Chiasmus in the Book of Mormon

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Criticism

Critics 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.

Response

What is chiasmus?

Chiasmus is a poetical or rhetorical form used by many languages, including Sumero-Akkadian [Sumeria, Assyria, Babylon], Ugaritic [Syrian area circa. 2000 B.C.] , Biblical Hebrew, Aramaic, the Talmud, the New Testament, Greek, and Latin.^[1]

Chiasmus is a form of parallelism, in which related or contrasting ideas are placed in juxtaposition for emphasis. Chiasmus uses "inverted parallelism," and takes its name from the Greek letter chi (χ) which looks like an English "X". This name was chosen to reflect the pattern of chiasmus:

Chiasmus pattern

Idea A Idea B Idea C Central idea D (the 'turning point' or 'cross' of the chi) Idea C repeated Idea B repeated Idea A repeated

Because chiasmus relies, to an extent, on relationships between ideas or concepts, rather than between words (e.g. such as rhymes or meter) it can survive translation remarkably intact, even if the translator is unaware of its presence. John W. Welch was the first to notice chiastic structures in the Book of Mormon.^[2] Little was known of this poetic form in Joseph Smith's era.^[3]

Coincidence?

Critics have proposed what might be called the "hickory dickory dock" theory of chiasmus. They point out that the children's nursery rhyme Hickory Dickory Dock is chiastic:

Hickory Dickory Dock as Chiasmus

A - Hickory dickory dock B - The mouse ran up the clock C (central) - The clock struck one B' - The mouse ran down A' - Hickory dickory dock

To be sure, this is a trivial example. If this was the only sort of chiasmus to be found in the Book of Mormon, then it would be weak evidence, at best, of any sort of ancient origin for the text. Such simple examples of chiasmus are well known in English speech.

From the Bible

A - The last B - shall be first B' - and the first A' - shall be last. From: Matthew 9:30, Matthew 20:16

From Shakespeare

A - Fair is B - foul B' - and foul A' - is fair. From: Macbeth, Act I, scene 1, lines 11–12.

However, the "hickory dickory dock" theory is a strawman. Such simple examples do exist in the Book of Mormon, (examples) but they are not the most impressive ones. Critics try to pretend that the simple, trivial parallelisms represent all such chiastic samples in the Book of Mormon. If Joseph Smith was writing the Book of Mormon himself, he might well compose simple parallelisms intentionally, or even accidentally.

But, the complex examples within the Book of Mormon show much greater sophistication that a child's nursery rhyme.

• Mosiah 3:18–19
• Mosiah 5:10–12
• Alma 36
• Alma 41:12–15

To argue that these complex, subtle structures are accidental can only be met with incredulity. One might honestly debate the merit of of the less clear examples of "chiasmus" in the Book of Mormon, in which believers may have been over-enthusiastic. But the examples given above are not arbitrary. They are detailed, enhance the meaning of the text when appreciated, and require no 'special pleading' for anyone to notice them.

Arguing that chiasmus is a result of chance or observer bias cannot explain these examples.

Knowledge of chiasmus in Joseph Smith's era

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Neither Joseph Smith or his contemporaries ever remarked upon chiasmus.

Conclusion

Small, "trivial" chiastic structures containing only a few elements might well arise through chance or English rhetoric. However, critics ignore numerous complex, subtle, and meaningful chiamus when they pretend that all of the Book of Mormon's inverted parallel structures are so simple.

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Endnotes

1. [note]  John W. Welch, Chiasmus In Antiquity (Provo, Utah: FARMS, Research Press, 1981), 5.
2. [note]  Need ref for Welch's first paper

Further reading

FAIR wiki articles

• Links to related articles in the wiki

FAIR web site

• FAIR Topical Guide: Chiasmus

External links

• John W. Welch, "Chiasmus in the Book of Mormon," BYU Studies 10:1 (1969): 69–84*
• John W. Welch, “Chiasmus in the Book of Mormon,” New Era (Feb. 1976): 6.
• John W. Welch, "How Much Was Known about Chiasmus in 1829 When the Book of Mormon Was Translated?," Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 15/1 (2003): 47–80.*
• Noel B. Reynolds, "Nephi's Outline," BYU Studies 20:2 (1980): 131–49.*

Printed material

• Noel B. Reynolds, "Nephi's Outline," in Noel B. Reynolds and Charles D. Tate (eds.), Book of Mormon Authorship: New Light on Ancient Origins (Provo, Utah : Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University ; Salt Lake City, Utah : Distributed by Bookcraft, 1996 [1982]), 53–74.ISBN 0934893187. ISBN 0884944697.
• John W. Welch, "A Masterpiece: Alma 36," in John L. Sorenson and Melvin J. Thorne (eds.), Rediscovering the Book of Mormon (Salt Lake City, Utah : Deseret Book Co. ; Provo, Utah : Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 1991), 114–31. ISBN 0875793878.GospeLink
• John W. Welch, "Chiasmus in the Book of Mormon," in Noel B. Reynolds and Charles D. Tate (eds.), Book of Mormon Authorship: New Light on Ancient Origins (Provo, Utah : Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University ; Salt Lake City, Utah : Distributed by Bookcraft, 1996 [1982]) 33–52. ISBN 0934893187. ISBN 0884944697.
• John W. Welch, "Chiasmus in the Book of Mormon," in Chiasmus in Antiquity: Structures, Analyses, Exegesis, edited by John W. Welch, (Hildesheim: Gerstenberg, 1981).
• John W. Welch, "Chiasmus in Hel. 6:7-13" (Provo: FARMS, 1987).