Book Review: The Tower of Babel {New Leaf Press}

The Tower of Babel: The Cultural History of Our Ancestors by Bodie Hodge
ISBN: 9780890517154
Available in many formats, page count 272 pages
Publisher: Master Books
Retail: $13.99

About the book (from NLP):

The Tower of Babel: The Cultural History of Our Ancestors reveals our shared ancestry as never before! Many are familiar with the Biblical account of Babel, but after the dispersal, there was a void beyond Biblical history until empires like Rome and Greece arose. Now, discover the truth of these people groups and their civilizations that spread across the earth and trace their roots back to Babel as well as to the sons and grandsons of Noah.  

Many of today’s scholars write off what occurred at the Tower of Babel as mythology and deny that it was a historical event. Beginning with the Biblical accounts, author Bodie Hodge researched ancient texts, critical clues, and rare historic records to help solve the mystery of what became of the failed builders of Babel. For the purpose of defending the Bible, Hodge presents these and other vital historical facts surrounding this much-debated event. Teens and older can use this layman’s reference for Biblical classes, ancient history, apologetics training, and to realize their own cultural connection to the Bible.

 

My thoughts:

Wonderful book! It has been thoroughly researched and includes both sides of this ‘story.’ I won’t go so far as to say it is an unbiased research into this because Bodie Hodge is definitely on the side of the Tower of Babel being an actual historical event, as it is mentioned in the Bible. It is written in a way that is both interesting and accessible. Hodge deals with what is known of languages, uses historic documents and accounts (not just from the Bible), conversations and research from both creationists and evolutions, as well as proponents and opponents of the Tower of Babel being an actual historical event. It has many references in the footnotes; I love that!

When I said that the book is written in an interesting way, here is a snippet from Chapter 16, “By What Means Did Those Scattering from Babel Travel?”

“Well, let’s rule out air travel right from the start! However, it is possible that advanced technology existed in these cultures, such as hot air balloons*. But would such things be used for scattering? Likely not. If anything, such balloons were used for surveying and spotting, if they existed at this time” (pg 103). *he references this in the footnote.

The entire book is interesting and made me want to keep reading. In reference to the above snippet, I would not have even considered air travel in the days of Babel!

I am a Christian who believes the Bible to be the inerrant Word of God. If the Bible says it’s so, I believe it. But when it comes to a book, even when written by an author who also believes that the Bible is inerrant, that is trying to convince readers of something, I expect there to be a lot of concrete evidence. I already know the Bible is true, so for a book to say “the Bible says so” as their argument isn’t going to get me interested in reading the book. Hodge doesn’t do this. He uses the Bible, definitely, but he also has other evidence that supports his claim. Here is an example, from Chapter 12, “Did All ~7,000 Languages Today Come Out of Babel?”

“Both Vista World Languages and Cultures and Ethnologue, companies that provide statistics on languages, agree that there are more than 78 (estimates constantly change but are currently sitting between 94 and 120 languages families). Some groupings include sign languages, and constructed languages that have been developed. With further study in years to come, this may change to a smaller number, but this figure is well within the range of families that dispersed from Babel (Genesis 10)” (pg 68).

A bit later in the chapter, towards the end, he concludes that

“the contrast in the secular view, where we all allegedly evolved from rudimentary ancestors with a single primitive grunting language. This theoretical “proto-language” is not even close to the multitude of root languages that gave rise to languages of today…But let’s clarify a misconception. God is responsible for the languages and it was due to judgment…so is having one language a bad thing? Philo, an early Jewish historian, hit the nail on the head when he said, ‘For it was not the languages which were the causes of men’s uniting for evil objects, but the emulation and rivalry of their souls in wrong-doing’” (pg 73).

He also includes charts and graphics (that when viewed on a Kindle Fire aren’t as good as I’m sure they are in the printed book).

The description says that ‘teens and older’ can use this book, but I’d venture to say that some discerning younger folk may be able to get use for this as well. I really think it is a good book. I intend to recommend it to both of my kiddos, who are both teens.

Now, having said all that (and mentioning that Hodge is definitely on the side of this is an actual historical event- and he is a Christian), if someone is looking for both sides of the story without bias- it won’t be found here. The bias is not hidden in this book. We, the reader, know the agenda of Hodge when it starts out. There are quite a few times that his religious standing is mentioned. Again from chapter 12, he says, “It’s good to be a Christian today, understanding languages from a biblical perspective instead of the world’s faulty ideas” (pg 73). So if you are looking for a book that takes out the Christian aspect and only presents the ‘facts’ without feeling or beliefs, this is not that book. He says,

“When looking at…information, it is good to understand how to categorize it or more properly “give the proper weight” to a source…God is the ultimate authority…Sources outside the Bible can never be trusted with certainty. There is naturally a rank, though. For example, historians’ commentaries can be trusted far more than mythology…(pg 115)”

You can see the table of contents at the Amazon listing here. 

About Bodie Hodge (from NLP):

Bodie attended Southern Illinois University at Carbondale (SIUC) and received a BS and MS (in 1996 and 1998 respectively) in mechanical engineering. His specialty was a subset of mechanical engineering based in advanced materials processing, particularly starting powders. 

After earning his master’s degree, he accepted a position of Visiting Instructor at SIUC and started in the fall semester of 1998. He was only 24 years old when he began teaching undergraduate engineering courses at the university. 

While working at Caterpillar, he taught apologetics to junior high and high school students at his local church, which was a natural outcome considering his love for science, history, and theology. He did this until taking a position with Answers in Genesis in 2003. Currently, Bodie is a speaker, writer, and researcher on a host of topics, including fall of Satan and related events.

Bodie was saved when he was nine. As a youngster, he was active in baseball, football and basketball. His hobbies also included hunting and fishing, which are almost unavoidable pursuits while growing up on a farm in Western Illinois. 

***Disclaimer: I received a pdf of the above book free from New Leaf Press in exchange of an honest review. No compensation was given. All opinions stated are my own. See Disclosure/Policies.***