Biblical Merismus in Book of Mormon Gospel References

This study extends previously published work that identifies three inclusios in the Book of Mormon, each of which presents the same six-element definition of the doctrine or gospel of Jesus Christ. However, the six elements are not presented as a straightforward list but rather in a series of smaller combinations intended to gradually deepen and extend the reader’s understanding of each one and of its role in the larger life process to which the gospel invites all God’s children. This mode of presentation makes something else clear: whenever some pair or selection from these six elements is mentioned, the entire set is implicitly invoked. In this paper, it will be argued that the biblical rhetorical device of merismus, in which parts of a known list are mentioned to invoke the entire list in the reader’s mind, provides the best explanation for this rhetorical approach. Seventy-nine passages, each of which includes a reference to salvation, are shown to be two-, three-, fouror five-element merisms for the six-element gospel formula. The persistent use in the Book of Mormon of this rhetorical technique for presenting the gospel does not seem to have a New Testament