4 out of 4 stars
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Who Told You That You Were Naked by William E. Combs is an exegetical work that offers a new and unique look at the events that happened in the Garden of Eden. The book intersperses biblical analysis with fictionalised vignettes of Old Testament events written from the perspective of biblical characters as well as personal anecdotes and testimonies. Each chapter ends with a list of suggested study questions, allowing the book to be usable practically in a bible study scenario.
Personally, I enjoyed the book because some of the points made were truly refreshing and unique ones that I’ve never encountered before. One example would be when author posits that the addendum Eve mentions to the serpent of not being able to touch the fruit could have been added by Adam and the author goes on to state why he believes this is the case. The key point the book revolves on is a new interpretation of original sin which makes this book stand out from many other commentaries on Genesis and the Garden of Eden. The author then expands on this by presenting how the knowledge of good and evil then leads to a life led under the law of sin and death. Points are supported by biblical references and analysis of both the Old and New Testaments. Ultimately, the consequences of this unique interpretation of Eden is highlighted via the impact of this interpretation on the understanding Christians have today of the gospel and of their personal relationships with Christ.
I enjoyed the fictionalised vignettes which portrayed familiar biblical scenes and stories but from the biblical characters’ viewpoints and with added imagined detail. I found these not only different and interesting but also useful as they provide more context to the reader and encourage them to personally imagine what life was like in biblical times. As mentioned above, sometimes the book mentions personal experiences of God working in their lives that the writer or someone he knew had; I feel that these testimonies both illustrated points made by the book and also made the book more accessible. As religion and faith are intrinsically personal things, I felt these anecdotes also grounds the book in reality and made the points stay relevant to the reader. Overall, as the portions containing theology and biblical analysis were interspersed with the vignettes and anecdotes, I felt that the content of the book was kept interesting and varied. Biblical commentaries can be tough reading and boring but this one was an easy read.
One chapter I particularly enjoyed and felt was well written was the chapter on hearing from God via the bible. It fully supported all points with theology and yet also provided practical points to the reader. In this way, the author was essentially aiding and encouraging the reader to apply what they have learnt from the analysis of the Garden of Eden to the rest of the bible. The book also provided some great insight and sharing about how, practically, one hears from God. I feel usually books are quite abstract on this point but the author has illustrated this with as much clarity as someone possibly can regarding a spiritual subject. He did this by first drawing the theory of it from the bible, then clearly describing how it is for himself in practice in tangibly understandable terms and finally sharing a number of personal testimonies of his and also other people. For example, one point that really leapt out at me was how the author described that when he has a revelation from God, it doesn’t come to him in a serial fashion as it would if it were spoken but instead is just there all at once, as if it were displayed on a sign or screen. I felt this was a very tangible and relatable way of someone describing a spiritual experience.
One thing I disliked slightly was that occasionally portions of the text are highlighted via format; by this I mean during the book I repeatedly came across special boxes of text containing quotes from the book itself. I’m aware that many books do this to emphasis key points and I do think it can be effective when used sparingly but it was definitely over used in this book. Once, this box of emphasised text came right after the actual words in the book, making me feel like I was reading something twice for no reason. I then experimented with reading only the boxes of text to see if they were meant to allow a quick way for a reader that’s skimming through to touch base with the book but in my experience they didn’t make sense when read alone out of their surrounding context. I also felt that sometimes, the texts in these highlight boxes weren’t actually the most pertinent points made. Likewise, the author added his own emphasises when quoting text from the bible or other works and I felt this was also over used. Occasionally, there is so much emphasis added that almost a third of the quote has been emphasised which I feel defeats the purpose of adding any emphasis at all. However, this is just a small point that only slightly negatively impacted my reading experience.
Another slightly negative point I noted was that once or twice during the theological segments the book raises up philosophical questions but doesn’t immediately answer them, instead moving on to make another point. This can potentially make the arguments in the book hard to follow for someone who is not well versed in biblical academic writing. However, this happened sparingly and most of the commentary is well laid out and easy to follow.
I give this book 4 out of 4 stars because it was edited perfectly, with no spelling or grammatical errors, and also because I found the content well thought out and very unique, different from any other biblical commentary or exegetical work out there that I've encountered. Most of the negative points I encountered while reading the book were minor ones that are mainly to do with its formatting and not about content or writing style. While full of theology and theory, the book managed to always stay grounded in practical advice and is exceedingly relevant. It makes very unique points that ultimately impacts a reader’s perception of the concept of sin and therefore salvation and even evangelism. As this book is quite accessible compared to many other biblical commentaries and also makes unique theological points, I would recommend this book to both readers who are biblical scholars as well as those who are completely new to the bible and want to start studying it.
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Who Told You That You Were Naked?
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