For the past six years, I have been engaged in various dialogues best under stood by a quick trip through the editorial correspondence files, a sort of diary (or dia-log) of my term as editor. In that fragmentary record I grope for a synthesis that eludes me. Whenever someone politely asks me what kind of journal DIALOGUE is, I usually fall back on words like quarterly, intellectual, and scholarly.
In a remarkable essay entitled “Beyond Politics” in a recent issue of BYU Studies, Hugh Nibley makes an exciting observation: God not only desires a free discussion with [his children], he encourages it. Further, it is an essential part of his modus operandi for our return to his presence. In his own translation of John 1:1, Nibley illustrates how indispensable this concept was to the very order of things: “In the beginning was the Logos [counsel, discussion], and the Logos was in the presence of God, and all things were done according to it. . .”
Our readers may recall the announcement of our commemoration of Dialogues fortieth year in our last issue. In keeping with that announcement, we publish here two retrospective statements from earlier editors of the journal. One…
Wayne Schow, Mormon Straight/Gay Marriages
Paula Goodfellow, Correction of Wording
Kevin L. Barney, Fairness to FARMS
Larry Day, We Blush
Dan Vogel, Treasure Lore Revisited
A native of Salt Lake City, Lane Twitchell lives with his family in Brooklyn. He has exhibited widely in galleries and museums and has received numerous awards, grants, residencies, and commissions. His work is in…
Extended chiasms were apparently an ancient Hebrew literary form. Since they were little known during Joseph Smith’s day, any extended chiasms in the Book of Mormon would be evidence of the book’s ancient Hebrew origins. John W. Welch has identified a number of extended chiasms in the Book of Mormon, one of his favorites being Alma 36. Among his many defenders are the father-and-son team of Farrell and Boyd Edwards, both physics professors.
Dialogue 39.3 (Fall 2007):188–206
Others, including Wunderli, hold that the proposed chiasms in the
Book of Mormon are not deliberate applications of the chiastic form and
ascribe their chiastic structure to the ingenuity of the analyst, rather than
to the intent of the author.