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Question: Is the presence of chiastic structures in the Book of Mormon simply coincidence?
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Contents
Question: Is the presence of chiastic structures in the Book of Mormon simply coincidence?
The "hickory dickory dock" theory of chiasmus
Critics of the Book of Mormon 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:
A - Hickory dickory dock
A' - Hickory dickory dock |
Such simple examples of chiasmus are well known in English speech
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. This particular example becomes a bit more complicated, of course, because this poem can also be rewritten in a different format:
Hickory dickory dock
The mouse ran up the clock
Hickory dickory dock |
Which structural label better describes the poem? Was it intended to be read chiastically? Or was it intended to be a limerick? Or does neither description best suit the likely intent of the author?
A - The last
A' - shall be last.
|
A - Fair is
A' - is fair.
|
Such simple examples do exist in the Book of Mormon
The "hickory dickory dock" theory would seem to be 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.
Notes