Book of mormon literary style devices

We build enduring faith in jesus christ by making the book of mormon accessible, comprehensible, and defensible to the entire world. Critical editions of important literary works by and about mormons from the first latterday saint century. An account written by the hand of mormon upon plates taken from the plates of nephi. At least three computer analyses have been completed to date in an effort to determine who wrote the book of mormon, and whether it was a single individual or a group. 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.

Thomas, the book of mormon in the english literary context of 1837 byu studies kenneth w. Literary style used in the book of mormon hugh nibley. Its actually even different from pauls other letters, in that the bulk of the message doesnt address any specific questions or concerns from within the roman community. A worldfamous, nonmormon scholar called it the most stunning information. Dont worryepistle or is just another word for a letter.

Book of mormon compendium is an outstanding example. Having read the book of mormon several times and teaching it in sunday school, i was looking for a fresh approach. How did joseph smith know how to write a chiasmus ancient form. Reading this book was a pleasure as i studied the book of mormon from this literary perspective. The book of mormon gets the literary treatment religion. However, along with its incomparable spiritual message, the book of mormon contains a wealth of literary forms and figures of speech containing dozens of literary patterns. Is it possible that a single author wrote the book of mormon.

If the book of mormon was written by ancient authors, we should be able to see distinct writing styles among each different. This study explores background material such as the writers and languages of the book of mormon and the modern witnesses to its divine origin. If he copied from someone, we should see that authors writing style likewise. The book of mormon is a work of substantial complexity, however, with numerous wellspun narratives subsumed with a larger comprehensive vision there is a neat symmetry to the bible as we have received it. Chiasmus in the book of mormon religious studies center. Although understated as literature in its clear and plain language, the book of mormon exhibits a wide variety of literary forms, including intricate hebraic poetry, memorable narratives, rhetorically effective sermons, diverse letters, allegory, figurative language, imagery, symbolic types, and wisdom literature. January 2, 1988 by ben crowder apocryphal works, attack, bible, bible king james version, bible quoted in book of. Roberts, an lds general authority and church historian, after a serious examination of the literary style of the book of mormon, concluded. According to most adherents of the latter day saint movement, the book of mormon is a. The book of mormon is a literate product of a literate culture. The initial book of mormon wordprint studies were carried out by larsen, rencher, and layton. The book of mormon is the doctrinal centerpiece of the church of jesus christ of latterday saints. Their lack of ability, in each case, did not seem to deter them from producing works which equal, or easily surpass, the book of mormon in literary style and quality. There are many reasons to study the book of mormon as literature.

It surveys one by one the various writings comprising the ancient record, in each case summarizing the content, indicating the basic features, and. January 2, 1988 by ben crowder apocryphal works, attack, bible, bible king james version, bible quoted in book of mormon, biblical scholars, blasphemy, book of mormon, carl popper, discovery progress of, holy ghost, imperfections, jerusalem, moroni, outside books, paul the apostle, philology. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read the book of mormon. Review of books on the book of mormon 19892011 by an authorized editor of byu scholarsarchive. A very short introduction ebook written by terryl l. The first chapter of the book claims that it was written in the language of the egyptians but according to the learning of the jews 1 nephi 1. The literary power of the book of mormon religious. Literary critics, such as mark twain in the nineteenth century, found the style of writing in the book of mormon to be unattractive, perhaps because of its repetitiveness, offering further evidence that the style of the book was not entirely natural to the nineteenthcentury mind. The most common belief of adherents is that promoted by joseph smith, who said he translated ancient golden plates inscribed by prophets. Critics of the book of mormon have claimed that a variety of linguistic anachronisms exist in it which cast doubt upon its historical authenticity. The onceoccurring words convey many of the elements thought to. Searching for literary wonders in the book of mormon is a bit like seeking lyrical inspiration in the books of chronicles or judges.

Could joseph smith have written the book of mormon. May 23, 2017 even as eloquent a defender of the book as terryl givensa professor of religion and literature at the university of richmond who has since the 1990s been an emissary of mormon culture and theology to nonmormon intellectualsfelt compelled to admit that searching for literary wonders in the book of mormon is a bit like seeking lyrical. Jun 01, 2003 this is the first edition of the book of mormon that actually makes it approachable for the mormon and non mormon alike. And yet the book of mormon has excited very little enthusiasm outside of mormonism. The book of mormon is the main piece of holygodgiven writ that distinguishes mormonism from catholicism and the. Attention to form, diction figurative language, and rhetorical techniques increases sensitivity to the structure of the text and appreciation of the work of the various authors. Wilfred griggs, the book of mormon as an ancient book byu studies steven l. Finding biblical hebrew and other ancient literary forms in. Rather, i am saying that the sort of serious, close, careful, and thoughtful analysis and presentation hardy gives the book of mormon with his new study edition is precisely the sort of engagement with the book that latterday saints are obliged to undertake. The literary power of the book of mormon religious studies center. Although the book of mormon is composed of such literary elements as stories, poetry, symbolism, letters, archetypes, typology, and allegories, it is not just literature. There are several theories as to the origin of the book of mormon. With degreed work at a bachelor and masters level in english, publication of 18 books including plays and short stories, i have some understanding and appreciation of the endeavors of shakespeare, milton, hardy and james on the england side of the language, hemingway. Unique literary styles in the book of mormon, further.

Maxwell institute for religious scholarship has recently published a new study edition of the book of mormon. Godfrey, the zelph story byu studies matthew roper, how much weight can a single source. 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. Techniques for differentiating authors, journal of book of mormon. Im not the most qualified person to write on the literary aspects of the book of mormon, but im not a neophyte either. Irony ironically, korihor had preached that the words of the priests brought the people down instead of lift up their heads, but be brought down according to thy words. The literary masterpiece called the book of mormon. Some months ago, john announced in an academic journal the remarkable discovery that an ancient and highly specialized hebrew literary style could be found throughout the book of mormon. To date, the combined data from several valid stylometric studies on the book of mormon have demonstrated that it has multiple, distinct writing styles and that those styles are consistent with the authors designated within the text itself. Chiasmus in the book of mormon we now turn to the question of chiasmus in the book of mormon. A selective bibliography of book of mormon literary features. The term chiasmus is never used, but this book clearly shows that hebrew poetic styles were recognized and studied even before joseph smiths time. Building on john welchs and donald parrys work on literary forms in scripture, the book begins with a short introduction to a wide array of hebrew writing forms, including material on the difficulty of translating any ancient text in general and of. Smith claimed the angel moroni, a prophet in the book of mormon, directed him in the 1820s to a.

Byu scholarsarchive citation hanson, scot and mckinlay, daniel b. David bokovoys work and grant hardys understanding the book of mormon have already been mentioned and both would qualify as efforts that bracket issues of truthfulness to evaluate the literary value. Biblical scholars of the early nineteenth century had not the slightest hint that a companion volume to the bible would soon come forth, with poetic forms equal in. If one other person wrote a part of the book of mormon, then joseph smith wrote none of it. Above, characters reportedly copied by joseph smith from the gold plates. Edited by grant hardy, the maxwell institute study edition mise incorporates important advances in book of mormon scholarship from the past few decades while grounding the readers experience in the text of the book of mormon. Wordprint studies of the book of mormon fairmormon. Jun 26, 2012 the rest of the book except for mormon, ether, and moroni was written by several men but abridged by mormon and thus the writing style of the original writers is intertwined with mormons writing style when he summarizes events or makes his own comments in the abridgment. This compilation of groundbreaking book of mormon articles is selected from over fifty years of lds scholarship published by byu studies. Youre kidding yourself if you think joseph smith wrote the book of.

In the first place there is a certain lack of perspective in the things the book relates as history that points quite clearly to an undeveloped mind as their origin. A worldfamous, nonmormon scholar called it the most stunning information ive learned concerning the book of mormon. To read the book of mormon as literature is to discover how such literary devices are used to convey the messages of its content. This may lead readers to wonder if it has any literary merit at all. Even as eloquent a defender of the book as terryl givensa professor of religion and literature at the university of richmond who has since the 1990s been an emissary of mormon culture and theology to non mormon intellectualsfelt compelled to admit that searching for literary wonders in the book of mormon is a bit like seeking lyrical. The following video demonstrates that the book of mormons redundancies are actually sophisticated literary features which, in many cases, are similar or identical to literary techniques used by ancient hebrew authors. The book of mormon as brilliant literature meridian magazine. Feasting on the word is both a heartfelt and a thoughtful book, as clearly reasoned as it is faithful. Parallelistic literary devices in the book of mormon include synonymous, antithetical, repetitive numerical, and circular repetitive forms. Two others are by the hand of mormon and the book of mormon. Jul 05, 2011 literary dependence on the bible part 1a. Because the study of hebrew writing forms in the book of mormon can. This paper identifies four distinct writers, and when you know what to look for, a casual reading of the book of mormon will illustrate the point.

Does the book of mormon contain jewish literary techniques. 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. A stylometric analysis of mormon scripture and related texts d. This year marks 50 years since the discovery of chiasmus in the book of mormon on august 16, 1967. Nevertheless, behind the obvious literacy, there are clues to a primary orality in nephite culture. We find then that the lds claim that smith could not have written the book of mormon is without foundation.

There are plenty of examples he could emulate from the bible. That wedding of the rational and the religious works well for a volume which argues that the literary dimensions of the book of mormon contribute deliberately and dramatically to its religious impact. No credible person can claim that joseph smith wrote the book of mormon, and it does not require a phd or a computer to prove it. They compared twentyfour book of mormon authors each having at least 1,000 words to each other, and concluded on the basis of three separate statistical tests that these authors were distinct from each other and oliver cowdery, joseph smith, jr. If joseph smith wrote the book of mormon, we should be able to see his literary style across the entire book. Joseph smith copied the book of mormon from the bible. Alternative mormon literature for literary, openminded, andor liberal mormons, questioning mormons, and former mormons, here are some books outside the mainstream of lds publishing, focusing on fiction and literary nonfiction, including works from selfpublished authors and indie presses.

Gideon burton brigham young university presentation to the association for. The literary book of mormon brigham young university. Some critics have disparaged the book of mormons language for being too repetitive. Hebrew literary patterns in the book of mormon by donald w. Literacy and orality in the book of mormon interpreter. Parry the poetry contained in the inspired books, the most ancient and the most simple, is superior to all others, and deserves exclusively to be denominated sublime. Fair study aidsbook of mormon resources by chapter and. Including the mormon churches conflicting results of computer analyses of the book of mormon. Though the book of mormon was written in nonhebrew script, patterns such as parallelisms could still be used. That we have a trope entry on the book of mormon, a book of scripture used by the church of jesus christ of latterday saints and its splinter groups alongside the bible and the canonized revelations of their founder joseph smith and a few other past leaders of the lds church. The book of mormon is rich with chiasmus, which is a symmetric structure that looks something like abcdcba, fairly unique to hebrew culture. Most adherents to the latter day saint movement view the book as a work of inspired scripture.

Pinnock of the seventy has produced a conveniently organized handbook of literary devices used in the book of mormon. Chiasmus in the book of mormon church of jesus christ. These literary elements are not decorative addons included by the prophets merely to make reading the book more interesting. Joseph smith had english translations of the bible available to him. Hebrew literary patterns in the book of mormon the church of. Since the book of mormons publication in 1830, a number of different. The mormon literature website is devoted to literary expression by, for, or about mormons, and to its interpretation and critical analysis. The instances of text creation and most instances of reading texts suggest that documents were written by a. The book of mormon is where the literary and spiritual ambitions of the antebellum age most tenaciously converged.

Literary devices book of mormon notes how deep can you. Book of mormon literature the encyclopedia of mormonism. This volume features articles that look at literary aspects of the book of mormon, including a lyric reading of nephis psalm, the exodus pattern and moses typology in the book, the literary context that affected its acceptance in england in 1837, a. Whether it is an ancient record or a modern creation, the book of mormon 1 demands examination, since it is represented to be scripture written prior to the discovery of america. The instances of text creation and most instances of reading texts suggest that documents were written by and for an elite class who were able to read and write. What can stylometry tell us about book of mormon authorship. Olsen, cosmic urban symbolism in the book of mormon byu studies gordon k. Copy of original characters obtained in 1903 from david whitmers heirs. Chiasmus is one aspect of that way of writing, or, in other words, one of the literary techniques present in the bible, that has recently attracted the attention of. It was first published in march 1830 by joseph smith as the book of mormon.