A New Witness for Christ: Chiastic Structures in the Book of Mormon - Hardcover

H. Clay Gorton

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9780882906003: A New Witness for Christ: Chiastic Structures in the Book of Mormon

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0882906003 ISBN 13: 9780882906003

Publisher: Horizon Pub & Dist Inc, 1997

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Chiasmus is a literary form which is used extensively in the Bible. The structure of the chiasmus comprises repeated sets of identical or related words, phrases or concepts; the second set is a repetition of the first, but is used in inverse order, as A, B - B, A. Matthew 19:30 contains a well-known chiasmus: "But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first." Many chiasma are extensive and involve a central theme as well as numerous layers of related sets. Chiasma are not readily apparent to readers of the scriptures who are untrained in their identification. In fact, chiasmus as a literary form was virtually unknown to Bible scholars when The Church f Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was restored through Joseph Smith. It is obvious that Joseph was unaware of the form when he translated the plates of the Book of Mormon. Yet now, through the careful analysis performed by the author, over 960 Book of Mormon chiasma have been identified and are listed and analyzed herein. Author H. Clay Gorton, in his previous book Language of the Lord - New Discoveries of Chiasma in the Doctrine and Covenants, has already made a powerful case that chiasma are a characteristic of the Lord's speech pattern, and that their existence in the scriptures is strong evidence that those scriptres constitute divine revelation. He identified over 220 chiasma in the Doctrine & Covenants. Now, in this book, he documents over 960 chiasma in the Book of Mormon! He defines eight distinct types of chiastic structures. He takes all the chiastic passages found in the Book of Mormon and presents them in easy-to-read diagrams and explanations. A New Witness for Christ - Chiastic Structures in the Book of Mormon is an essential tool for scripture study - one which deserves a place in the basic library of every LDS gospel scholar. It also constitutes a powerful challenge to anti-Mormon critics, who must now provide a rational explanation for the existence of the great quantities of identified chiasma in the Book of Mormon and in the Doctrine and Covenants, if they deny the divine origin of those sacred scriptures. Understanding the form and nature of chiasma opens the way to a profound new level of scriptural understanding, since the structures of the chiasma often clarify the meanings of the passages involved. It has been wisely observed that "You don't understand the Book of Mormon till you know and understand this book - A New Witness for Christ!"

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About the Author:

H. Clay Gorton has devoted many years of service to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He has fulfilled six missions, including service as a mission president in Argentina and as president of the Missionary Training Center in Santiago, Chile. He also has served as a stake president, bishop, as a welfare services region agent for the Los Angeles Region, as a counselor to four stake presidents, and as a member of three high councils. He is serving currently as a sealer in the Bountiful Utah Temple. Following his first mission, he obtained a Master of Arts degree in physics and mathematics at Brigham Young University. After graduation, he conducted applied research in semiconductor physics at Battelle Memorial Institute in Columbus, Ohio for sixteen years. After his service as mission president, he joined the staff of the Electronics and Defense Sector of TRW in Redondo Beach, California, where he was responsible for quality and reliability of the semiconductor devices for spacecraft application. Following his retirement from TRW in 1986, he served four years as Chief Scientist at TRW Components International. He has been active in the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, the Institute of Environmental Sciences and The Electrochemical Society. He served as Divisional Editor for the Journal of the Electrochemical Society. He is the author of eighteen technical publications, and has been a guest speaker for the American Society for Quality Control. He also has been a gues lecturer at the Moore School of Engineering in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. After moving to Bountiful, Utah in 1992, he obtained his pilot's license and enjoys aerobatic flying. He is currently serving as the newsletter editor for the Salt Lake chapter of the Experimental Aircraft Association. Since moving to Utah, he has devoted much of his time to gospel scholarship. This is his third book. It is preceded by Language of the Lord - New Discoveries of Chiasma in the Doctrine & Covenants, and The Legacy of the Brass Plates of Laban - A Comparison of Biblical & Book of Mormon Isaiah Texts. He and his wife also prepared the Spanish translation to Prophecy - Key to the Future. Clay and his wife, Edna, are the parents of five chidren. They have seventeen grandchildren and several great grandchildren.

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