Review by Emerald+ -- Who Told You That You Were Naked?
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Emerald+
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Review by Emerald+ -- Who Told You That You Were Naked?
[Following is a volunteer review of "Who Told You That You Were Naked?" by William Combs.]
Who Told You That You Were Naked? A Refreshing Reexamination of the Garden of Eden by William E. Combs is a Christian spiritual novel that reimagines the story of creation. It gives a fictional, more detailed account of what life may have been like in the Garden of Eden for Adam and Eve. Combs also gives explanations at the end of a particular scene in his retelling to explain his line of thought. There are also discussion questions at the end of every chapter for the reader to reflect on certain aspects of the story that Combs wants them to think about.
The story starts when God creates the first man, Adam. He places him in the Garden of Eden where he instructs him to look after it. He also tells Adam that he can eat fruit from any tree in the garden except for fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. As Adam spends some time in the garden he begins to feel lonely. So, God puts Adam to sleep and from his rib creates the first woman. The two become husband and wife and live together peacefully in the garden. However, one day a serpent appears to Adam’s wife and tricks her into eating the fruit from the tree of knowledge. She then proceeds to convince Adam to eat the fruit as well. As they have sinned, God punishes them.
What I especially liked about the novel was the fact that even though Combs was giving his own version of the story of creation, he constantly cited chapters and verses from the Bible to back up his ideas. That way, whether the reader agrees or disagrees with his point of view at least they can understand where his line of thought was coming from.
Combs also gave very interesting interpretations of the meaning behind certain events of the story. In addition to sharing his own personal interpretations and ideas, he would give many citations from a plethora of sources. Such as the old Hebrew language definitions and even from other books of the Bible. Where he would compare similar ideas explored in the examples to the passage and suggest how they may be connected. Giving a completely new meaning and understanding of the story.
For example, when Adam and Eve took a bite of the fruit of knowledge and became aware of their nakedness. Which is a very important moment in the story of creation. Combs went on afterwards to explain what the significance of their realization was. He really went in depth using definitions from the old Hebrew texts to clarify certain things and even drew examples from the real world to really help illustrate his ideas.
Furthermore, Combs would also highlight certain words from a Bible passage and then give new definitions of the word. For example, an old Hebrew language definition of the word and he would also explain how the word could mean different things when used in a certain context. Challenging the original understanding of the meaning of the words. In some cases, the new definition might even change the meaning of the whole passage it came from.
Overall, this novel was well written, I found no grammatical or spelling errors in it at all. The story is very well put together. The way Combs structured his arguments was cohesive and coherent. The language, style and tone used were immaculate. That is why I rate this book 4 out of 4 stars. I feel this novel is directed towards Christian readers who are seeking more insight into their faith and would like to find different ideas about the meaning of certain texts in the Bible.
******
Who Told You That You Were Naked?
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Who Told You That You Were Naked? A Refreshing Reexamination of the Garden of Eden by William E. Combs is a Christian spiritual novel that reimagines the story of creation. It gives a fictional, more detailed account of what life may have been like in the Garden of Eden for Adam and Eve. Combs also gives explanations at the end of a particular scene in his retelling to explain his line of thought. There are also discussion questions at the end of every chapter for the reader to reflect on certain aspects of the story that Combs wants them to think about.
The story starts when God creates the first man, Adam. He places him in the Garden of Eden where he instructs him to look after it. He also tells Adam that he can eat fruit from any tree in the garden except for fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. As Adam spends some time in the garden he begins to feel lonely. So, God puts Adam to sleep and from his rib creates the first woman. The two become husband and wife and live together peacefully in the garden. However, one day a serpent appears to Adam’s wife and tricks her into eating the fruit from the tree of knowledge. She then proceeds to convince Adam to eat the fruit as well. As they have sinned, God punishes them.
What I especially liked about the novel was the fact that even though Combs was giving his own version of the story of creation, he constantly cited chapters and verses from the Bible to back up his ideas. That way, whether the reader agrees or disagrees with his point of view at least they can understand where his line of thought was coming from.
Combs also gave very interesting interpretations of the meaning behind certain events of the story. In addition to sharing his own personal interpretations and ideas, he would give many citations from a plethora of sources. Such as the old Hebrew language definitions and even from other books of the Bible. Where he would compare similar ideas explored in the examples to the passage and suggest how they may be connected. Giving a completely new meaning and understanding of the story.
For example, when Adam and Eve took a bite of the fruit of knowledge and became aware of their nakedness. Which is a very important moment in the story of creation. Combs went on afterwards to explain what the significance of their realization was. He really went in depth using definitions from the old Hebrew texts to clarify certain things and even drew examples from the real world to really help illustrate his ideas.
Furthermore, Combs would also highlight certain words from a Bible passage and then give new definitions of the word. For example, an old Hebrew language definition of the word and he would also explain how the word could mean different things when used in a certain context. Challenging the original understanding of the meaning of the words. In some cases, the new definition might even change the meaning of the whole passage it came from.
Overall, this novel was well written, I found no grammatical or spelling errors in it at all. The story is very well put together. The way Combs structured his arguments was cohesive and coherent. The language, style and tone used were immaculate. That is why I rate this book 4 out of 4 stars. I feel this novel is directed towards Christian readers who are seeking more insight into their faith and would like to find different ideas about the meaning of certain texts in the Bible.
******
Who Told You That You Were Naked?
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
