Review of Killing Abel

[Asiaa Szn]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Killing Abel" by Michael Tieman.]

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4 out of 4 stars

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Killing Abel by Michael Tieman is a novelization of the creation story in the Bible. This 15–chapter book tells the story of man's existence, his rebellious acts, his creativity, his civilization, and the consequences of his disobedience.

God created a man named Adam. He noticed how lonely Adam was in the garden, and gave him companionship–Eve. God made rules on how they should live in the garden, but they disobeyed. Hence, offending God greatly brought a curse upon them, and generations yet to come. The disobedient act made Adam and Eve part ways only to be reunited by the companionship God set in them. Although the curse still lives, Adam was able to relieve his guilt and build his relationship with God, but this wasn't the same for his children— Cain and Abel. They are exact opposites. Abel is the calm son who believes in God, and offers sacrifices while cain is the opposite; filled with rage and stubbornness, doesn't care about sacrifices, and is obsessed with the tree of knowledge that is forbidden to get close to. As the story unfolds, readers get to understand how important a Father's love is; tough but beautiful.

It is quite evident that the author did his research, and aimed possibly to create believable recourses before writing Killing Abel. I didn't mind his ubiquitous reasoning, as it kept me glued to the book. The descriptive language used in the book also made it intriguing, as the story flowed like a river. Michael Tieman described how mankind has dealt with the sin, and curse given to us, by Adam and Eve through civilization, and judicial policies. The book helps us understand that we shouldn't blame God in situations because some of them are coincidences, and not God's plan. This book is a true treasure to Christians. Although through cleverness, the author has apprehended a lot of notions like the death of Abel, why God chose Noah to build the ark, how the earth became populated, and the list goes on. Another positive side of the book is the themes such as; fatherhood, humility, pride, guilt, disobedience, and sacrifice. Subsequently, a connecting theme to all the characters is love; lack of love, or excess of it from the father to his children.

Contrarily, I disliked the introduction of so many characters at the same time. I almost drifted away because it made me confused sometimes. I found no grammatical error in the book and so it was professionally edited.

Michael Tieman did a great job on this book so I'm rating it 4 out of 4 stars. I would also recommend this book to Christians, theology students, and historians. I advise that children should not read this book, as it may as well confuse them about the true creation story.

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Killing Abel
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