3 out of 4 stars
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Being a Christian with a somewhat liberal (but not at all slack) attitude towards both doctrine and the scriptures I was drawn to this book by the title. The writing style and the interesting introduction made it easy to proceed from the first page. While the author's intention is to present a new approach towards understanding an important Christian doctrine, he understands that a cold essay-like style could be a put off, so he adopts a parable based approach, and as it happens, he is a good story teller, so it works very well. The introduction sets the tone with a fascinating event in the writer's early childhood which besides its own dramatic interest serves as a figurative introduction to the book's theme, that of presenting Genesis as a basis for understanding the Gospel.
The Old Testament accounts are paraphrased in an original and interesting way; poetic descriptions and anecdotes make for easy reading as he fills interesting detail into the compact biblical narrative:
Wading out to a sandbar, Adam climbed a rock shelf, knelt down, and peered into a limpid pool. The morning sun of late spring warmed his back as he gazed contentedly into his reflection. Had it been only a few days—maybe a bit longer?—since the Lord had brought him here to introduce him to his own image?
Yet this is not a story book. The parables merely serve as the background to deeply introspective and highly detailed analyses of biblical verses, an approach which at times provokes the question whether the author is not assuming too much from the biblical text, or put differently whether he is not “over-interpreting”. For example, regarding Eve's answer to Satan when she said “But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die,” the author postulates that Eve would have gotten the last part about the prohibition to not touch the fruit, which God's sentence does not contain, from Adam since according to the bible God gave the commandment to Adam before Eve was created. This, the author states, is what emboldened Eve “to go further” and do the forbidden thing since when she touched the fruit nothing happened. Now, that means Eve had merely wanted to touch but not eat, which is perhaps a bold assertion to make in view of what the text actually says, yet the writer does not arrive at his conclusions lazily. He actually takes the trouble to provide in the last chapter an overview of the logic and bible scholarship traditions that informs his outlook.
This is a book for believers, at any rate you have to be seriously interested in Christian doctrine or theology to read through to the last page. Neither is it a book for quick reading. The nature of the content requires digesting, and the “study questions for discussion” at the end of the chapters confirms it was meant as a study book, yet it’s clear the presentation is meant for spiritual guidance rather than as an academic piece although the author feels compelled to site scholarly material to support his assumptions. While the book is not large in terms of physical size, it covers a lot of ground. In the first half (roughly) of the book, which contemplates the Garden of Eden story, the material is fairly consistent, but the part that deals with the Gospel contains a wide range of topics and it can be difficult at times not to lose track of the core strand of the narrative. Although the topics are arranged so as to present a connected flow of logic, they look like they were originally written as independent pieces and some of the chapters can stand alone and be read as such. For me the contemplation on the Garden of Eden story was the most engaging, but once I got to the rather ordinary sermons on the Gospel I found most of the material required perseverance to get through.
Since the book claims in its title to be a fresh reexamination of the garden of Eden, I guess it would be expected that I should say whether I think it lives up to the claim. The book indeed challenges time honored interpretations of some verses in the bible and offers new viewpoints under the central theme of presenting a more compassionate and rational God driven by love and not judgment. You could therefore say it has a modernist (some would say a Gospel orientated) view of the Old Testament. That being the case, it is not so much the general approach which is new; after all, Christianity (the Gospel) is nothing but a reinterpretation of Judaism (the Old Testament). Rather, the book's fresh approach lies in its interpretation of individual pieces of scripture, and especially in its meditation on the nature of sin; it is upon that meditation that the writer has erected the framework of his presentation. Basing his proposition on God's words to Cain, where sin is described as the “enemy crouching at the door”, he offers a new understanding of sin beyond the mere breaking of God's commandments. Using the stories of Adam and Eve, and Cain and Abel for reference, the author argues the case for what is in fact a psychological and modern view of the meaning and nature of sin, yet basing all his arguments squarely on biblical text. The consequence of sin, the writer says, is the mental state of being “naked” and God is asking us “Who told you that you need to be thinner, younger, healthier, prettier, more athletic, more intelligent, one who speaks with more confidence, have a better sense of humor, with fewer zits, a bigger home in a more upscale neighborhood, a more important job with a larger paycheck, a newer, faster, or classier car, more stylish clothing, more influential friends, or more time to devote to the things you want to do?”
It is this compelling presentation of a bible based but refreshing examination of the meaning of sin which is the book's strongest point in my opinion, and it is there where it breaks new ground; it is also what made it a worthwhile read for me. My main criticism of it is that it's a bit like two books in one. The first, an original and thought provoking commentary on the story of Adam and Eve, and the second a collection of sermons on Jesus and redemption which are in the main not much unlike what you would hear from a typical pulpit on a Sunday. The sermons address a wide range of topics and in some instances seem connected to the main narrative of the book only in that they are part of the Jesus story. They are not without value, but they do not seamlessly connect as parts of one central theme. Yet, all in all, this is a book that contains some interesting and challenging ideas on the meaning of the Christian scriptures which anyone truly interested in that subject should certainly have a look at.
I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars.
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Who Told You That You Were Naked?
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