Buried Treasures

Reading the Book of Mormon Again for the First Time

By: Michael Austin

Narrated by: Michael Austin

Over the course of a year, Michael Austin - an English professor and literary critic who was raised in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints - read the Book of Mormon for the first time in more than 30 years and wrote weekly blog posts detailing his insights and challenges with the text. The 44 essays in Buried Treasures, adapted from those original posts, show a trained scholar and literary critic grappling with the foundational text of his own religious tradition and finding surprising things that he had never seen before.

The essays in this volume draw a picture of the Book of Mormon that is rarely seen in the devotional writings of those who consider it a scripture or the polemical writings of those who consider it a fraud. For Austin, the Book of Mormon, whatever its origin, is a complex literary and spiritual text full of sophisticated narratives, recurring patterns, and big ideas that can sustain a high level of critical analysis. Buried Treasures shows what happens when a well-trained listener approaches this material with fresh eyes and an open mind and unearths the treasures that have been hidden in plain sight for almost 200 years.

Michael Austin is the author of seven previous books, including Rereading Job, We Must Not Be Enemies, and the best-selling book, Reading the World: Ideas that Matter. He is currently the executive vice president for academic affairs and provost at the University of Evansville in Evansville, Indiana.

©2016 Michael Austin (P)2020 Michael Austin

Not what you think

Do not be mislead by the title containing "treasures," that this will be some inspiring listen for you. I was excited to listen, but in truth only listened to a little over half before deciding it was a waste of my time. The book is condescending, overly intellectual, and works real hard to try and impress you with the author's vast knowledge. Perhaps if I were more educated in the history and literature, I would appreciate the author's ideas. My opinion is that the author resorts to rife speculation in many areas. For example he opines that Alma 1:15 indicates that Alma probably tortured a confession out of Nehor. The author also claims that Alma probably caused the civil war among the Nephites by denying freedom of religion to the followers of Nehor. If one is looking for supposed defects in the BoM, one can find affirmation here. I did laugh out loud at one point where the author is describing the most loving ward he ever lived in which found him at his first and only "super bowl party" where he watched all "nine innings" enjoying every minute. There are many instances of such deadpan sarcasm including those directed at parts of the BoM and/or its characters. The low ratings are just my opinion only. Others may really like the book.

Truly, Buried Treasures

For those of us who love the Book of Mormon, this is a very good book about the author's reading of the Book of Mormon thirty years after the last time he read it.

The explanation alone for the name of the Anti-Nephi-Lehies is worth the cost of the book. Many of the themes developed in this book are expanded in his later book, A Testimony of Two Nations.