Review by read+er -- Who Told You That You Were Naked?

[read+er]

[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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Let me introduce you to an appetizing red apple surrounded by green leaves on an apple tree. This is the cover of "Who told you that you were naked? A refreshing reexamination of the Garden of Eden." by William E. Combs. This Presbyterian minister uses personal testimony, examples, understandable explanations and scripture verses to show how the knowledge of good and evil has impacted Adam as well as us. He takes us on a journey, showing us how what happened in Genesis 1-4 affects us today. He talks about how sin an death came into the world and how god offers us a way out by walking with him.

I like how he introduces Adam as a kind, hardworking man who also walks with God. Adam lives in a cave and one day he goes to sit by a river in late spring. As he sits there he witnesses a ewe being attacked and killed by a predator. Adam inspects the remains of the ewe and notices tracks leading into the woods. He must be a good tracker because he is able to follow the tracks to the hiding place of a startled lamb. He calms it down, picks it up and carries it home to take care of it. He names it Lively. One day when he and God are walking together, God shows him a special place, a garden paradise. God shows him trees of all kinds, flowers and birds, as well as growing plants such as barley. God tells Adam that he will be in charge of taking care of this place, as well as naming everything and having dominion over it. Adam can eat from any tree in the garden except for the one in the center. He cannot eat the fruit of this tree for if he does he will die on the day he does. God realizes the man will get lonely so he causes him to fall asleep, creates a helper from one of Adam's ribs. Adam names her Woman because she is a part of him. They work together, gathering food and making things to hold the food. The author uses this story to introduce Adam and Eve.


Along comes Satan, in the guise of a snake watching for a chance to trick them. He sees that chance when the woman is near the center of the garden and Adam is out gathering food. He approaches the woman, encourages her to eat from the forbidden tree and tells her she will be like God if she does. Of course we all know what happens next, she eats it, gives it to Adam, he eats it and their view of themselves changes. They feel naked and ashamed now, knowing that they did wrong. When it is time to meet with God, they hide and cover themselves. God finds them and asks Adam "Who told you that you were naked?" As we all know, he blames the woman and the woman blames the snake. Now things change for them. Thier good relationship with God and the good relationship between the woman and the snake dies. The snake now has to crawl on the ground the rest of his days and Adam and the woman have to leave this garden paradise.

They adjust to this new life and have two sons, Cain and Abel. They now offer sacrifices to God, and teach thier sons to do the same. Abel offers lambs as God requires and God is pleased. Cain who is a farmer had his own ideas about what to sacrifice, food he has grown. He knows God likes Abel's sacrifices better and feels angry, probably humiliated too. So it is in Chapter 4 of Genesis, when God is talking to Cain that the word sin is introduced. God gives him a warning about it.

I like how the author deals with the original sin factor, and how to deal with it through a walk with God. He shows that God can give peace and faith in a world full of troubles. We can't do it ourselves, i have tried. He shows how the Old testament and the New testament are connected using Genesis and Romans as well as other parts of the bible. He gives examples of people who had faith and walked with God, like Abraham, Noah and Joshua. He also talks about Jesus and Paul. You can tell the author lives what he talks about in the stories about his life,and his personal testimony. There really wasn't anything that i didn't like about this book.

I would rate this book a 4 out of 4. I thought it was well edited and well written.

This book would appeal to someone who is looking for peace and faith in our world today, including christians.


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Who Told You That You Were Naked?
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