Thanks for checking back in. I am sorry I didn’t see your post till a over a month later. And, thanks for your analysis of chiasmus. I have read with interest your findings. Given your assumptions, I understand your conclusions. In a conference on chiasmus over a year ago (in Utah, see the home page of this very site for a book from the various presenters), I cautioned those of us writers on — and consumers of what has been written about — chiasmus.

The question as to whether any particular writer or speaker consciously knew they were writing or speaking chiastically is not one (IMO) that can truly be known by us, no matter how we devise the test. And no matter whether we conclude they DID know, or DIDN’T know. Of course, one cannot prove a negative.

Until we locate affirmative, overt confirmation that this or that writer states that they knew they were using chiasmus, we will be left wondering. My good friend, now deceased, Jared Demke, was convinced Joseph knew he was writing or speaking chiastically. I am not so sure.

Also, as Jared and I posit a thematic, rather than a straight word-for-word matching, our pattern allows for a much more interesting (and difficult to test*) hypothesis.

*BTW, I believe one COULD devise a test to evaluate whether our semi-finite list of certain related terms or phrases ARE found in a usual order or not.

Again, thanks for checking back in. Perhaps we can check in again on another testable hypothesis.

Best regards,

Scott

We have also analyzed chiasms in Joseph Smith’s correspondence, including his 1838 “I do not know where it will all end” letter. None of these chiasms is statistically significant.

We summarize all of our findings to date in our most recent work on the subject, (BYU Studies, Vol. 49, No. 4, p. 131, 2010), available along with our 2004 publication at https://byustudies.byu.edu/Features/BookOfMormon/bofm.aspx#Chiasmus.

Cheers and best,

Boyd Edwards

The Thesis analyzed many D&C revelations, as well as giving many examples of the three types of repetition found in the Scriptures: Parallel, Reverse (Chiasmus), and Combination patterns (that incorporate both parallel and chiastic together).

You can find the thesis online in a digital collection by BYU Library:

Conceptual Patterns of Repetition
in the Doctrine and Covenants
and Their Implications

http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/MTNZ&CISOPTR=22808&REC=2

- – -

Here is their brief explanation of this Thesis collection:

BYU Master’s Theses on Mormonism (Digital Collection)

How are the Theses Selected?

The goal for this collection is inclusiveness. Master’s theses contain important research and writing in many disciplines which are often overlooked and are much less readily available than doctoral dissertations. It is basically an author selected collection, because every author, or their descendents, is routinely contacted to gain copyright permission for inclusion in this digital collection.

A few authors have denied copyright permission because of their own desire to publish their work or because of their concern over the “datedness” of their scholarship. New scholarship builds upon existing scholarship and the fact that the earliest theses in this digital collection were written in the 1930s, indicates that there may be much revisionist research and writing that has occurred since a specific thesis was written. The decision was made, however, to include the master’s theses as written at the time the degree was granted even though the author was aware of subsequent relevant research. It should be recognized that many master’s thesis may still be the major scholarly work on a specific subject.

Printing/Viewing Files

Files in this viewer are displayed and printed as individual pages. If you wish to print the entire document, a printing version is included at the bottom of each table of contents. These printing versions are Adobe Acrobat files, are searchable, and are usually large in size. Because of their large size, they may be difficult for you to download if you are on a dial up connection.

I think you will enjoy learning more about chiasmus in modern revelation, as one of the proofs of the divine Prophetship of Joseph Smith.

(The thesis also presents D&C 136, which shows the chiastic structure of this revelation as received by President Brigham Young.)

- – -

I think you will find a qualitative and quantitative difference in the structures of the revelations given through the Prophet Joseph Smith, compared with his every-day writings. The revelations are highly structured as you will see in my thesis. His everyday writings do not appear to be nearly as highly structured and patterned. (This would agree with his statement that a Prophet is a prophet when he is acting as such—which obviously would not include much of his day to day activities/writings.) My analysis of the revelations included the whole text, not just “surface patterns” that can be skimmed off the top of nearly any text document.

You will also find that the D&C Revelations I analyzed agreed with the “Laws of Chiasmus” that Nils Lund formulated as he did his Master’s and PhD research on Chiasmus in the Bible (his published work entitled, “Chiasmus in the New Testament”). Take for instance D&C 3 as presented in my thesis, which has 7 major patterns starting at the beginning of the revelation and ending with “Amen.” They span the whole revelation, one after another. Nils Lund found in his Bible research that when you have 7 patterns in a row, you would often find something very distinctly related between the first, third, fifth, and seventh patterns, OR the second, fourth (central), and sixth patterns.

The truth is, a week or so after I have finished my D&C 3 analysis, I got a prompting that I should go back and look at the revelation to see if the first pattern matched the seventh, the second matched the sixth, the third matched the fifth, and if the fourth had a central message as the main message of the revelation. I found that it was so. In matching up the patterns in this “macro-pattern,” I discovered that the centers of the second, fourth, and sixth patterns were the SAME. That was a confirmation to me that I had done the pattern analysis correctly. Again, this revelation is a perfect example of one of the the “Laws of Chiasmus” as formulated by Lund, (as cited above). It is an astonishing revelation.

I have no doubt personally, that Joseph Smith did not know that the revelations he was receiving were so highly structured. Again, these highly structured revelations in modern times are an evidence that the God of the Hebrews was speaking through the Prophet Joseph Smith.

Best Wishes,

RCS

RCS

I did a Master’s Thesis at BYU back in 1972-5, which included my thesis on Chiasmus in Modern Revelation. The thesis is entitled, “Conceptual Patterns of Repetition in the Doctrine and Covenants ad Their Implications.”

The Thesis analyzed many D&C revelations, as well as giving many examples of the three types of repetition found in the Scriptures: Parallel, Reverse (Chiasmus), and Combination patterns (that incorporate both parallel and chiastic together).

You can find the thesis online in a digital collection by BYU Library:

Conceptual Patterns of Repetition
in the Doctrine and Covenants
and Their Implications

http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/MTNZ&CISOPTR=22808&REC=2

- – -

Here is their brief explanation of this Thesis collection:

BYU Master’s Theses on Mormonism (Digital Collection)

How are the Theses Selected?

The goal for this collection is inclusiveness. Master’s theses contain important research and writing in many disciplines which are often overlooked and are much less readily available than doctoral dissertations. It is basically an author selected collection, because every author, or their descendents, is routinely contacted to gain copyright permission for inclusion in this digital collection.

A few authors have denied copyright permission because of their own desire to publish their work or because of their concern over the “datedness” of their scholarship. New scholarship builds upon existing scholarship and the fact that the earliest theses in this digital collection were written in the 1930s, indicates that there may be much revisionist research and writing that has occurred since a specific thesis was written. The decision was made, however, to include the master’s theses as written at the time the degree was granted even though the author was aware of subsequent relevant research. It should be recognized that many master’s thesis may still be the major scholarly work on a specific subject.

Printing/Viewing Files

Files in this viewer are displayed and printed as individual pages. If you wish to print the entire document, a printing version is included at the bottom of each table of contents. These printing versions are Adobe Acrobat files, are searchable, and are usually large in size. Because of their large size, they may be difficult for you to download if you are on a dial up connection.

I think you will enjoy learning more about chiasmus in modern revelation, as one of the proofs of the divine Prophetship of Joseph Smith—yet another evidence that the God of the Hebrews spoke through Joseph Smith.

(The thesis also presents D&C 136, which shows the chiastic structure of this revelation as received by President Brigham Young.)

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Endowed From On High — Lesson 5: Learning from the Lord through Symbols

Objective: To help class members understand and appreciate the use of symbols in the temple. …

The most sacred symbolic teachings on earth are received in the temple. In a symbolic way, the teachings and rituals of the temple take us on an upward journey toward eternal life, ending with a symbolic entrance into the presence of God.

The characters depicted, the physical setting, the clothing worn, the signs given, and all the events covered in the temple are symbolic. When they are understood, they will help each person recognize truth and grow spiritually. … The temple clothing is also symbolic. … Members who receive temple ordinances and make covenants with God wear special garments (underclothing) throughout the rest of their lives. These garments are symbolic. …

Almost every aspect of the temple ceremony is symbolic. This means that each person should prepare to be as spiritually sensitive as possible to the symbolic nature of the temple endowment. [Parables too!]

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Four Levels of Meaning: Literal, Allegorical, Moral, and Spiritual:

1. Literal — this is the shell, the outer level, at which the words are understood at their face value, as a record of simple fact or instruction.
2. Allegorical — each element of the text is understood as standing for something else. [This is where we can, or should, be extra perceptive... However, this is still in the intellectual realm. See level 4 below.]
3. Moral — the text can be understood in a way that is relevant to our own lives.
4. Anagogical (Spiritual) — this is the kernel, the innermost or spiritual level, where understanding becomes direct perception [or, experience]. [This is where we have an authentic spiritual "experience."]
(attributed to Dante and St. Boneventure)

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Deepak Chopra, The Actors Can be Seen as Aspects of the Soul, How to Know God, page 285

The…parables…are equally multidimensional. The actors in them can be seen as aspects of the soul. In fact, these vignettes are so effective and colorful that the soul gets overlooked. [See below where I cite how the Garden Story (no matter how literal Adam and Eve were) the SYMBOLISM still obtains...]

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Clifford Geertz, The Anagical Imagination
Culture [or one could say, the Temple] is defined as “an historically transmitted pattern of meaning embodied in symbols; a system of inherited conceptions expressed in symbolic form, by means of which men communicate, perpetuate, and develop their knowledge about and attitudes toward life.” [Parables are a simple, yet deep, way to transmit complicated, eternal principles to both the unlearned and the learned; to the unaware and aware; to the spiritually immature and the mature; to the unawakened and the awakened -- BOTH at the same time, all at once.]

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The Nag Hammadi Library, “Interpretation of the Soul”
The soul, represented as Eve, became alienated from her spiritual nature…. But when she became willing to be reconciled and reunited with her spiritual nature, she once again became whole… this process of spiritual self-integration is the hidden meaning of the marriage of Adam and Eve.

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Philo of Alexandria, Allegorical Interpretation
Adam and Eve represent two elements within human nature. Adam represents the mind (nous), the nobler, masculine and rational element, which is “made in God’s image”; and Eve represents the body or sensation (aisthesis), the lower, feminine element, source of all passion.

[A similar exercise can be applied to, e.g., the Prodigal Son(s) where each actor in the parable represents some aspect of our inner selves. Wish I had more time.]

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