Several years ago, I was talking to a friend, describing a book I’d read recently, and she said, “Oh—that sounds like a book I have!” My interest was piqued enough that I ended up borrowing this book from her, and although it took me several years to finally start it and then get through it, I heartily agree with her pronouncement that it’s a worthwhile read. What a book!

This isn’t for the faint of heart. Bill Cooper does his best to bring it down into “layman’s terms”, but there is still so much technical detail in here that, even though I am an avid reader, I had to slow down and take my time with it. This isn’t a lighthearted read; it’s a deep dive into examples, histories, and proofs of how the book of Genesis is accurate and can be trusted. It’s in-depth for a reason, and it is well-researched (I was impressed by the copious numbers of footnotes and bibliographical pages after each chapter or section!), and somehow, Cooper still generally manages to maintain a descriptive, fairly easy-to-understand narrative.

I feel like I learned a lot from this book—mostly little nuggets of facts from history—but I know there was a lot more that I wasn’t able to grasp. I hope I’ll have a chance to read it again sometime in the future, and hopefully, I can take more in then! The part of this book I found most interesting was probably part one, especially the sections devoted to what we know of laws from the Middle East at the time of the patriarchs. That was fascinating! I also enjoyed the retelling of many flood legends from around the world—it was interesting comparing their similarities and differences.

If you want encouragement for your faith, and enjoy something that is firmly rooted in facts, I’d recommend you read this book. I came away blessed, strengthened, and with much to mull over, and I’m sure you will do the same. I hope I can have a copy of this book on my shelf one day—it’s a good one! ( )