Review by Marcho -- Who Told You That You Were Naked?

[Marcho]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Who Told You That You Were Naked?" by William Combs.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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Who Told You That You Were Naked?: A Refreshing Re-examination of the Garden of Eden written by William E. Combs is a commentary on certain biblical events and concepts. William Combs is a retired Presbyterian minister who attempts to expatiate on the concept of sin from his personal understanding, observations and experiences with biblical references. The initial idea of the book emerged from one of his sermons which he further expands and breaks down in this writing.

The book begins with the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. It touches on Adam and Eve’s innocence before their encounter with the evil serpent leads them to disobey God by consuming the forbidden fruit. This story along with that of “Cain and Abel” is used to explore the introduction of sin into the world and its deeper meanings. Combs vividly analyses sin in the context of the occurrences in the Garden of Eden and also highlights subjects like faith, righteousness and salvation to elaborate on how to cleanse oneself from sin. Furthermore, Combs provides personal testimonies and real-life experiences of people around him to illustrate his points and ideas.

For a layperson like myself in the area of Christian theology, I found this book quite enlightening. It is very impressive how the author manages to break things down into simple bits while backing his claims with valid references from the bible. In addition, he includes study questions for discussions at the end of every chapter to help readers contemplate on and better understand the important details in the book.

I really liked the involvement of personal stories and experiences to shed light on certain vital points. It is also good that the author does well to buttress most of the things he talks about with biblical texts. What I found perplexing is the novelistic style in which certain parts of the book are written. For instance, in the initial chapters, we find that a lot of the the events and interactions are fictionalized to an extent they appeared less like biblical narrations and more like mere fabrications. Also, the mention of contemporary terms like “doctors” and “payment of bills” in the narration of events that transpired centuries ago made it highly implausible.

All in all, there weren’t many mistakes, meaning the book was professionally edited. I will give this 3 out of 4 stars. This is an interesting book, but the fact that most of the information there is based on one man’s personal reflections on a scripture opens it up for debate. I will recommend this to anyone interested in Christian literature and non-fiction.

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Who Told You That You Were Naked?
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