Review by Nickyjwatkinson -- Who Told You That You Were ...

Nickyjwatkinson · Post by **Nickyjwatkinson** » 15 Jan 2018, 08:01

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

2 out of 4 stars

Share This Review

Who Told You That You Were Naked is a theological book by William E. Combs which claims to offer a "refreshing re-examination of the Garden of Eden". The book opens with a re-telling of the story of Adam and Eve's Fall, then discusses sin and salvation in the light of what Combs has put forward.

Combs argues that our understanding of sin, from Genesis through to the New Testament, is flawed, and he attempts to propose a new approach. In my opinion, his "re-examination" of the story of the Fall is not particularly original or refreshing, and nor is what he says about sin. That said, this book would probably interest people who are just beginning to read theological texts and want an easy book to start with, as it does offer some interesting points.

The book is short and easy to read, written in a familiar tone rather than an academic one; in the last chapter, Combs quotes extensively from other theologians, which might be difficult for some novice readers, but the rest of the book is very accessible. It includes several personal anecdotes about Combs and his family's relationships with God and Satan, which might appeal to some readers, but could also be off-putting to someone who wants a more objective, academic text.

The book opens with three chapters retelling the story of Adam and Eve (and Cain and Abel), introducing how sin came into the world. Combs takes lots of artistic licence in these chapters, inventing things which might have happened in Eden and providing reasons for the actions of the characters in the biblical stories. Again, this might appeal to some readers who want to think more deeply about the subject, but I personally found it unconvincing, and did not enjoy his writing style.

The fourth chapter then explains why Combs feels a re-examination is necessary, and it is at this point that I thought the book began to suffer. Combs' artistic retelling of the story of the Fall did not appeal to me personally, but his theological arguments struck me as weak and, most notably, poorly-presented. It is conventional to begin a text with an examination of the current field, and then to present your argument; leaving this until the fourth chapter, when the book is already underway, made little sense and disrupted the flow of the text.

Further to this point, Combs relies mostly on his own interpretation of Scripture and rarely cites other theologians; again, if you are a beginner, this may be preferable to a dense text with lots of references, but to me it felt subjective and unreliable. In chapter four, he refers to other commentators who hold different positions - but instead of engaging in detail with their positions, he relegates them to a footnote, preventing any possibility of dialogue between the two positions. The formatting he uses here is confusing and academically unproductive, not to mention extremely unconventional, which bothered me for several reasons - not only is it difficult for a reader, it also implies that he has no knowledge of how to set out an argument, and makes me think he has not read widely on this or any other topic. Some of his references, to websites like Wikipedia, are also questionable.

The following chapters all discuss sin and transgressions as presented in the New Testament, with reference back to the story Combs tells in the first three chapters - while I don't think his conclusions are necessarily wrong, I do think they could have been explored further and more solidly backed up with reference to other theologians. It strikes me as particularly odd that there are no references to other creative attempts at retelling the story of Eden, such as the famous poem Paradise Lost, which (along with its sequel, Paradise Regained) also explores many of the issues Combs is looking at in his book.

I rate this book 2 out of 4 stars - while I did not enjoy it much, I think it would appeal to people who want to start reading theological texts, and this is a short and accessible option. It has a few typographical and grammatical errors, as well as some clunky sentences, but is easy to read and not intimidatingly academic. Combs also ends each chapter with a series of questions to facilitate discussion in a study group, which is an excellent feature. Overall, it is not a bad first book from Combs, and should appeal to those who are looking for an introduction to biblical criticism.

******
Who Told You That You Were Naked?
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon

Like Nickyjwatkinson's review? Post a comment saying so!

mandalee519 · Post by **mandalee519** » 16 Jan 2018, 16:17

Your review is helpful to readers who are looking for something different in a book that discusses sin. You clearly explain that the book is not very unique in its approach to the topic, despite its misleading title. Even the though the book does seem to fail to approach the topic in a new light, you explain that it can still be useful to readers who are just touching the surface on the theology. Very useful information!

kdstrack · Post by **kdstrack** » 17 Jan 2018, 06:35

Thanks for your review. I agree that some of the author's points are not original nor convincing. You make a great point about there not being any quotations from other sources which are common in books on this subject matter. Interesting thoughts and comments. Great work!