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

[wdmonty]

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

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3 out of 4 stars

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William E. Combs’s book, Who Told You That You Were Naked, is a religions/self-help non-fiction work. The presentation of the book was very well organized, and had many thought-provoking ideas concerning the nature of sin and nakedness in regards to how they affect human nature. I am giving this book 3 out of 4 stars.

William E. Combs begins the book with a quaint little story about his childhood that was related to the work as a whole. The story drew me into the subject matter without seeming out of place or independent from the work. Then, the book recaps the story of Adam and Eve in the book of Genesis from the Bible. Combs combines his non-fiction exposition with a work of fiction that allows the reader to relate to the narrative he is delivering. The balance was effective and intriguing. The major point of the book is how sin and nakedness relate to the “wellspring of sin,” that is the knowledge of good and evil mentioned in the Genesis story.

One of my favorite things about the work was the snippets of personal stories the author included to help illustrate points he was making. The stories were not too long and fit well in the context of the points the author was trying to get across to his audience. He was also very clear in delivering his message. I have read books that beat around the bush attempting to fill pages, and mostly, that technique does not work well. Combs, however, easily defines his points while driving home the interpretation with his personal stories. This not only made the book easy to read but also made it easy to understand.

Only a few things bothered me about this work. The first, and major problem, is that in the fictional part of his story, Combs described Adam as lying to Eve before partaking of the fruit that got them cast out of the Garden of Eden. In my understanding, lying is a sin. Therefore, the first transgression of Adam would not have been eating forbidden fruit but rather telling a lie according to the author’s interpretation. I do not think Combs intended this, but the lack of clarity leaves it indeterminable. I assume he meant Adam implies that Eve should not touch the fruit, but this is left entirely to reader assumption. The only other problem that stood out to me was an inconsistency in grammar. While using “first,” and “second,” or “firstly,” and “secondly,” are both correct, I believe that one or the other should be used consistently. The author several times throughout the book starts by using, “first,” then moves on to using, “secondly.” This inconsistency isn’t major, but it stands out.

Overall, I found this book enjoyable and informing and would recommend it to other Christians looking for something to help grow their faith. The author did a wonderful job in communicating his thoughts and making the work personal which allows readers to relate to the story more than they would otherwise.

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Who Told You That You Were Naked?
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