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. 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. Chiasmus is a poetic and rhetorical device in many languages. Book of mormonevidenceshebraismschiasmus fairmormon.
This rhetorical device is also referred to as reverse parallelism or syntactical inversion. Welch was just a young missionary on germany at the time. 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. 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. A literary structure known as chiasmus exists in the book of mormon. The chiastic structure, according to welch, is as follows. Jun 07, 2018 chiasmus or or chiasmus as it may also be pronounced is named after chi, the ancient greek word for the letter x. Select one of the links above to view examples of chiasmus in various books of the book of mormon. Chiasmus is one of the most frequently cited evidences for the authenticity of the book of mormon. What can we learn from 10 of the best chiasms in the book of mormon. Aug 18, 2017 watch book of mormon centrals new video about the discovery of chiasmus in the book of mormon in john w. Note that a chiasmus includes anadiplosis, but not every anadiplosis reverses itself in the. Chiasmus in the book of mormon is evidence of an ancient origin, not conclusive proof. Chiasmus in the book of mormon mormonism, the mormon church.
Why is the presence of chiasmus in the book of mormon significant. Nov 09, 2011 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. In examples of chiasmus, however, the words and phrases are not repeated. Chiasmus is often used in latin poetry as an alternative form of the golden line, but it can be found in prose as well. Mar, 20 perhaps the most interesting of these is his proposal chiasmus in the book of mormon and elsewhere that a very substantial chiasmus has been found in the book of mormon, at alma chapter 36.
Both chiasmus and antimetabole can be used to reinforce antithesis. 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. Chiasmus is the reversing of the order of words in the second of two parallel phrases or sentences. Why and how did alma explain the meaning of the word. Chiasmus in the book of mormon mormonism, the mormon. Time now for a few final evaluations of what we have learned about chiasmus in the book of mormon.
The most famous example of this is chapter 36 of the book of alma. 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. Chiasmus is both a necessary and natural way of understanding book of mormon literature. 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. 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. 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.
Does chiasmus appear in the book of mormon by chance. Chiasmus in the book of mormon book of mormon central. These verses from the book of mormon use chiasmus to build an argument for embracing god. Definition and examples of chiasmus figure of speech. That is, you say one thing, and then you say something very similar, but flipped around. 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 is the term for a rhetorical device in which a sentence or phrase is followed by a sentence or phrase that reverses the structure and order of the first one in chiasmus, the words do not have to be repeatedthe second sentence does not just reverse the words of the first sentence. Chiasmus was particularly popular both in greek and in latin literature, where it was used to articulate.
Chiasmus was particularly popular in the literature of the ancient world, including hebrew, greek, ancient kiche maya, and latin, where it was used to articulate the balance of order within the text. The most commonly cited example of chiasmus in the book of mormon is the prophet almas religious experience, as recorded in alma 36. In the first place, we have demonstrated the extensive existence of chiasmus in the book of mormon beyond any possible doubt. 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. Why and how did alma explain the meaning of the word restoration. Jesus said, the sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath. Chiasmus in the scriptures biblical chiasm exchange.
Since the book of mormon contains numerous chiasms, it thus becomes logical to consider the book a product of the ancient world and to judge its literary qualities accordingly. Chiasmus is a figure of speech in which the grammar of one phrase is inverted in the following phrase, such that two key concepts from the original phrase reappear in the second phrase in inverted order. Chapter 15 chiasmus in the book of mormon reachout trust. Serving in the lds south german mission at the time, in the city.
Chiasmus is also known as antimetabole, epanodos, inverted parallelism, reverse parallelism, syntactical inversion, thought inversion, and turn around. Chiasmus usually occurs on the sentence level, but can also be found in much broader structures that is, you might have a. 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, the text uses a word which is ambiguous in hebrew meaning. This compilation of groundbreaking book of mormon articles is selected from over fifty years of lds scholarship published by byu studies. Some of these examples may seem to be compelling, but when closely examined, they turn out to be little more than wishful thinking.
It was also seen in sanskrit, mesopotamian, chinese and egyptian texts. 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. A there is an intelligent omnipotent being, who is selfexistent and infinitely b good and benevolent matter eternally existed. But by the time the concept of chiasmus received currency or recognition, the book of mormon had long been in print.
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. Welch discovered a variety of instances of chiasmus in the book of mormon and along with his discovery came attention to the phenomenon. Holland of the quorum of the twelve apostles spoke at a chiasmus jubilee at brigham young university that commemorated 50 years since john w. Chiasmus is a poetic form that is common in ancient hebrew texts. 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. Chiasmus in the book of mormon philosophies of men.
What is chiasmus and why is it so important in the book of. The phenomenon which makes that possible is the presence of chiasmus in the book of mormon. Book of mormonanthropologylanguagehebraismschiasmus. A chiasm or chiasmus if you rather is a writing style that uses a unique repetition pattern for clarification and emphasis. A classic example of the rhetorical value of a chiasmus is seen in the hebrew psalm 82.
Chiasmus refers to a sequence of elements of a sentence or verse, paragraph, chapter or even book which are then repeated and developed but in reverse order. Wednesday was the fiftieth anniversary of welchs discovery. Apr 21, 2016 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. 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. 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. The existence of chiasmusparallelism in the book of mormon tells nothing about whether it is an ancient work. So it is, in my opinion, with the issue of chiasmus in the book of mormon. Chiasmus in the book of mormon philosophies of men mingled. 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. Chiasmus in the book of mormon thoughts and truth from. The bible, old and new testaments, abound with examples and it is accepted that it is typical of one form of hebraic.
Video on the discovery of chiasmus in the book of mormon. Not only individual verses but whole chapters and even entire books in the book of mormon are structured as chiasms. Because mormons claim that examples of chiastic writing in the book of mormon help authenticate the book. Welch welch, chiastic syllabus of the book of mormon, abccba. John welch, who discovered chiasmus in the book of mormon in 1967 wrote the following.
Thomasson sees center of this overarching chiasm as the atonement at alma 34. The pattern chiasmus creates here serves to reiterate and elaborate upon ideas. Im not sure exactly what forum would be suitable for this thread. 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 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. 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. In rhetoric, chiasmus is a verbal pattern a type of antithesis in which the second half of an expression is balanced against the first with the parts reversed. They claim that such findings support claims of hebrew origins in the text on the basis that.
The discovery of chiasmus in the book of mormon is one of the most significant scholarly contributions to understanding. In this passage, every single phrase is mirrored by a related phrase. Some lds writers are trying to establish the historicity of the book of mormon by. Book of mormon 1879 lds versification title page simmons, letter, a 1 2 b 1 2 b 1 2 a 1 2. The book of mormon, testifying of its past, 34, 12344321 and 123456654321. 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. Generally, chiasmus and antimetabole are regarded by many critics as similar tools of rhetoric. Chiasmus and book of mormon textual studies deseret book. 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. 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. And thats because the x shape captures the structure of the chiastic phrase. I initially made it in the forum where i found the original. A second example of this, which is even longer, comes from isaiah 60. Chiasmus or or chiasmus as it may also be pronounced is named after chi, the ancient greek word for the letter x.
The existence of chiasmus parallelism in the book of mormon tells nothing about whether it is an ancient work. It is just one of several complex forms of literary parallelism that are common to other ancient semitic writings. His findings were truly surprising, revealing that clear, distinct, and elegant passages of. 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. Chiasmus is a sophisticated literary device that ranges from the most simple, as illustrated above, to complex examples. People everywhere are welcome to submit chiasms or information about recent publications concerning chiasmus. Chiasmus in the book of mormon brigham young university. Chiasmus comes from a greek word meaning crossed, and it refers to a grammatical structure that inverts a previous phrase. In the simplest, broadest sense, a chiasmus is a literary device that uses inverted parallelism, which can be labelled as a b b a. That parallelism chiasmus existed in hebrew writing was knowsin joseph smiths day in books that were available to joseph smiith. In chiasmus, the clauses display inverted parallelism. Oct 05, 2012 because mormons claim that examples of chiastic writing in the book of mormon help authenticate the book. 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. He quickly found an example in part of king benjamins speech in mosiah 5.
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. Perhaps the most interesting of these is his proposal chiasmus in the book of mormon and elsewhere that a very substantial chiasmus has been found in the book of mormon, at alma chapter 36. Chiasmus is a rhetorical device in which two or more clauses are balanced against each other by the reversal of their structures in order to produce an artistic effect. The key is that the sentence is grammatically the same. Examples of chiasmus can be found in the book of mormon. This website is designed to help in the research and study of chiasmus, a literary device found in texts from many cultures, most notably in ancient texts. It is a parallelism in structure rather than rhyme, a parallelism of thought or idea. The term chiasmus also sometimes spelled as chiasm, is derived from a greek verb that means to mark with two lines crossing like an x chi, the 22nd letter of the greek alphabet. If you engage lds apologists long enough, eventually youre bound to come across the topic of chiasmus in the book of mormon. Chiasmus, the book of mormon, and the aquarian gospel.
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