Review by Plfern -- Who Told You That You Were Naked?

[Plfern]

[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 story written by William Combs that takes the reader on a journey through the Garden of Eden in a refreshingly different point of view and builds on that topic through a relationship of faith and ends it by asserting that all Christians are to follow Christ. The author uses word pictures that conjure up images that make you feel as though you were actually there, smelling the fruit on the trees, feeling the grass tickle your feet, hearing the birds chirping, and experiencing the emotions that Adam and Eve felt as they encountered the serpent and afterwards God's confrontation with them. The author tells other short stories that he relates back to this account in the Bible such as how the light of a penlight is so much different from the splendor of the aurora borealis as told in the Introduction.

As William Combs writes, he stops to explain the meaning of Hebrew words that help the reader understand passages of scripture such as, "Eve sounds like the Hebrew word for life-giver and resembles the word for living," found in chapter 2 of this book. At the end of each chapter, the author lists Study Questions to help the reader grasp the lesson even further which makes this book a good candidate for a group study. Throughout the book, the author writes out quotes from scripture rather than simply giving scripture references so that the book continues to flow instead of 1) having to stop to look up the scripture or 2) not looking up the scripture and missing out on the insight given.

The title of this book, Who Told You That You Were Naked?, caught my attention first, and then when I saw that it was written by a Presbyterian Minister telling Adam and Eve's story, I just had to read it. The author's personal stories about true events that he intertwines within this book keep it light and rolling right along. He even wrote a short story in the End Notes about fig leaves. Using different fonts and indentations for the main story, the explanation of how it relates to the story, and the Bible quotations, make it easier to follow along and think about what was being read. It is well-organized in this respect.

I like the fact that the author uses the End Notes for verifying his information. He gives many references to Theological Dictionaries and websites where he found his information. As you read the book, be sure to read the End Notes as you go along. It will prove to be interesting and insightful. Mr. Combs uses some words in his book that aren't everyday words such as, proclivity, subjugating, profligate, and pedagogic. There were thirty such words that I wrote down to look up their meaning later. When I don't know the meaning of words, it puts a damper on fully understanding the material that I'm reading, but in the long run it enriches my vocabulary.

I didn't care much for the banners that were placed throughout each chapter that quoted snippets of passages from the book. I felt they were distracting in the ebook, but perhaps for someone who is flipping through the actual book, these would be eye-catching and help the reader get the gist of the book by simply reading several of these banners. I read the first few banners as I went along, but then I realized that I had already read that in the story, so I skipped over the rest of them.

Even though there are only ten chapters in this book, a few of them are rather lengthy, and it is easy to get bogged down in them. Other than that, I enjoyed reading Who Told You That You Were Naked? by William Combs. Because this book was such a great learning tool and approached the subject matter from a fresh perspective, I rate it 4 out of 4 stars. There were only six simple spelling and grammatical errors that I found throughout the book. Being a Christian who has read through the Bible many times, I can't judge how a person who hasn't read the Bible would be able to relate to this book. I do recommend reading this book for anyone who is familiar with the Adam and Eve account in the Bible and are ready for greater insight on this subject.

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Who Told You That You Were Naked?
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[joycechitwa]

What a thorough and objective review of the work. I relate especially with your comment that it's not immediately clear how a person unfamiliar with the Bible would receive the concepts in the book. It does have some uncommon level of theological depth. I personally enjoyed the stories, though! I thought they bring a contemporary angle to the Biblical settings for the passages he touched on. Thank you for the review.

[Juliet144]

Your review is very comprehensive and clear.
I just finished reading this book and also found it to be a very refreshing book to read. I particularly liked his personal stories. These definitely add life and zest to the book.