidences for the authenticity of the book of mormon. Chiasms in the book of mormon werent discovered until 1967 when john welch, a missionary in germany, learned about chiasms in the bible and thought to look for them in the book of mormon. Video on the discovery of chiasmus in the book of mormon. With the publication of this book, it is possible to begin speaking of relatively widespread awareness of chiasmic forms in the bible. Chiasmus in the book of mormon lds devotional posted on 05052008 8. The phenomenon which makes that possible is the presence of chiasmus in the book of mor.
This poetical form, chiasmus, a type of inverted parallelism, reaches highly artistic heights in the book of mormon and is difficult to ascribe to chance. We calculated the likelihood that the alma 36 chiasm appeared in the book of mormon by chance for two different renderings of its structure in order to assess the robustness of our conclusions. 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. 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. In the first place, we have demonstrated the extensive existence of chiasmus in the book of mormon beyond any possible doubt.
Welch discovered a variety of instances of chiasmus in the book of mormon and along with his discovery came attention to the phenomenon. Simply put, a chiasm is a repetition of similar ideas in the reverse sequence. To celebrate this 50th anniversary, throughout july and august book of mormon central will publish one knowhy each week that discusses chiasmus and its significance and value to understanding the bible, the book of mormon, and other ancient literatures. In 1854, however, john forbes4 completed a much more extensive study, the symmetrical structures of scripture. 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.
Book of mormonanthropologylanguagehebraismschiasmus. Fairmormon is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing welldocumented answers to criticisms of the doctrine, practice, and history of the church of jesus christ of latterday saints. Chiasmus is both a necessary and natural way of understanding book of mormon literature. The book was republished in 1992 and the preface written by two academics summarises the reception of the original book. Chiasmus in the book of mormon mormonism, the mormon. So to celebrate the discovery of chiasmus fifty years ago, we at book of mormon central will present 10 of the most interesting chiasms in the. Chiasmus in the book of mormon religious studies center. What can we learn from 10 of the best chiasms in the book of. So it is, in my opinion, with the issue of chiasmus in the book of mormon. They present this as evidence that the book of mormon is divinely inspired, since chiasm had not yet been recognized in the bible when joseph smith produced the book of 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. But by the time the concept of chiasmus received currency or recognition, the book of mormon had long been in print. Opening the book of mormon is like crossing the threshold of the temple. The academic study of chiasmus in modern times can be dated to the work of nils wilhelm lund who published articles in 1930 and 1931 and then a book entitled chiasmus in the new testament in 1942.
A chiasm or chiasmus if you rather is a writing style that uses a unique repetition pattern for clarification and emphasis. 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 logic tree of life, or, why i cant manage to disbelieve daniel c. Watch book of mormon centrals new video about the discovery of chiasmus in the book of mormon in john w. Chiastic form can give order, emphasis, and completeness to longer passages, such as in the 58th psalm. Indeed, the presence of chiasmus in the book of mormon may be evidence of joseph smiths own literary style and genius. Everyone seems to want to a find a big chiasm in the abraham narrative of genesis. 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. Welch reported his discovery of manyelement chiasms in the book of mormon,1 which joseph smith testified to have translated from plates. If chiasmus is evidence of hebrew style in the bible, it must be evidence of hebrew style in the book of mormon.
This year marks 50 years since the discovery of chiasmus in the book of mormon on august 16, 1967. In the last fifty years, hundreds of chiasms have been proposed in the book of mormon. Welch published the first study of chiasmus in the book of mormon,1 hundreds of additional book of mormon chiasms have been proposed. Chiasm is not just simple repetition it also involves an intensification or an aspect of completion in the second half. The most powerful and beautiful example of chiasmus in the book of mormon and perhaps anywhere. How chiasmus was discovered in the book of mormon greg. Chiasmus in the scriptures biblical chiasm exchange.
See being an overcomer for an interpretation of the above chiasm, adapted from my book. Chiasmus in the book of mormon 71 several centuries later cicero used chiasmic lines as a rhetorical device for placing emphasis matremmatred bemushabemushabmushabousha ignoramus patrem rep 233 some english authors who had been thoroughly trained in the classics naturally turned to chiasmus as a poetical form thus in pope s essay on man this short chiasm appears flame lawless. 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. Those who were not so convinced insisted that it obviously read like anything but a hebrew text. What more can we learn from 10 of the best chiasms in the book. Professor john welch is a mormon that edited a collection of works about christian and nonchristian uses of the chiastic structure including the book of mormon. A literary structure known as chiasmus exists in the book of mormon. In 1967 chiasmus was discovered in the book of mormon, and the findings were published in byu studies. Chiastic structure, or chiastic pattern, is a literary technique in narrative motifs and other textual passages. One of the conclusions is that because both the bible and the book of mormon have the chiastic structure, then this gives validity to.
For this article i am going to discuss an ancient literary form known as chiasmus. Chiastic form can give order, emphasis, and completeness to longer passages, such as. Inclusion within the bmc archive does not imply endorsement. Chiasmus in the book of mormon judaicaworld archives.
Since then, two organizations farms and fraa have published extensive literature to show that the book of mormon translated by joseph smith jr. In the last fifty years, hundreds of chiasms from the book of mormon have been proposed and. 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. 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. An instance of this form, called a chiasm, presents two or more literary elements, and then restates them in reverse order. One of the more recent such discoveries welch 1969 is the recognition that some writers in the book of mormon used an ancient literary form known as chiasmus or. Select one of the links above to view examples of chiasmus in various books of the book of mormon. Apparently, the entire book of mormon is designed as a chiasm, a divine architecture reflecting not only ancient hebrew poetry, but the lords signature upon it. What is chiasmus and why is it so important in the book of. This process, termed conceptual chiasmus, uses a crisscrossing rhetorical structure to cause an overlapping of intellectual space. For example, moronis chiasm below, as well as mormons chiasm about. Book of mormonevidenceshebraismschiasmus fairmormon. Such simple examples of chiasmus are well known in english speech. Items do not represent the official views of the church of jesus christ of latterday saints or of book of mormon central.
Time now for a few final evaluations of what we have learned about chiasmus in the book of mormon. 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. 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. Chiasmus in the book of mormon is both a necessary and a natural way of explaining some things in the. Book of mormon chiastic structure meridian magazine. Does chiasmus appear in the book of mormon by chance. An example of this structure is idea a and idea b, followed by idea b and idea a. The most commonly cited example of chiasmus in the book of mormon is the prophet almas religious experience, as recorded in alma 36. A perusal through the commentaries will reveal an array of options, but i must say i find none of them very satisfactory, since none cover the whole of the abraham narrative. Chiasmus in the book of abraham pearl of great price central. Chiasmus and the book of mormon utah lighthouse ministry. Oct 26, 2012 chiasmus in the book of mormon is evidence of an ancient origin, not conclusive proof.
Writing forward and back book of mormon translation. It is just one of several complex forms of literary parallelism that are common to other ancient semitic writings. 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. Items in the bmc archive are made publicly available for noncommercial, private use. The proposed chiasmus has eight as, three bs, and one c, which works out to a strong a grade average. Chiasm loses all of its persuasiveness as evidence for the divinity of the book of mormon when one realizes that it is a literary device which can occur quite naturally. Jul 21, 2016 the logic tree of life, or, why i cant manage to disbelieve daniel c. More often than not, the prophets of the book of mormon use chiasmus as a device through which they can focus our attention. Dec 19, 2019 chiasmus, or inverted parallelism, is a twopart literary structure or system in which the second half is a mirror image of the first, i.
How did biblical and ancient near eastern authors use. Chiastic book of mormon geography book of mormon evidence. A chiasm also called a chiasmus is a literary device in which a sequence of ideas is presented and then repeated in reverse order. The phenomenon which makes that possible is the presence of 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 nephite record. Actually, all that became obvious was the failure of both believers and unbelievers to cite much specific evidence. An example of chiastic structure would be two ideas, a and b, together with variants a and b, being presented as a,b,b,a. 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. In a chiasmus, the text contains repetitions that are structured to form a precisely.
But in the case of the chiasms from the book of mormon, these objections can be tossed aside as unconvincing, unsatisfactory, unimaginative, and unintelligent. 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 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. Elaborate chiasms are still being discovered in 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. The most commonly referenced pattern is a type of parallelism, called a chiasm. Chiasmus in the book of mormon mormonism, the mormon church. Chiasmus in the book of mormon book of mormon central. The importance of the chiastic structure is found in its hidden emphasis and its clarification of context. Some of these examples may seem to be compelling, but when closely examined, they turn out to be little more than wishful thinking. 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. Essentially, chiasmus is a kind of highly structured repetition.