I’ve mentioned in the past about the presence of chiasmus in the Book of Mormon. I’m not a meticulous or careful enough scholar to find these by myself. Rather I’m borrowing and presenting the work of John Welch. So, this entry is not the result of my work but that of Bro. Welch. I present it here, because it’s fascinating to me and is one more piece of evidence of the Book of Mormon’s antiquity.
A chiasmus is a Hebraic literary art form, much like a sonnet is an English literary art form. Like a sonnet, a chiasmus has a clear set of rules which the work must conform to, to be labeled as such. Where sonnets have a set meter and rhyming pattern, a chiasmus must follow a specific structure and order of meanings and expressions. Rather than rhyme, a chiasmus has a set order for its structure.
This is the chiastic structure:
A
B
C
B’
A’
In this structure, A and A’ say the same thing with slight variations in nuance, often using the same words such that read together they carry more meaning than if read alone.
In the same way, B and B’ do the same thing. But they build on A and A’ to the apex statement C, which is the heart of the expression. For a further exploration into what a chiasmus is, I suggest you read this article by Bro. Welch.
What I wanted to write about is this: 1 Nephi is written as a large chiasmus. While it was taken from the records Nephi wrote, it was something which took him a considerable amount of time to read and produce. It is far more complex than it seems when you simply read it through. Here is the chiastic structure of 1 Nephi:
A. 1 Nephi 1 - Lehi’s dream which is a warning to the Jews.
B. 1 Nephi 2 - Lehi’s departure from Jerusalem for the Promised Land
C. 1 Nephi 3-5 - Nephi performs a great feat with the help of his brothers in getting the Brass Plates from Laban. God intervenes to complete the assignment.
D. 1 Nephi 7 - Ishmael joins the group with his family
E. 1 Nephi 8 - Lehi’s vision of the Tree of Life
F. 1 Nephi 10 - Lehi’s prophecy of the coming of the Messiah to the Jews.
G. 1 Nephi 11 - Nephi’s encounter with the Spirit of the Lord and his testimony of Christ, the Messiah
F’. 1 Nephi 12 - Nephi’s prophecy of Jesus coming to his descendants
E’. 1 Nephi 15 - Nephi’s interpretation of his vision of the Tree of Life
D’. 1 Nephi 16 - The marriages of Ishmael’s daughters to Lehi’s sons and the death of Ishmael
C’. 1 Nephi 17 - Nephi performs a great feat with the help of his brothers in building the boat. God intervenes to protect Nephi from his brothers.
B’. 1 Nephi 18 - Nephi’s departure from the Old World and arrival in the Land of Promise.
A’. 1 Nephi 19-22 - Nephi warns the Jews
What I find particularly interesting is the apex is the testimony of the mission of Jesus Christ. Ever after in the Book of Mormon, the Savior is referred to as Christ by the Nephites. Up until this point, Lehi’s group were Jews looking for the coming of the Messiah. Afterwords, they were Christians.
Tuesday, March 21, 2017
Sunday, February 5, 2017
By the Weak and Small things...
If you’ve read my essays on the creation of the Earth, you know I’m an old Earth advocate. I also think Heavenly Father uses natural laws to order and run the universe. That being the case, the footprints of the Earth’s creation and terraforming are left in the geological record for us to read. At best, the geological record is incomplete in that it can tell us what happened. It can only imply the "how" and nothing at all about the "why."
That’s where a belief in God and revelation come into play. They tell the "why" but leave you to figure out the "how."
So, in the temple this week, the thought came to mind as I watched the recounting of the creation that it is by small and simple things which God brings to pass great works. I also thought how there’s evidence now, found in Australia of prokaryotes which lived just 400 million years after the Earth formed. They are the hardiest life forms today: they live in the most inhospitable environments on the Earth. The extreme conditions they live in were global back then. So, what did they do? They “ate” methane and carbon dioxide dissolved in the oceans and released oxygen. The carbon they took to make themselves, the freed oxygen combined with the minerals and got stored in the ground. When they died, their carbon settled to the ocean bottoms and became the fossilized sludge geologists found.
The net effect of this is they ate the primordial atmosphere and sequestered all that gas in the crust. Did you know, the most common element in the ground you walk on is oxygen? At one time it was in the atmosphere… a much thicker one. The patina of carbon is where life exists. All that was “put in place” by these early prokaryotes.
From an engineering standpoint it’s marvelous. They were a distributed, fault tolerant, self-replicating process… life… which brought the Earth to life. As each step neared completion, God began the next step. In time the dirt was saturated with oxygen and the gas began to collect in the atmosphere. Under the bombardment of UV radiation, some of it formed the ozone molecule… a gas which absorbed this lethal radiation.
The point is, Heavenly Father does work by small means to bring to pass great works. So if He can use single celled organisms to terraform a planet, He can make use of us to do great things too. And that’s the kind of stuff you can learn by going to the temple. I love it!
That’s where a belief in God and revelation come into play. They tell the "why" but leave you to figure out the "how."
So, in the temple this week, the thought came to mind as I watched the recounting of the creation that it is by small and simple things which God brings to pass great works. I also thought how there’s evidence now, found in Australia of prokaryotes which lived just 400 million years after the Earth formed. They are the hardiest life forms today: they live in the most inhospitable environments on the Earth. The extreme conditions they live in were global back then. So, what did they do? They “ate” methane and carbon dioxide dissolved in the oceans and released oxygen. The carbon they took to make themselves, the freed oxygen combined with the minerals and got stored in the ground. When they died, their carbon settled to the ocean bottoms and became the fossilized sludge geologists found.
The net effect of this is they ate the primordial atmosphere and sequestered all that gas in the crust. Did you know, the most common element in the ground you walk on is oxygen? At one time it was in the atmosphere… a much thicker one. The patina of carbon is where life exists. All that was “put in place” by these early prokaryotes.
From an engineering standpoint it’s marvelous. They were a distributed, fault tolerant, self-replicating process… life… which brought the Earth to life. As each step neared completion, God began the next step. In time the dirt was saturated with oxygen and the gas began to collect in the atmosphere. Under the bombardment of UV radiation, some of it formed the ozone molecule… a gas which absorbed this lethal radiation.
The point is, Heavenly Father does work by small means to bring to pass great works. So if He can use single celled organisms to terraform a planet, He can make use of us to do great things too. And that’s the kind of stuff you can learn by going to the temple. I love it!
Friday, January 27, 2017
Worthless and Fallen... Really?
While studying Mosiah 4, this verse of scripture struck me:
“For behold, if the knowledge of the goodness of God at this time has awakened you to a sense of your nothingness, and your worthless and fallen state—“ (Mosiah 4:5) This is Benjamin talking in one of the most profound “conference talks” ever given.
When I first read this, I thought, “this is rather harsh.” Yet, the passage goes on to talk about all that Heavenly Father has done for us. Why then call us worthless, fallen and nothing? So, I asked Him what it meant. How can we be so important yet worthless at the same time? This is what the Holy Ghost answered:
“Worthless and fallen” This isn’t about us being worthless, but the state we are in. Without God in our lives, without any acknowledgement or awareness of our relationship to and dependency upon Him, we are in a state of mind that from an eternal perspective is worthless and fallen: it’s pointless. Not because we are but because it is of no value to us. There’s nothing to be gained from it. In it we won’t progress, we won’t learn, and we won’t become better people, hence it is worthless to us.
Fallen just means we no longer share the close connection with God we once had. Our relationship used to be much better. So comparatively, we’ve fallen away from Him. It doesn’t mean we are any less important to ourselves or to Him.
Nothingness in this case is a measure of relative capability not of intrinsic value. God created the universe… worlds without number move according to His faith and will. By comparison, I can't even manage my own life. My capabilities are nothing compared to God’s. But I’m still important enough that His Son died for me.
In the end, this passage doesn’t condemn us, it prepares us to learn the truly valuable lesson of this passage: through the Atonement and by the grace of God, we can become like Him and return to be with Him again. There's a better way to live... live with God in your life.
Monday, December 26, 2016
Faith, Hope and Charity... a closer look at Hope
I’m trying to understand the need for hope. In the Book of Mormon we read we can’t be saved without it. I remember reading in Survivors’ Club the rule of threes: You can live without food for three weeks. Water for three days. Air for three minutes. Hope for three seconds. It's essential to our existence and lives.
I’ve written in the past that faith is the great motivator and in one way it is. Our faith in an effect for something we do, the cause, which motivates our actions. A simple example: I have faith that by working and submitting my time sheets I’ll get paid. And I do. But getting paid isn’t why I work. I want the money because it supports a lifestyle I desire. The end is what I hope for. That’s really “why” I do what I do… there are things I hope for and my faith in a cause-effect relationship with others is how I go about attaining them.
Apart from that is charity. It is the great motivating force of Heaven: it’s why God does what He does. His love for us is why He set all this up, that we can become as Him, which is what He hopes for. It is an approach to things we desire from a position of strength and capacity. But it is focused on the needs of others. It is God-like because that’s how God is.
It’s a mini-chiasmus. One leg is faith, the apex is hope and the other leg is charity. We hope to become like God, to live with Him, to be saved. Where we are powerless to do for ourselves, we have faith in Christ that He will make up the difference in our behalf. But where we do have power to act, Charity governs our actions for that is how we best be like God.
This is why the scriptures say to be saved, to become like God, we need all three. Hope is our vision, it’s what we aspire to be. Faith is how we get there when the demands of the moment are beyond our abilities. And Charity is for those times when we have the power to act… it’s where we practice being like God.
I’ve written in the past that faith is the great motivator and in one way it is. Our faith in an effect for something we do, the cause, which motivates our actions. A simple example: I have faith that by working and submitting my time sheets I’ll get paid. And I do. But getting paid isn’t why I work. I want the money because it supports a lifestyle I desire. The end is what I hope for. That’s really “why” I do what I do… there are things I hope for and my faith in a cause-effect relationship with others is how I go about attaining them.
Apart from that is charity. It is the great motivating force of Heaven: it’s why God does what He does. His love for us is why He set all this up, that we can become as Him, which is what He hopes for. It is an approach to things we desire from a position of strength and capacity. But it is focused on the needs of others. It is God-like because that’s how God is.
It’s a mini-chiasmus. One leg is faith, the apex is hope and the other leg is charity. We hope to become like God, to live with Him, to be saved. Where we are powerless to do for ourselves, we have faith in Christ that He will make up the difference in our behalf. But where we do have power to act, Charity governs our actions for that is how we best be like God.
This is why the scriptures say to be saved, to become like God, we need all three. Hope is our vision, it’s what we aspire to be. Faith is how we get there when the demands of the moment are beyond our abilities. And Charity is for those times when we have the power to act… it’s where we practice being like God.
Friday, December 23, 2016
One Among Many
For the first time, in a long time, I went to see the lights on Temple Square last night with some friends. The beauty of the lights was breathtaking... but it was bone-chilling cold too. I have the raspy voice this morning to prove it. A part of the beauty were all the people there. It was almost shoulder to shoulder crowds everywhere on the square and the plaza between it and the Church Office Building.
It caused me to reflect on my position in the church. Most of the time, for me the church is a very personal affair. I pray. I go to the Temple. I feel the Spirit there and when I read the scriptures. It's all so intimate I feel a close, personal connection with Heavenly Father. I often lose site of the fact that the LDS Church is much bigger than just me. Being on Temple Square gave me a glimpse of just how large the Church really is. It was quite invigorating in a way.
Then, when I saw this image this morning of a deep space Hubble photograph with all the thousands of galaxies in the image, I realized, my perspective is still off. In our galaxy alone there are at least three hundred billion stars. Statistically, scientists estimate there are at least two or more planets orbiting each. That's a lot of planets! Now, while our galaxy is larger than most, there are in the observable universe more than 100 billion galaxies... each with it's billions of stars. If the physics hold true for them as us, that number of planets becomes innumerable.
It gives special significance to the scripture in Moses: "world without number have I created... for all things are numbered unto me, for they are mine." I feel small and insignificant when I contemplate the full meaning of that... yet ... When I think that in all those galaxies and all the stars in them and all the planets... and all the life that must exist on them. In all that great vastness of the universe, God still knows me and has personal moments with me. How He does it, I have no idea. That He does is a miracle and a marvel for which I am profoundly grateful. As we celebrate the birth of His Son, I'm mindful of the fact that in all the people for whom He came, He also came for me... and you.
That makes me happy. Merry Christmas to you all.
It caused me to reflect on my position in the church. Most of the time, for me the church is a very personal affair. I pray. I go to the Temple. I feel the Spirit there and when I read the scriptures. It's all so intimate I feel a close, personal connection with Heavenly Father. I often lose site of the fact that the LDS Church is much bigger than just me. Being on Temple Square gave me a glimpse of just how large the Church really is. It was quite invigorating in a way.
Then, when I saw this image this morning of a deep space Hubble photograph with all the thousands of galaxies in the image, I realized, my perspective is still off. In our galaxy alone there are at least three hundred billion stars. Statistically, scientists estimate there are at least two or more planets orbiting each. That's a lot of planets! Now, while our galaxy is larger than most, there are in the observable universe more than 100 billion galaxies... each with it's billions of stars. If the physics hold true for them as us, that number of planets becomes innumerable.
It gives special significance to the scripture in Moses: "world without number have I created... for all things are numbered unto me, for they are mine." I feel small and insignificant when I contemplate the full meaning of that... yet ... When I think that in all those galaxies and all the stars in them and all the planets... and all the life that must exist on them. In all that great vastness of the universe, God still knows me and has personal moments with me. How He does it, I have no idea. That He does is a miracle and a marvel for which I am profoundly grateful. As we celebrate the birth of His Son, I'm mindful of the fact that in all the people for whom He came, He also came for me... and you.
That makes me happy. Merry Christmas to you all.
Friday, November 18, 2016
Living Righteously in a Wicked World
While reading Moroni 7 this morning it occurred to me, Mormon, whom Moroni is quoting, is speaking in “Sacrament Meeting.” Moroni was old enough to take notes and remember this talk his father gave. I’ve written in previous times of the great lessons in the talk so I won’t restate them today. If you’d like to read them, here are links: Judging, and Faith, Hope and Charity.
What’s significant, is this is the time when Mormon wrote the Nephites were given over to awful depravity and wickedness. Mormon never mentions these good people and only hints at them when he recounts the awful losses at the Cumorah Massacre. So how could he speak in church in such a wicked society?
Mormon was the military commander of a nation at war. As such, he was exposed to the whole horror of a fallen people in a conflict which brought out their most wicked and vile aspects. Moroni was still at home and it's him who’s speaking now. His subjective experience of the Nephites was different. He saw and lived things which his father didn’t see. Moroni saw the righteous saints who lived in this world gone crazy with wickedness. That was the difference he needed to see this talk as important.
Because Moroni saw our day too, he felt impressed to use a lot of his precious remaining plate space to tell this story. Why? Because we would find ourselves living in a similar time. Think about it. We live in a world gone crazy where as Isaiah prophesied, “good would be called evil and evil good.” Just as those righteous few struggled to determine what was good and what wasn’t, we do too. Which is why this sermon, which touches on how to judge between good and evil, is so important.
What’s significant, is this is the time when Mormon wrote the Nephites were given over to awful depravity and wickedness. Mormon never mentions these good people and only hints at them when he recounts the awful losses at the Cumorah Massacre. So how could he speak in church in such a wicked society?
Mormon was the military commander of a nation at war. As such, he was exposed to the whole horror of a fallen people in a conflict which brought out their most wicked and vile aspects. Moroni was still at home and it's him who’s speaking now. His subjective experience of the Nephites was different. He saw and lived things which his father didn’t see. Moroni saw the righteous saints who lived in this world gone crazy with wickedness. That was the difference he needed to see this talk as important.
Because Moroni saw our day too, he felt impressed to use a lot of his precious remaining plate space to tell this story. Why? Because we would find ourselves living in a similar time. Think about it. We live in a world gone crazy where as Isaiah prophesied, “good would be called evil and evil good.” Just as those righteous few struggled to determine what was good and what wasn’t, we do too. Which is why this sermon, which touches on how to judge between good and evil, is so important.
Friday, November 11, 2016
Thanks to the Soldiers
It was an overcast day at the airport. I was on my way home from a business trip and the airliner I was flying on was pulling up to the gate. During the flight, I’d noticed the two Army officers on board the flight with us who were traveling in uniform, but hadn’t thought any thing of it. Then one of the stewardesses announced over the PA that there was another individual on this flight who was making a trip home too. She went on to say that the two Army officers were accompanying the young man and would we, the rest of the passengers, please let these two get off the plane first. For a moment there was an awkward silence. Then not knowing what else to do to let them know how we felt, we applauded them for their service to our country.
It was at that point that I turned to the window I was sitting at and saw the family. They were standing together huddled under umbrellas on the tarmac off to the side of the airplane. An honor guard formed at the airplane cargo door. Mom and Dad stepped forward and stood apart from the rest, directly inline with the open cargo door. Dad stood erect. Face set like stone as he watched the cargo ramp. Mom stood by his side, erect and grieving quietly. One hand holding a handkerchief to dab away her tears. The other holding Dad’s hand. She too, watched as her son came off the airplane.
A hearse pulled up off to their left and waited.
Slowly a flag draped coffin came down the loading ramp. The honor guard, from all branches of the military, and even one of the aircrew of the airliner we were on, snapped to attention and saluted. The pall bearers picked up the coffin bearing the returning fallen son. Taps were played as he was carried reverently first to the parents and then to the hearse. The heavens wept as it began to rain gently. The flag was taken from the coffin, then folded and presented to Mom and Dad with these words. “This flag is presented on behalf of a grateful nation as a token of appreciation for your loved one’s honorable and faithful service.”
I still weep as I think about it. So on this special day as we honor those who protect us with their all, I offer my sincere and humble "thank you" to them and to their families who also pay a price for our freedoms. For behind every soldier, there is a human story, a family.
Thank you.
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