Official Review: Who Told You That You Were Naked?

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LivreAmour217
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Official Review: Who Told You That You Were Naked?

Post by LivreAmour217 »

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Who Told You That You Were Naked?" by William Combs.]
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4 out of 4 stars
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Who Told You That You Were Naked? A Refreshing Reexamination of the Garden of Eden is a thought-provoking analysis of the nature of sin by Reverend William E. Combs. In this book, Reverend Combs takes the reader back to the Garden of Eden to dissect how sin came into the world, and how faith in Jesus Christ is the only way to combat this "enemy crouching at the door."

To begin, I'll risk stating the obvious fact that this is a nonfiction Christian book. I would only recommend this book to Christians, or at least those who have studied the Bible. The content focuses heavily upon the Book of Genesis (again, I'm stating the obvious), but also draws quite a bit from Paul's epistles and other portions of Scripture.

One of the main points of this book is that Christians need to reexamine the popular notion of sin, which is typically perceived as a laundry list of misdeeds that can be overcome by simply committing them less often. Reverend Combs shatters this misconception (and a few others) by using specific examples from the Bible to back up his points. Additionally, he provides detailed fictional accounts of what life may have been like for Adam, Eve, and others that help the reader understand them on a more personal level. Christians with a more orthodox viewpoint might balk at these stories, but I personally found them to be helpful and enjoyable.

The ending of each chapter contains a list of questions that recap the main points. In addition to reinforcing the information, these questions could also be great discussion starters, making this book an excellent choice for a group Bible study.

I also enjoyed reading the many personal testimonies that Reverend Combs provided as practical examples of Scripture. Some of them painted beautiful scenes in my head (Reverend Combs grew up in Alaska), while others were downright frightening, but all of them were relevant to the specific points that they emphasized.

The writing within this book is quite good, and free of major errors. However, the font changed several times throughout the book, which I did find a little strange. I only have one true criticism of this book, however, and it is a little difficult to explain. Several times, Reverend Combs provides insight that doesn't have a specific Biblical backing. I cannot give examples without including spoilers, but I can best describe these insights as educated guesses. They are logical and they do not contradict the Bible, but there isn't any solid evidence to back them up, either. Of course, I do realize that Reverend Combs is far more knowledgeable of the Bible that I am, so perhaps this perception is due to my own lack of expertise.

I found the content of Who Told You That You Were Naked? to be both interesting and insightful, and I award it 4 out of 4 stars. This is an excellent book for the Christian reader who wishes to study the Book of Genesis in more detail.

******
Who Told You That You Were Naked?
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Post by kandscreeley »

It sounds like a fairly interesting book. I'm curious to find out what Reverend Combs would say that sin actually is. Thanks for the review.
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Post by LivreAmour217 »

kandscreeley wrote:It sounds like a fairly interesting book. I'm curious to find out what Reverend Combs would say that sin actually is. Thanks for the review.
Thanks for reading my review! It is an interesting book!
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Post by nontsikelelo »

its quiet an interesting book taking me back to my school days doing bibs I think its
not only for Christians but also for those who are a bit lazy to read the bible I like this book
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Post by LivreAmour217 »

nontsikelelo wrote:its quiet an interesting book taking me back to my school days doing bibs I think its
not only for Christians but also for those who are a bit lazy to read the bible I like this book
Thanks for reading my review. I wouldn't recommend this book to people who are not familiar with the Bible. It might be a bit intimidating for them! However, someone who hasn't cracked open a Bible in a long time could benefit from this book, as long as they have a basic understanding of the referenced material.
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Post by Lucy Kelly »

Thank you for this review. I considered reading and reviewing this, but had reservations for the precise reason you stated--that I really didn't want to read a rather long book of someone's interpretation of sin. I am sure I would find it interesting, but not really to read in a manner worthy of making a decent review. I consider myself fairly Bible-literate, but prefer to read a trusted source.
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Post by LivreAmour217 »

Lucy Kelly wrote:Thank you for this review. I considered reading and reviewing this, but had reservations for the precise reason you stated--that I really didn't want to read a rather long book of someone's interpretation of sin. I am sure I would find it interesting, but not really to read in a manner worthy of making a decent review. I consider myself fairly Bible-literate, but prefer to read a trusted source.
I certainly understand what you mean. Thanks for reading my review!
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Post by peaceremain »

Is a interesting book .Thank you for the review ,in love whit this book!!
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Post by LivreAmour217 »

peaceremain wrote:Is a interesting book .Thank you for the review ,in love whit this book!!
Thanks!
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Post by kimmyschemy06 »

Sounds like a great intriguing read. I'm particularly interested in Rev. Combs's take on sin which is, apparently, contrary to popular notion. Great job on the review. Congratulations to William Combs on such a high rating.
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Post by LivreAmour217 »

kimmyschemy06 wrote:Sounds like a great intriguing read. I'm particularly interested in Rev. Combs's take on sin which is, apparently, contrary to popular notion. Great job on the review. Congratulations to William Combs on such a high rating.
Rev. Combs' take on sin is definitely uncommon! But that's what is so refreshing about this book. Thanks for reading my review!
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Post by Donnavila Marie01 »

We reflect and discern. Misunderstanding on the written scriptures may lead to misunderstandind. This misunderstanding of the scriptures leads to the birth of fundamentalists and extremists.
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Post by LivreAmour217 »

Donnavila Marie01 wrote:We reflect and discern. Misunderstanding on the written scriptures may lead to misunderstandind. This misunderstanding of the scriptures leads to the birth of fundamentalists and extremists.
Sadly, what you say is very true. There is quite a bit of Biblical misunderstanding among believers :cry:
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Post by csimmons032 »

I had considered reviewing this book myself, but I thought I would get around to it after the one that I had chosen. I guess you beat me to it lol. Personally though, I thank you for reviewing this book. It actually sounds very interesting to me because I have been quite fascinated with the Garden of Eden lately. I will definitely check this book out.
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Post by rssllue »

Nice review! The idea of our good outweighing our bad is definitely a flawed one based upon what God's Word tells us. If that were the case, Jesus wouldn't have had to come and die for sinners in the first place! God has His standard, and we all fall short of it because of that sin. This sounds like an interesting book to read to see how the author portrays all of this. Really great job on the review!
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