Thomas professor of law at brigham young university, and was for 27 years editorinchief of byu studies, the premier latterday saint scholarly journal. Chiasmus in the book of mormon thoughts and truth from. 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. Welch, now recognized as an international expert on chiasmus, was first introduced to this form of poetic parallelism in 1967. What can we learn from 10 of the best chiasms 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 record contained the books of moses, many prophetic writings including isaiah, and the genealogy of the tribe of joseph. However, ive noticed that the document did not capture all of the forms, as i have discovered several other interesting parallel forms that ive. The book of mormon is a lot like lord of the rings colin poellot in 2003 the world science fiction convention was held in toronto, canada. Welch gives examples of different ways many scholars learn from the book of mormon by both methods of study and of faith. Welch and tim rathbone paper foundation for ancient research and mormon studies ricks, stephen david on. It occurs in a list with food items, namely, corn, wheat, barley, neas another book of mormon hapax legomenon, and fruit seeds. Reuben clark law school, where teaches courses on tax exempt organizations, ancient laws in the bible and book of mormon, and joseph smith and the law. Welch examined how long it took joseph smith to translate the book of mormon a lecture wednesday night at the. The discovery of chiasmus in the book of mormon is one of the most significant scholarly contributions to understanding and appreciating the nephite record. Chiasmus resources from john welch great collection of information, tools, and resources on chiasmus by the scholar who found it in the book of mormon, dr. In the early, stilldark hours of the morning, august 16, 1967, a young john w. An account written by the hand of mormon upon plates taken from the plates of nephi.
Steven smoot explains that in the case of the book of mormon, the theological power of. 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. Watch book of mormon centrals new video about the discovery of chiasmus in the book of mormon in john w. Chiasmus in the book of mormon book of mormon central. I initially made it in the forum where i found the original. Welch was a missionary serving in regensburg, germany, and chiasmus was an ancient literary technique he had only recently learned about. It is basically inverted parallelism where words, phrases, or concepts are introduced in ascending order and then repeated in descending order. Religious studies center, brigham young university, 1982, 3352. His first identification of chiasmus in the book of mormon was in mosiah 5, but examples of chiastic style have since been found throughout the book.
John welch, journal of book of mormon studies, 1995 this article defines fifteen criteria one can use to measure the strength or weakness of a proposed chiastic pattern in a given text. The chiastic structure, according to welch, is as follows. His findings were truly surprising, revealing that clear, distinct, and elegant passages of. Chiasmus is both a necessary and natural way of understanding book of mormon literature. It is a parallelism in structure rather than rhyme, a parallelism of thought or idea. Though it appears in a list of seeds and grains, the context in mosiah 9. Since that time, a steady stream of publications has greatly illuminated this profound and ancient literary feature. In 1967, while serving in the lds south german mission, welch and his companion attended a lecture in the catholic priesterseminar which talked about the use of chiasmus in. Chiasmus in the book of mormon byu scholarsarchive. If you engage lds apologists long enough, eventually youre bound to come across the topic of chiasmus in the book of mormon. According to most adherents of the latter day saint movement, the book of mormon is a 19thcentury translation of a record of ancient inhabitants of the american continent, which was written in a script which the book refers to as reformed egyptian. The book of mormon is a sacred text of the latter day saint movement, which, according to adherents, contains writings of ancient prophets who lived on the american continent from approximately 2200 bc to ad 421. How chiasmus was discovered in the book of mormon greg welch. Im not sure exactly what forum would be suitable for this thread.
Aug 11, 2009 i first heard about chiasmus in the book of mormon as a student at byu. This is the first of a twopart series about the incredible discovery of chiasmus in the. The discovery of chiasmus in the bom by common consent. This article is brought to you for free and open access by the all journals at byu scholarsarchive. Chiasmus in the book of mormon religious studies center. Underwater archaeology and the book of mormon in sorenson. Religious studies center, brigham young university, 1982, 4142 assyria and the last days the first portion of this chapter prophesies of the coming destruction of assyria, and the last part compares this. Welch 1946 discovered chiasmus in the book of mormon and founded the foundation for ancient research and mormon studies farms. Welch, criteria for identifying and evaluating the presence of chiasmus, journal of book of mormon studies 42 1995. 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. Now, 50 years since welchs discovery of chiasmus in the book of mormon, we see that his find is. If you analyze its structure, it is a massive chiasmus with mosiah 3.
Jul 21, 2016 the logic tree of life, or, why i cant manage to disbelieve daniel c. One way of identifying a chiastic quote is to mark the repeated words or phrases with. In august 1967, fifty years ago this month, john welch was a young latterday saint on his mission in germany. Assessing the broad impact of jack welchs discovery of. This video gives a brief description of a writing style called chiasmus, and tells the story of how one 20yearold latterday saint missionary first discovered its existence in the book of mormon. Byu professors lecture examines the timeline of joseph smiths. Includes six copies as well as letters to the editor and handwritten notes. 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.
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. For those unfamiliar with the term, chiasmus is an ancient literary device that has been found in greek, latin, and hebrew writings. 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 mormonism, the mormon church. He and his companion, seeking to get better acquainted with the. The possibility of the book of mormon as inspired fiction. I first heard about chiasmus in the book of mormon as a student at byu. Welch, chiasmus in the book of mormon, brigham young university studies 10 no. Jack welch, and the story of how he came to spot chiasmus in the book of mormon is well documented and calling him dumb doesnt really help the cause, in my opinion. Chiasmus in the book of mormon or the book of mormon does it again new era, 1972 february. In the first place, we have demonstrated the extensive existence of chiasmus in the book of mormon beyond any possible doubt.
Does chiasmus appear in the book of mormon by chance. It was first published in march 1830 by joseph smith as the book of mormon. Chapter 15 chiasmus in the book of mormon reachout trust. 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. Video on the discovery of chiasmus in the book of mormon book. Chiasms appear in greek, latin, english and other languages, but it was most highly developed in hebrew. Published in the new era, february 1972, pages 611. The discovery of chiasmus in the book of mormon brother john w. Welch discovered the presence of chiasmus on august 16, 1967 while on his mission in germany. 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. Joseph smiths means and methods of translating the book of mormon. Greg welch explains the story of how his father, john w. Joseph smith published the book of mormon in 1830 in western new york.
Kultmusical the book of mormon kommt erstmals nach. Book of mormon chiasmus and hebrew poetic parallelisms. Could joseph smith have written the book of mormon. So it is, in my opinion, with the issue of chiasmus in the book of mormon. Some people, of course, have gone overboard with this search, and caution must be employed. Joseph smiths means and methods of translating the book of. Though rational arguments cannot generate a testimony of the truthfulness of the book, the presence of chiasmus in. Wade brown, the godinspired language of the book of mormon, rainbow press, clackamas, oregon, 1988, pp. The lamanite city jerusalem in the land of nephi was named by lehite migrants after the. Critics of the inspired fiction theory point out that the book of mormon treats itself as historical and much of the power of the book comes from the knowledge gain from its historical claims. But as colddodger has pointed out, chiasmus appears in plenty of works without hebrew origins, including some of the proposed non. He was educated at brigham young university with a b.
Guidelines for such analysis can be found at john w. Some of these examples may seem to be compelling, but when closely examined, they turn out to be little more than wishful thinking. Welch wrote his masters thesis on chiasmus and continued study on the subject. Chiasmus is a figure of speech by which the order of the words in the first of two parallel clauses is reversed in the second oxford companion to english literature, 1985 ed. Aug 29, 2017 in august 1967, fifty years ago this month, john welch was a young latterday saint on his mission in germany. Time now for a few final evaluations of what we have learned about chiasmus in the book of mormon. Indeed, the presence of chiasmus in the book of mormon may be evidence of joseph smiths own literary style and genius. Book of mormonevidenceshebraismschiasmus fairmormon.
The essays in this book, written by some of the finest lds scholars, take a variety of approaches to help readers make the most of the isaiah passages in the. Alle infos zum broadwayhit the book of mormons gibt es hier im. Oct 26, 2015 jack welch recounts his experience as a young missionary in germany when he found out about chiasmus in the new testament and how he also came upon that literary form in the book of mormon at the. The book of mormon original broadway cast recording explicit. 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.
Greg welch how chiasmus was discovered in the book of. The phenomenon which makes that possible is the presence of chiasmus in the book of mormon. For behold, laban hath the record of the jews and also a genealogy of my forefathers, and they are engraven upon plates of brass. It has been accepted for inclusion in byu studies quarterly by an authorized editor of byu scholarsarchive. The book of mormon is the most gross, the most ridiculous, the most imbecile, the most contemptible concern, that was ever attempted to be palmed off upon society as a revelation. 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, an attorney specializing in tax matters, joined the faculty of the j. John welch brought much of chiastic structure in the book of mormon to the forefront. Chiasmus is a poetic form that is common in ancient hebrew texts. Thomasson sees center of this overarching chiasm as the atonement at alma 34. Laban is a man mentioned in the first book of nephi as keeper of the brass plates in jerusalem about 600 b.
In either case, the book of mormon is, in the end, a nineteenth century book talking about nineteenth century ideas. The professor discussed the work of father paul gaechter, a catholic priest who had written a book titled. 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. Erlebe the book of mormon im englischen original in zurich. The need for rigor in such studies depends primarily on how the results of the proposed structural analyses will be used. Critics of the book of mormon have claimed that a variety of linguistic anachronisms exist in it which cast doubt upon its historical authenticity. 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.
Joseph smiths means and methods of translating the book. The discovery of chiasmus in the bom by common consent, a. Now comes the question of chiasmus in the book of mormon. The power of the book of mormon rests in its historical claims. This compilation of groundbreaking book of mormon articles is selected from over fifty years of lds scholarship published by byu studies. The presence of chiasmus in the english text of the book of mormon supplies significant evidence that the book is more beautiful than people had previously thought.
He is notable for his contributions to lds mormon scholarship, including his discovery of the ancient literary form chiasmus in the book of mormon. This book relseaed by farms in the early 1990s is one of the books i would suggest to anyone, lds or nolds, to better understand the text from a variety of. Welch, chiasmus in the book of mormon, in book of mormon authorship. Chiasmus is one of the most frequently cited evidences for the authenticity of the book of mormon. Origen bacheler, mormonism exposed1 assessing the broad impact of jack welchs discovery of chiasmus in the book of mormon robert f. 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.
This claim, as well as all claims to historical authenticity of the book of mormon, are rejected by nonlatter day saint historians and scientists. Chiasmus in the book of mormon mormonism, the mormon. Why is the presence of chiasmus in the book of mormon. Welch on coming upon chiasmus in the book of mormon youtube. 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. For this article i am going to discuss an ancient literary form known as chiasmus. 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 better chiasmus in the book of mormon than even the beautiful one in alma 36 is king benjamins speech. In the simplest, broadest sense, a chiasmus is a literary device that uses inverted parallelism, which can be labelled as.
He was then serving as a missionary in the predominantly catholic town of regansburg, germany. Chiasmus and book of mormon textual studies deseret book. If chiasmus is evidence of hebrew style in the bible, it must be evidence of hebrew style in the book of mormon. Tickets are available now for the multiaward winning musical phenomenon that is the book of mormon on broadway. President nelson grandfathers visit from the other side of the veil and family history work duration. Instead of burying it deep in the academic journals, lets put it out in.
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