Book Review: "Tower of Babel" by Bodie Hodge

"Tower of Babel" by Bodie Hodge is a new book that traces the ancestry of modern humans back to the dispersion of mankind at the Tower of Babel". I found that Mr. Hodge's research was very in-depth and thorough. At times, I was actually overwhelmed by the amount, and the detail, of his findings.

For anyone who believes that the Biblical record is true, this is a faith-building book. Mr. Hodge treats the account of the global flood, and of the language-confusing dispersion of the people at Babel, as fact and then proceeds to trace lineages of the dispersed people through time to us. For those who deny the biblical record, this book will challenge your belief system.
As Mr. Hodge lays out lineages for the reader, he also touches on several other subjects that I found both fascinating and informative. Mr. Hodge begins the book by looking at how the word “Babel” is pronounced, citing some etymological background. He also explains some of the attacks on the account of Babel from secular, and Christian, groups. Mr. Hodge rightly (in my opinion) says that the denial of the account of Babel is tied into a denial of the authority of God’s Word overall.

Mr. Hodge tackles supposed contradictions associated with the Babel account. He goes on to present his well-researched viewpoints as to why the people were dispersed at Babel, where Babel was located, what was the purpose of the Tower of Babel, and what kind of tower it was. Mr. Hodge has obviously done much research on this subject.

The question of just what is meant in Genesis 10:25 concerning the, “…days the earth was divided”. Mr. Hodge lays out a convincing view that this refers to the division of the people not the division of land masses which he says, and I agree, happened during and after the Flood. The false belief that dark-skinned people resulted from the “Curse of Ham” (found in Genesis 9:25) is addressed and shown to be unfounded.

The long ages lived by early humans is also explained quite handily by Mr. Hodge, as is the cause of our ever-decreasing longevity. I found the chapter on the origin of writing to be especially interesting as it is something in which I am very interested. Although, I don’t believe there is a lot to investigate concerning the origin of writing. My viewpoint, and Mr. Hodges, is that God gave Adam and Eve the ability to speak, there is no reason for Him not to give them the ability to write also.

When one takes the Word of God at face value, instead of trying to make everything we see fit an evolutionary (or even an old-earth) model, one sees history in a completely different way. We have never been apes, fish, or any other lower form of life which developed over great amounts of time into what we are today. We were created by an almighty loving God to whom we owe everything. Mr. Hodge’s book “Tower of Babel” approaches history with this presupposition…and he delivers a book that powerfully upholds the authority of God and His Word.

One quote that stood out to me concerns those who think that they must have every question answered in order for them to believe the Bible. Mr. Hodge writes, “Remember, the Bible gives us sufficient information, not all information” (p. 196, italics his). God has answered, in His Word, all the questions that we need answered in order to love, worship, obey, and have a saving relationship with Him. All we have to do is read His Word to know these things.