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

[VukJov]

[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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There was never a book read, published or translated as much as Bible. For centuries, scholars and artists as well as common people read it, drawing from it`s text faith, inspiration and strength. However, the biblical text itself always was a kind of a riddle. Most of its readers understood that what was written asked for a special effort on the side of a reader. Those truths that Bible had to offer were never meant to be a prêt-á-porter. The interpretations varied from pious literal understanding to modern scientific criticism. Furthermore, not only do the interpetations differ in their author`s general attitudes but they also vary in scope. Some merely try to grasp the meaning of a certain passage or a single book (e.g. Genesis, John`s Gospel or Paul`s Epistles), while ignoring the rest of the Scripture. Others go a long way to build a solid meaningful account of biblical worldview in its totality, seeking intertextual and intratextual connections, conceptual frameworks and historical evidence. William Combs, a retired Presbyterian minister, offers us his account on the famous Biblical narrative of creation of humans. For those interested in questions of ultimate purpose, religion and piety, it might strike a chord. However, the immediate disclaimer should follow. Don`t expect this read to be an academic survey, panoramic multicultural encyclopedic treatise or similar. It is a pastoral invitation to Church, with all the gains and losses of the genre.

Still, whether you are a God fearing, churchgoing Christian or only a person interested in ancient myths, philosophical inquiries and religiosity in general, I believe this book might give you a thing or two to think about. Starting off from retelling a biblical story of God, Adam, Eve and serpent in Eden, in what is a pretty imaginative albeit not quite accurate narrative construed around the biblical report from Genesis 1-3, Combs gives us his theological credo. His intention, as he openly says, is to exhort us to live a Christian life. We are asked to partake in a Christian exploration of the story of sin, redemption and salvation.

The book is written in plain language, its basic text enriched with textual illustrations and lesson-like questions. For my taste, it’s a bit more melodramatic and psychological than needed. But, it serves his intention properly. Throughout the book`s ten chapters the author tries to give his theological account of what it means to be a human. It`s not that he gives any thorough definition of human nature – what we do get from the book is straightforward analysis of Christian anthropological perspective on sin, God`s grace, good and evil and few other crucial theological concepts. Basic motive for this inquiry is not speculative, academic interest, but a highly practical dilemma. Combs looks for an answer to a question how come that we are in so a specific situation, that we are being constantly tempted to sinful life, while at the same time resenting it strongly? He looks for the answer in Genesis 1-3, combining it with excerpts from Paul`s Epistle to Romans. You may or may not like his answers, but either way, in entertaining his viewpoint one gains clearer vision of richness and complexity of that ancient biblical story. At the same time, the author presents a specific contemporary Christian theological line of reasoning. The latter is only more so precious if we understand that Combs stands firmly in American Protestant theological tradition. In that way, by reading his book we gaze at a prevailing interpretative model of American Christianity. That makes the reading of this book sociologically valuable, aside from all of its aforementioned aspects.

The book Who told you you were naked? is written in highly devotional style. That is not limited to the way the author reasons, but it also has influence on the nature of the text itself. Since he wants us to follow him in serving Jesus, Combs makes a complex textual form, by which he simultaneously tries to inform, motivate and counsel the reader. Accompanying the standard essayistic text, one finds questions at the end of each chapter, hymnic poetry, author`s own dramatisations of biblical stories, and, last but certainly not least (not least awkward, that is) Testimonials. Those Testimonials follow the basic text, subsuming it in a peculiar way. We are told that they represent true reports of God`s or devil`s actions in author`s own life. The most prominent of them are spiced with almost Gothic elements of material presence of Satan, which gave me a chilling feel of departure from reality.

The overall impression is that the rating should be 4 out of 4 stars. The book is well written, intellectually satisfying and provocative. The content is logically organized, the point being articulated through consecutive chapters, thus making the final message universally comprehensible. However, there`s an issue that troubled me throughout the book. What`s worse, instead of diminishing, it grew stronger with almost every page. By the end of the book, I became certain that Combs view of reality discards both scientific knowledge and majority of our everyday experience. Creationism combined with absolute lack of historical perspective is its major symptom for the former, while the demonology of Testimonials says enough of the critique of the latter. For that reason, I consider this book to be sharply divisive, leaving us with an unhappy choice: be a Christian and ignore greatest human achievements in nonreligious spheres, or live in a world of universal experience, but without God. It is as if religion and science/culture counteract each other. Anti-humanist or atheist, that is the question Combs places on the table. Each of us can, of course, discard the dilemma altogether.

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Who Told You That You Were Naked?
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