★★★★★ 5
What they Didn't Teach You in Sunday School
Format: Paperback
Often when reading through the Bible, whether one does so for religious reasons or not, we miss details in the background. Or we do not take into consideration cultural context while interpreting passages. Sometimes, due to difficulties in translating ancient languages into modern ones, some things are literally lost in translation. In this volume, where Godawa collects material he has previously published into one volume, he examines many of these issues. In particular, he focuses on topics that have long mystified people and been the subject of much conjecture and fictionalization: Nephilim, Watchers and giants. He also takes a close look at verses that may have had supernatural elements inadvertently scrubbed: The strange ariel creatures in 2 Samuel 23:20 translated instead into men, or the demons and goblins of Isaiah 13:21-22 written off as wild animals, etc. Clues to a different ancient world than usually supposed?
The only misstep is his adherence to the John Walton ANE interpretation. This is based on superficial interpretation, and worse history (e.g. the whole ANE "dome" interpretation of creation is largely mythical). Walton's books haves done a huge disservice in undermining biblical inerrancy. See Hugh Ross' Rescuing Inerrancy for more on Walton and others who aren't too good at biblical study.
There's a lot of food for thought in these pages. For more, see
and
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Reviewed in the United States on September 1, 2018
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