Review by Jaime Lync -- Who Told You That You Were Naked?

[Jaime Lync]

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

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2 out of 4 stars

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Retired Presbyterian minister, William E. Combs, presents the reader with a plateful of food for thought (not all nutritious) in his non-fiction book, Who Told You that You Were Naked? A Refreshing Reexamination of the Garden of Eden. Judging from the author’s former occupation and the title of the book it can be safely assumed that this book is pitched to a Christian audience. In fact it is revealed that a sermon acted as a precursor to the book. According to Combs, this literary work is intended to offer a ‘fresh’ outlook on the origin of sin and God’s redemption of humanity via grace through faith.

As a (non-denominational) Christian I would only recommend this book to other Christians that I consider are grounded in the faith and not easily swayed by the doctrine of men. There are a number of reasons for this. Firstly, I view some of his biblical concepts as erroneous. Though I cannot disclose examples as to not provide spoilers I can say that from the onset of the book I find myself reading Combs’ assumptions penned as if they were biblical truths.

The book is seemingly riddled with what I consider contradictions. I do not recommend this to ‘babes in Christ’ because I think that they might adopt the author’s doctrines at face value because he has a Doctor of Ministry degree from Fuller Theological Seminary. However, I believe that Christians who have invested in personal bible study time under the guidance of the Holy Spirit can use this book as a stimulant to re-examine their biblical views. The study questions for discussion at the end of each chapter are really helpful in this department. Comb’s does a really fine job phrasing the questions in such a way that the reader would feel challenged to re-read the chapter and search external sources to answer the questions.

However, I believe that there are other morsels of nutritious food for thought in this book that can be gleamed with the help of the Holy Spirit. Most of the bible passages are not simply referred to but actually quoted in the book. Apart from infusing the book with truth this saves the reader the stress of having to search for the scriptures elsewhere. Additionally, Combs rationalization that sin is not merely a list of misdeeds but an adversary that wars against us is biblically sound (this is not really a spoiler since it can be found in the back cover).

Moreover, Combs employs a conversational tone and vivid imagery that captivate the reader’s attention. However, the footnotes (the name of the book and the chapter alternated on each page) have such a big font size that they are distracting every time one is nearing the bottom of the page. Also, in the end notes the author used Wikipedia links as references which made his work seem unprofessional. Moreover, the author is introduced as William E. Combs on the front cover of the book but addressed as Bill Combs on the back cover. This is confusing to me. Obviously, aside from the actual content other areas such as presentation had its pros and cons.

In summary, Who Told You that You Were Naked? A Refreshing Reexamination of the Garden of Eden, may muddle the mind of some believers while it may strengthen the theological convictions of others. I rate this book 2 out of 4 stars because though it was beautifully penned I do not fully agree with his views nor would I recommend it to everyone in the author’s intended audience.

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Who Told You That You Were Naked?
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Like Jaime Lync's review? Post a comment saying so!

[Flor26]

I really liked that sentence about food for thought. This book does appeal to me. Thanks for the review.

[General Doc]

A thought-provoking for a seemingly thought-provoking book. Thanks for the review.

[AuGold]

Once again, your reviews leave me on the fence of whether I want to read the book or not. I think I do want to read this one. Thanks for the review.

[Jaime Lync]

Thank you for your comments everyone. Please look forward to more of my reviews!

[MrsCatInTheHat]

I was thinking "The Emperor's New Clothes", not the bible, when I saw the book title in your review.

[Jaime Lync]

I was thinking "The Emperor's New Clothes", not the bible, when I saw the book title in your review.

Wow, I never thought of that before CatInTheHat. That's clever. Thanks for your comment!

[Ashie]

Good job on the review. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this book.

-- 15 Jun 2017, 15:34 --

I am not sure that I would read this but I appreciate the review.

[Jaime Lync]

Thanks for reading and commenting Ashie

[John Cand]

I liked your review. I have to agree with Ashie, not sure if this is for me.

[Jaime Lync]

Thanks for reading my review John. Glad you liked it.

[juliusotinyo]

"I find myself reading Combs’ assumptions penned as if they were biblical truths", the book was kinda heavy on this tone. I loved the points you raised, thanks for an insightful review.