Rees, “A New Witness to the World: Reading and Re-reading the Book of Mormon” Reviewed by (Denice Mouncé)

A New Witness to the World - Kindle edition by Rees, Robert. Religion & Spirituality Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.

Review

Title: A New Witness to the World: Reading and Re-reading the Book of Mormon
Author: Robert A. Rees
Publisher: BY COMMON CONSENT PRESS
Genre: Non-Fiction
Year Published: 2020
Number of Pages: 242
Binding: Soft Cover
ISBN13: 978-1-948218-35-1
Price: 8.95

Reviewed by Denice Mouncé for the Association for Mormon Letters

A New Witness to the World: Reading and Re-reading the Book of Mormon by Robert A. Rees is an anthology of essays spanning nearly sixty years of his writings on Book of Mormon subjects. Robert A. Rees holds a Ph.D. and is a graduate professor with an impressive academic portfolio spanning continents. His scholarship, publications, and church service are diverse and prolific. As a literary critic, Rees challenges his audiences to utilize literary analysis to better understand the context and providence of the Book of Mormon.

In A New Witness to the World, the focus is on the main themes and lessons of the book of Mormon. These themes cover a wide variety of topics ranging from a deeper look into 1 Nephi to more abstract topics such as exploring the presence of irony in the scriptures. The author chooses to wrap up his opus with the final, passionate piece, “The Figure of Love: The Ultimate Message of the Book of Mormon” serving as a fitting conclusion to the work.

The passion and love of the author for the Book of Mormon is evident on every page, but that does not stop Rees from sharing with readers some difficulties with the text and introducing possible areas for further study. This collection of essays will challenge readers to look deeper into passages they are familiar with and see them through the eyes of a literary critic. Through objective observation, and a sincere desire to unravel the complexities of the Book of Mormon, this book takes readers up and down familiar passages and allows a peek through the author’s lens of knowledge and experience.

This book will challenge readers to look deeper, ask questions, look at things in a new way, find answers, and come out the other side stronger and more resilient than before their journey. As a result, this book will not appeal to readers who are not willing to put in the work to explore the Book of Mormon and seek answers pertaining to its provenance. This book is written for the theologian, the studier, and the Book of Mormon lover who is looking for a fresh perspective to rejuvenate their studies. A compelling and enjoyable collection of essays with an underlying current of honest inquiry, this collection is sure to add to the study and conversation surrounding the Book of Mormon.