Chiasmus is a complex, ancient Hebrew literary technique, in which a set of key words or themes are addressed and then repeated in reverse order to add depth and meaning, or highlight a central message. Even though almost nothing of it was known in 1830, this Hebraism shows up in the Book of Mormon in a powerful way. In this episode, David explores whether or not these chiasms could’ve appeared by accident.
Video transcript: https://saintsunscripted.com/faith-and-beliefs/the-restoration-of-christs-church/chiasmus-reeaally-show-up-book-of-mormon/
— Request your free copy of the Book of Mormon here:
— “Chiasmus in the Book of Mormon,” an index of videos on chiasmus by Book of Mormon Central:
— “Chiasmus in the Book of Mormon,” by John Welch (BYU Studies):
— “Does Chiasmus Prove Anything about the Book of Mormon?” via BOMC:
— “What Does Chiasmus in the Book of Mormon Prove?” by John Welch in “Book of Mormon Authorship Revisited”:
— “What Counts as Chiasmus?” via BOMC:
— “When Are Chiasms Admissible as Evidence?” by Boyd F. Edwards & F. Farrell Edwards (BYU Studies):
— “Does Chiasmus Appear in the Book of Mormon by Chance?” by Edwards & Edwards (BYU Studies):
— “Truth or Cherry Picking: A Statistical Approach to Chiastic Intentionality,” by Edwards & Edwards (BYU Studies):
— “Does Joseph’s Letter to Emma of 4 November 1838 Show that He Knew about Chiasmus?” by Edwards & Edwards: https://bit.ly/3VVzjOM
— “Criteria for Identifying and Evaluating the Presence of Chiasmus,” by John Welch (BYU Studies):
— “Criteria Chart” via BYU Studies: https://bit.ly/3VSKF5W
— An index of proposed chiasms in the Book of Mormon: https://bit.ly/3VQ6PWw
— “How Much Was Known about Chiasmus in 1829 When the Book of Mormon Was Translated?” by John Welch (BYU Studies):
— “How Much Could Joseph Smith Have Known about Chiasmus in 1829?” via BOMC: https://bit.ly/3pxYOct
— “128 – Chiasmus in Leviticus 24:13–23,” via BYU Studies: https://bit.ly/44POfSf
— “Chiasmus in the Book of Mormon,” via FAIR:
Notes:
— The Alma 36 chiasm can be formatted in different ways, depending on how you choose to break up the elements. For the probability study, researchers used an 8-element format (8 ideas in one direction, and then reiterated in reverse, for a total of 16 lines). Most portrayals of Alma 36 that I’ve seen break it up into additional elements.
— After recognizing how impressive chiasmus in the Book of Mormon was, one skeptic (Loftes Tryk) felt that the best explanation was that it must have been inspired—but by Satan, instead of God. Source:
SUBSCRIBE:
http://saintsunscripted/subscribe
Follow Us:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SaintsUnscripted/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/saintsunscripted/
Website: https://saintsunscripted.com/
Follow the Hosts:
David: https://www.instagram.com/davidesnell/
Taylor: https://www.instagram.com/tsyorg/
Allex: https://www.instagram.com/allex_lennon/
Kaitlyn: https://www.instagram.com/kait_fotheringham/
Sabrina: https://www.instagram.com/srhymasfuller/
Jaxon: https://www.instagram.com/jaxomus/
Cam: https://www.instagram.com/camcondie/