printed pencil skirt review Tower Babel Bodie Hodge
The events detailed in Genesis 10-11 are often quickly glanced over during many Bible studies today. Sons of Noah...blah blah blah...Tower of Babel...blah blah blah. Bodie Hodge in Tower of Babel:The Cultural History of Our Ancestors bring s us back and asks us to consider the true implications of the events that immediately followed The Flood.
With a combination of sources Hodge lays out a very probable hypothesis for the paths that the founders of human civilizations took. If you love history and the Bible, you will enjoy reading this book. Although the defense of the events in Genesis are very important today, and Hodge takes this very seriously throughout the book, he presents his ideas in easy to read and understand ways. I never found myself lost in his presentations or having to go back and re-read things.
Often times, when eating a meal with our extended family, the topic of of ancestry is brought up in discussion. We hear of a famous actor or sports player who was related to us in some distant way, or of a strange marriage arrangement which connects two related families, and so on. Oftentimes, the conclusion of such conversations is simply the old saying, "It's a small world!" However, the real conclusion should be that we are all one human family...and we all go back to Adam, and more recently, the Tower of Babel.
BalasHapusIn this eye-opening volume, Tower of Babel: The Cultural History of Our Ancestors, biblical history buff, Bodie Hodge of Answers in Genesis, "maps it all out" (literally) from Babel to today, starting from the authoritative history found in the pages of Scripture. One thing that is particularly common with most literature written about the Tower of Babel today, is that it usually starts from a `traditionalist' reading of the Biblical text and not necessarily what the text actually says. Not so with this book, in which Hodge presents a case for the rebellion and dispersion at Babel based on what is clearly revealed in the Word of God, and uses it to explain the world's cultures, customs, legends, and languages. Perhaps one of the most fascinating things about this book is that it ties the ancient world with the modern world, showing how many of the Earth's geographical locations and cities are named after biblical patriarchs, how some of the pagan `deities` worshipped in ancient times are really the ancestors of these people groups who were dispersed from Babel, and how the languages of today would have developed from the language families given by God at Babel.
After having read Bill Cooper's groundbreaking work on the genealogy and ancient history of Europe, After the Flood, I was eager to learn more, but was saddened by the fact that there is very little work (much less reliable or biblical) on this intriguing topic. When I received notice that Master Books (a division of New Leaf Publishing Group) was publishing a new release on this topic, I immediately requested a copy to review. Having read through it now, I am looking forward to distributing this book in our creation club bookstore at our monthly meetings. Here are just a few of my thoughts on this fascinating title:
- Bodie Hodge has certainly done his homework, and has laid solid ground for further research in this important area.
- This is a very readable book; any preteen could pick up and fully understand this book.
- The chapters (with an exception of Chapter 17) are very short (4-8 pages) and meant for easy and timely reading; great for travel. (Note: I read the last 1/3 of the book in a the center aisle of an airplane.)
- Chapter 17, though a long read, has been thoroughly researched and includes priceless information on the whereabouts and travels of the biblical patriarchs, which are confirmed by the records of extra-biblical historians and culture experts.
- The whole of the book is truly challenging (in a good way, `as iron sharpens iron') for creationists, since a majority of the book is focused on refuting some of the formerly held (even by the author) misconceptions about the Tower of Babel event, and giving biblical creationists a wholly biblical understanding which stays loyal to the text of Genesis 10-11.
Conclusion: Everyone wants to know about their family tree. Many non-Christian religions and cults are entirely focused on knowing who their ancestors are. However, as Hodge concludes in this book, it is because we are all one human family through our ancestor Adam that we all need a Savior who is one of our relatives: Jesus Christ. The message of the Bible's trustworthiness inevitably leads one to the One who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, which is the end-all message of this must-have, faith-building book. I highly recommend picking up a copy of Bodie Hodge's Tower of Babel!
The events detailed in Genesis 10-11 are often quickly glanced over during many Bible studies today. Sons of Noah...blah blah blah...Tower of Babel...blah blah blah. Bodie Hodge in Tower of Babel:The Cultural History of Our Ancestors brings us back and asks us to consider the true implications of the events that immediately followed The Flood.
BalasHapusWith a combination of sources Hodge lays out a very probable hypothesis for the paths that the founders of human civilizations took. If you love history and the Bible, you will enjoy reading this book. Although the defense of the events in Genesis are very important today, and Hodge takes this very seriously throughout the book, he presents his ideas in easy to read and understand ways. I never found myself lost in his presentations or having to go back and re-read things.
Several years ago, I embarked on a quest to build my family tree. I wanted to know where my family line led and what my roots were. In theory, this is an easy task; just look up documents from various resources including family interviews, Internet searches, and other places. Well, that research is not as easy as it sounds.
BalasHapusBodie Hodge succeeds in this endeavor. The Tower of Babel: The Cultural History of Our Ancestors provides us with an insightful and revealing look into our human family tree. I was impressed with the level of detail given to describing family lines and the path from Noah and his family, through the Tower of Babel, and on through the ages. Of course, there is no way for this type of an exhaustive topic to be put into a one-volume presentation. However, The Tower of Babel is an excellent primer for those interested in our true ancestry.
There are nuggets of surprising truth that raised my eyebrows more than a few times. I love the way Bodie connects the names of current nations with the names mentioned in Genesis 10. As an example, in the chapter discussing Japheth's grandson, Ashkenaz, Bodie shows us that there is a lake in Turkey that may reflect Ashkenaz's name. Lake Askania is in a region known to have been populated by the descendants of Ashkenaz according to Jeremiah 51:27. The connections made in The Tower of Babel are faith-building and Bible-affirming. Those who read this introduction to our ancestry will appreciate the connections all of us have to God's revealed truth in Genesis.
Bodie Hodge brings age-old history into a fresh and insightful presentation that is sure to build up your faith with historical and geographical insight and evidence!
The book addresses the many controversies of the biblical account of Babel. I really got into the book. I loved the author's way of leading you to the facts and not just the story we know. While, I am not sure I believe everything I have read, I am truly intrigued by Brodie's research and detail. I found the research to be believable and interesting. The book goes into a detailed account of of where the tower and Babel possibly were located as well as a detailed account of the building and what not of the tower. It really had me thinking about my ancestors and how they came to be after the episode at the tower. It makes me curious to understand God's word more. It is a great read. It really is one of those hard to describe books! You must read it for yourself.
BalasHapusThough I've read much in the fields of apologetics and theology over the last few years, I haven't spent much time in various aspects relating to creationism and a young earth theology. This was new territory for me so I didn't know what to expect. I did go into this book with a vague understanding that much of the dating used by James Ussher and others was to be taken with a grain of salt, but honestly, I had never given much thought to the tower of Babel and it's significance to us today.
BalasHapusThere are three things I really appreciated about this book:
1. Working in engineering myself, I appreciated that Bodie, who has an engineering background, did not venture into rampant speculation and myth. He was quick to point out any areas where facts were unclear or unverifiable, and built his analysis on data and proper interpretation of it, not idle speculation.
2. Bodie was quick to point us to the final authority of Scripture and notd everything else is judged in light of Scripture as the final authority. His high view of Scripture runs through this whole book and that was very encouraging and refreshing. Scripture interprets Scripture, and we can go no further than Scripture allows. I was really appreciative that Bodie affirms that in this book.
3. Lastly, Bodie didn't just present a bunch of facts in order to prove that the tower of Babel existed. As he states in chapter 29 Seeing Christ in Babel, "although this helps us get into the Word of God and learn from the wisdom of its pages, let's not forget the reason for it all - Christ". He ends this book by showing how the dispersion of Babel is reversed by Christ and finishes off by tying all of this into the Gospel. When I first started the book, I was wondering what the central point was. Bodie wraps everything up neatly at the end. Christ is the point.
There is a lot of detail here and many footnotes for anyone desiring to study this subject further. With helpful charts and brief chapters, this book takes a subject that could get very confusing and keeps it easy to understand. This is a great tool for layman wanting to learn more in this area!
I received a free copy of this book from New Leaf Publishing in exchange for my unbiased review.