John W. Welch

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John W. Welch is an LDS law and religion scholar who currently teaches at J. Reuben Clark Law School at Brigham Young University. He is founding director of Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies; current editor, BYU Studies; director of publications, Joseph Fielding Smith Institute of Latter-day Saint History. When a young missionary in Germany, Welch discovered many instances of the chiasmus literary form in the Book of Mormon. His finding, published in BYU Studies as "Chaismus in the Book of Mormon" in 1969, and subsequent publications have shaped scholarly inquiry into the linguistic aspects and historical origin of the Book of Mormon.