Names, Nations, and the New Testament

by Madelyn Rose Craig

Names, Nations, and the New Testament will explain in brief how the nations of the world arose from the sons of Noah, how they spread across the face of the whole earth, and why that should matter to you. These chapters discuss the history of all the people starting with the Table of Nations and continuing with language, DNA, culture, and records from around the world, including stories found worldwide that speak on the Genesis Tower of Babel event! Names, Nations, and the New Testament is a book digging into the origins and history of mankind from Creation to Babel, Pentecost to the present, and connecting people across the globe as part of one family, one race, one blood. This is the story of the world, our ancestors, and you!

318 pages, Paperback

Published September 25, 2020

About the author

Madelyn Rose Craig is an author from Southeast Michigan. Madelyn began writing at a young age, but her passion for writing and sharing her work grew when she was 16. To date, her works have included essays on apologetics, short stories, and poetry. She earned a bachelor's degree in English and Art from Concordia University, Ann Arbor, in 2016. In 2020, she published her first book: Names, Nations, and the New Testament. Madelyn is wife to an adoring husband, mother to a curious daughter and smiley son, and owner of a rambunctious Labrador. If she is not writing or reading, she is probably on a walk with her family, painting, or playing guitar. For more information about the author and her work, check out her website madelynrosecraig.com.

Reviews

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Names, Nations, and the New Testament is a survey of the sons of Noah, what the Scriptures and other historical documents say about Noah's son's tribes and where they may have migrated throughout the earth. Mrs. Madelyn Rose Craig provides references to other scholarly work addressing the subject matter. As a survey this is a good book for those that are looking for a starting point to study Biblically recorded societies which form the basis for much of Scriptural history. However, one should note that over time this book will decrease in value as other scholarly work is published.

A few nits. There is a bit of repetition which could have been edited out saving some space. Most of this occurs with those tribes and family groups which little is known. The maps in many cases are not very helpful tracing migratory patterns and they are way too numerous. The geographic data could have been consolidated across family groups to reduce the number of maps. Finally the last chapter brings the story of Babel to a close with the story of Pentecost. Unfortunately the first part of this chapter is a bit of a hot mess. For a Christian who has a sound understanding of Church history and doctrine the chapters shouldn't be an issue, but for those that may not have this same level of understanding it would be very hard to follow Mrs. Madelyn Rose Craig's leaps in logic. The following is an example of how someone who is not familiar with the doctrine of the Church might have a hard time following the author's logic, "How do we know Christ came to save all people? Christ's earthly lineage was of Abraham." How does Christ's earthly lineage relate to saving all people? Why is the lineage of Abraham important to the world's salvation? This is later explained, but the initial statement is confusing rather than clarifying. A bit more time should have been spent in this final chapter associating the history of the Old Testament to the Gospel of the New Testament.

[Josh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ever wonder why those huge genealogies are listed in the bible over and over again? This book goes through each of those families, from the flood to pentecost. I found it best to read it as a companion to the Bible to better help me understand the people and the geography in the Biblical narratives. The book definitely makes you better understand that we are all related by blood in one human race and that the Biblical history is not just internally consistent, but actually makes sense with the archaeological, linguistic, and historical evidence we have discovered so far. The maps were an excellent addition to each chapter to really understand the way people spread out to the whole world after Babel. The chapter about flood and Babel legends from all over the world was particularly eye-opening for me. The book is probably worth buying and reading just for that chapter. If you doubt or don't understand the importance of Biblical history or all those genealogies or just want to research the Christian worldview more in-depth, I highly recommend Names, Nations, and the New Testament. The author also helpfully included the citations for all the research she did in her efforts to write the book, so everything is transparent and can be looked into in even more depth.

[Madelyn Craig]

Names, Nations, and the New Testament digs into the origins and history of mankind from Creation to Babel, Pentecost to the present, and connects people across the globe as part of one family, one race, one blood. This is the story of the world, our ancestors, and you!

[Jason Ferguson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Madelyn Rose Craig is to be commended for the five years of meticulous research she undertook, using a mountain of sources ancient and modern, to write this amazing book about the Table of Nations of Genesis 10. Her work is so detailed and well-written that I would label her book as a true academic enterprise. Names, Nations and the New Testament covers lots of history and Scripture on the genealogies of Noah’s three sons, culminating with chapter 30, where Madelyn ties Old and New Testament passages together into a Gospel presentation. My only concern is for her periodic usage of the dubious, so-called ‘Book of Jasher’ as a source, but otherwise, this book is excellent. Perhaps in the future, if she releases an updated edition, she could address the possible (if not probable) connection between the Magyars, Huns and Xiongnu, and weave that into her chapter on Magog. Tuisco, the ancient, deified founder of Germanic peoples (who was either Ashkenaz, according to James Anderson’s Royal Genealogies, or Gomer, if Philip Melanchthon was right) is not mentioned in Craig’s notes on Ashkenaz—maybe she could address this. In regards to the chapter on Shem, I would be interested to know who she thinks Melchizedek really was (even though it would tangential to the main topics of her book). Madelyn’s work, in my opinion, deserves a wider readership. Make sure you have a world atlas and Bible atlas with you when reading this book!