This readable discussion on sin, faith, and salvation offers an inventive, informed take on Eden and the nature of faith.
This exegetical work scrutinizes what happened in the Garden of Eden to better clarify the concepts of sin and redemption.
Like many Christians, debut author Combs—a retired Presbyterian minister—came to understand sin, salvation, and faith through the New Testament. With this book, he focuses on these concepts as introduced in the Old Testament and the Garden of Eden episode so as to “delve into the events through which sin and death entered the world.” Combs begins by considering the joys of Eden, the circumstances that forced Adam and Eve out of it, and the results of leaving Eden, including the murder of Abel by Cain. He explores the nature of faith, the difference between faith and works, challenges to faith, and what it truly means to follow Christ. He also considers the true nature of sin, which he argues should be seen as relational, not as something that lies in wait to trip us up; for example, it wasn’t lurking Satan but Cain’s “perception of his relationship with his brother” that drove him to murder. Adam and Eve’s shame for their nakedness didn’t derive from disobedience, a common interpretation. What the apple truly disclosed, according to the author, was an inner conviction of not measuring up, especially to God. Combs cautions readers to remember difficulties of translation but doesn’t otherwise historicize Eden or interpret it metaphorically as some writers have done (for example, by seeing it as a story of the agricultural revolution, which introduced social inequality). Throughout, Combs lightens his discussion with vivid retellings of biblical events and stories of personal encounters with the divine, the straightforward accounting of which may startle some. Believers are likely to find fresh ways to understand well-known texts, while readers who disagree may not be persuaded but can engage fruitfully with Combs’ carefully made points, supported through biblical and scholarly references, study questions, and endnotes.
This readable discussion on sin, faith, and salvation offers an inventive, informed take on Eden and the nature of faith.Pub Date: April 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-942587-68-2
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Carpenter's Son Publishing
Review Posted Online: Dec. 5, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.
A compendium of charts, time lines, lists and illustrations to accompany study of the Bible.
This visually appealing resource provides a wide array of illustrative and textually concise references, beginning with three sets of charts covering the Bible as a whole, the Old Testament and the New Testament. These charts cover such topics as biblical weights and measures, feasts and holidays and the 12 disciples. Most of the charts use a variety of illustrative techniques to convey lessons and provide visual interest. A worthwhile example is “How We Got the Bible,” which provides a time line of translation history, comparisons of canons among faiths and portraits of important figures in biblical translation, such as Jerome and John Wycliffe. The book then presents a section of maps, followed by diagrams to conceptualize such structures as Noah’s Ark and Solomon’s Temple. Finally, a section on Christianity, cults and other religions describes key aspects of history and doctrine for certain Christian sects and other faith traditions. Overall, the authors take a traditionalist, conservative approach. For instance, they list Moses as the author of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible) without making mention of claims to the contrary. When comparing various Christian sects and world religions, the emphasis is on doctrine and orthodox theology. Some chapters, however, may not completely align with the needs of Catholic and Orthodox churches. But the authors’ leanings are muted enough and do not detract from the work’s usefulness. As a resource, it’s well organized, inviting and visually stimulating. Even the most seasoned reader will learn something while browsing.
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2005
ISBN: 978-1-5963-6022-8
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
This a book of earlier, philosophical essays concerned with the essential "absurdity" of life and the concept that- to overcome the strong tendency to suicide in every thoughtful man-one must accept life on its own terms with its values of revolt, liberty and passion. A dreary thesis- derived from and distorting the beliefs of the founders of existentialism, Jaspers, Heldegger and Kierkegaard, etc., the point of view seems peculiarly outmoded. It is based on the experience of war and the resistance, liberally laced with Andre Gide's excessive intellectualism. The younger existentialists such as Sartre and Camus, with their gift for the terse novel or intense drama, seem to have omitted from their philosophy all the deep religiosity which permeates the work of the great existentialist thinkers. This contributes to a basic lack of vitality in themselves, in these essays, and ten years after the war Camus seems unaware that the life force has healed old wounds... Largely for avant garde aesthetes and his special coterie.
Pub Date: Sept. 26, 1955
ISBN: 0679733736
Page Count: 228
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Sept. 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1955
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