Review by Grzegorz Kolodziej -- Who Told You That You We...

[Grzegorz Kolodziej]

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

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4 out of 4 stars

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“Who Told You That You Were Naked?” is a re-examination of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden by Pastor William E. Combs. The book explores the nature of faith and sin, the difference between faith and works, and obstacles to faith – but this enquiry is carried out not only from a theological perspective but, in lion’s share, from a psychological perspective. Combs’ often investigates the original Hebrew and Greek of the source texts, and this is definitely a positive, given that the meaning of words used in the Bible is often taken for granted, based on established translations; for example, on page 104 he points out that in English, verbs only have active or passive forms, while in Greek verbs can have one of three voices: active, middle, and passive, and that there are “many shades to the middle voice in Greek. Its basic significance is that the subject participates in the action.” The Author’s vast experiences with translations in general, and Biblical language in particular, yields in helpful remarks as to how to get to the nitty-gritty of the Bible: for instance, by viewing several different translations to get a better flavor of the underlying meaning (he points out that the definition of a Greek or Hebrew word in Webster’s Dictionary might not be the same as the description in the original language).


He illustrates this with an observation that Paul, rather than using the active voice, when he appeals to us to not conform ourselves to the world, in fact uses the middle verb, which is neither active nor passive, and which actually means not to “be conformed” to this world, meaning that we are “not the only one taking part in this conformational activity.” This relational nature of our trespasses is better seen when William E. Combs argues that the true nature of sin should be seen as relational, rather than something on its own. To help readers visualise this, he paints a picture of Cain whose “perception of his relationship with his brother” drove him to murder. Interestingly, he declares (p. 205) that a feeling of shame was the first and main consequence of sin: “Had the couple not sinned, they would have nothing to hide from each other. Even so, it seems odd their transgression of God’s command would suddenly yield a sense of insecurity toward one another”. In Genesis, shame is symbolised by a feeling of nakedness: “Suddenly, they felt embarrassed and naked in front of each other. Even more distressing, they were ashamed of their nakedness” p.40


This book is so much more than just a Genesis story exegesis enriched with translators' remarks – by inserting fictional (yet convincingly written) descriptions of what else might have happened in the Garden of Eden, Mr Combs really forces his reader to start a voyage of imagination and reflect on human nature. I also like the fact that each chapter of this book ends with discussion questions to help deepen his readers understanding, and it can be seen that the Author has huge experience in engaging his listeners, as the endnotes to further substantiate the author's statements are shaped into a list to recap the main points in the chapter (which makes the main points easier to memorise them) but there are questions that could be used for a discussion (which makes this book would be great for study groups). Furthermore, it’s obvious that Pastor Combs has a very good control over the whole structure of his book – when we consider remarks such as “Faith is not a one-time act but a continual walk, as we will highlight in chapter seven.” (p.54). Mr Combs builds an impressive (if speculative) edifice of the anthropological changes initiated by the original sin – i.e. that as its consequence, Adam and Even had more occasion to ruminate on their individual differences, compounding their feelings of insufficiency. He ponders over why they didn’t feel any shame before, and he compares their perception in the Garden of Eden as akin to being “naked in its presence because you did not project into your pet any capacity to judge you” (p.42) – with the sin came the knowledge. Perhaps the most insightful observation of Pastor Comb was his remark that
“God did not ask any questions and there was no attempt at reconciliation or redemption. His pronouncement was intended to build a wall of enmity between the woman and the serpent so it could never again be used as a vehicle of deception” (p. 47)


A question comes to the fore: are there any weaknesses in that book? Of course, there are but not many. First of all, it’s not a theological or philosophical essay strictly speaking – although this is only a weakness for those who are looking for such – and as such, it doesn’t always adhere to more academic standards (parts of the book are fictional accounts, only loosely based on the story of Adam and Eve). Again, I’d like to emphasise that making it a fully academic book would deprive it of the amazing ease with each one can read this book – all thanks to Pastor Comb’s mastery of the language. However, if I were to pick up on two things, I would say this:
1. The Author didn’t seem to have asked himself the fundamental question – why did the omniscient God tell Adam and Eve not to eat the apple, if He – as omniscient - knew that they would? Is it not a bit as if someone let loose a hare in front of a hare-chasing-trained greyhound, and forbade the greyhound chasing the hare (and mind you, God’s knowledge about Adam and Eve and what they will do – remember, God is timeless! – was so much bigger than the owner’s knowledge about his or her greyhound!).
2. Pastor Comb builds his narrative on a story whereby Adam was not with Eve during her temptation by the serpent. However, this doesn’t seem to be corroborated by the text of the Bible (“So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.” - Genesis 3:6).


In spite of this, I would give the book 4 out of 4 stars, and end it up with what I consider the most striking sentence in the book – which fits so well our societies: “The Christian Gospel has little relevance in our society because the vast majority do not see themselves as 'sinners'."

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Who Told You That You Were Naked?
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[kdstrack]

Thanks for your review. I agree with your argument that Adam was with Eve when she ate the fruit. This is also supported later on in the New Testament writings. Very thorough review. Nice! Thanks.

[Grzegorz Kolodziej]

You are very welcome, kdstrack
By the way - my favourite parts of the Bible are Acts and the Apocalypse (also, Isaac, Daniel and Ezekiel)

[kdstrack]

You are very welcome, kdstrack
By the way - my favourite parts of the Bible are Acts and the Apocalypse (also, Isaac, Daniel and Ezekiel)

I also like Isaiah, Genesis and John and Amos.