Year of Living Biblically One Mans Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible

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Average customer rating 4.9 (11 comments)

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This book seems like it would be entertaining and enjoyable for just about any reader, but I found it a particularly satisfying read as a seminary-educated pastor. Written by a self-professed Jewish agnostic, Jacobs' book is a terrific introduction to the often incredibly fascinating, inspiring, and even repulsive world of biblical literalism. There is enough material here for many weeks of sermon illustrations in my own pulpit. What a find.

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This book is inspiring. The author goes into this crazy world of religion, a discussion which is usually extremely close-minded, with a very open mind. I would recommend this book to just about anyone, no matter there religion or lack there of. Everyone should read this book.

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While the concept of gonzo journalism is most regularly associated with excessive drug use and acts of mayhem while reporting, the founding ideas are a bit more serious. Hunter S. Thompson defined his creation as the pinnacle of engagement, comparable to “a film director who writes his own script, does his own camera work and somehow manages to film himself in action.” The driving principal is that in this deep level of engagement, the author cannot remove himself from the story and as such greater depth can be attained than through straight reporting. From this technical perspective, it’s easy to consider A.J. Jacobs as some form of gonzo practitioner. Jacobs’ writing career regularly involves chronicling a series of social experiments he subjects himself to, ranging from outsourcing his daily life to India to striving for honesty in all cases to studying every last piece of information in an encyclopedia. Not content with these lengths though, he moved from the collected knowledge of man to the collected knowledge of God in his book “The Year of Living Biblically” – and the journey proves to be entertaining and surprisingly poignant. The book’s title summarizes its intent perfectly: for one year, Jacobs strove to follow the Bible to the letter, ranging from its most basic commandments to the most obscure proverbs. Visibly, this meant donning all-white single-fiber garments and growing a beard resembling the brush outside a haunted house; and behaviorally it meant regular prayer, never lying and giving away 10 percent of his salary. He presents his findings in a journal format, tackling a new issue each day and recording his results. Of course, the issue with following these rules is that many of them aren’t truly applicable in modern life, and therein lies the real humor of “Living Biblically.” Not eating fruit unless the tree is five years old, not wearing any garments that have more than one fiber, not touching any woman for a week after her period (his wife Julie is not amused) – Jacobs tries to keep to all of these and more, often going to great lengths and annoying those around him. He never betrays any frustration at the limitations, only an increasing curiosity at their origins and how he can work them into his daily life. The real problem – from his perspective at least – comes up in the variety of instances where the Bible seems to contradict itself, especially when moving from Old to New Testament. A key instance comes in what should be one of the simplest rules, the Sabbath: “A friend of mine once told me that even observing the Sabbath might be breaking the Sabbath, since my job is to follow the Bible. That gave me a two-hour headache.” Jacobs come across as neurotic and yet likable, determined to find an answer no matter what crazy direction it takes him. Jacobs doesn’t try to work these issues out alone, consulting with a wide variety of scholars and professors to seek interpretations of the Bible and interpretations of those interpretations. He runs the gamut from a sect of snake handlers to openly gay Christian fundamentalists, and even makes a pilgrimage to Israel where he herds sheep and speaks with his “spiritual omnivore” guru Uncle Gil. As with the proverbs he judges none of them beforehand, but simply admires and comments on the strength of their faith. His neutrality is helped by his own lack of religious background – raised in a secular family and a self-defined agnostic – but as the year goes on he finds that immersion in faith is starting to rub off on him, creating an alter ego dubbed Jacob. Jacob scolds him for paying attention to Rosario Dawson’s sex life, puts olive oil in his hair and pays attention to every little moral choice made during the day. With every prayer or simple “God willing” he inserts into conversation, it’s clear as the book goes on that his journey has changed him, not dramatically but in very subtle ways of thought and appreciation. At one point in the book, as Jacobs begins to show some frustration at why the Bible can be so contradictory or hard to understand, one of his spiritual advisers offers him a key piece of wisdom: “Life is a jigsaw puzzle. The joy and challenge of life – and the Bible – is figuring things out.” In many ways, “Living Biblically” is defined by this wisdom – a book that confronts hundreds of challenges, and winds up being a joy for the sheer fact that the journey is being undertaken.

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This is a surprisingly reverent exploration of the Bible as well as the customs of those who believe in it literally. It's fascinating to watch Jacobs transform bit by bit through this exploration.

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An excellent book. You do not have to be a religious person in order to enjoy this book. It gives the reader brief glimpses into many religions you otherwise may know nothing about. From the Amish to a snake handling church, you learn many things as well as enjoy AJ Jacobs wry humor. All in all, a great read!

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Another great book by A.J. Jacobs. This time, he embarks on a quest to live Biblically and follow the rules of the Bible. Join him as he grows a beard that gives him problems at airport security, tries to tithe an orange in Israel, and visits a museum in Kentucky devoted entirely to Creation with dioramas of Adam and Eve with dinorsaurs. He even visits a snake handling church to watch Mark 16 put into practice. An excellent book, and hillarious, too.

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The author was not raised to be religious, but decided to spend a year 'living biblically'. He reads the bible, records the 'rules' he finds in the book, and tries to understand religion/faith based on the writings of the bible. The resulting spiritual journey can confirm and challenge your own beliefs....a good read, for persons of any faith....or lack of faith, wondering what people find in the bible.

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I was pleasantly surprised by Jacob's documentation of his year of biblical literalism. When I began, I had a number of concerns, based in part on his last book, The Know-It-All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World. The Year of Living Biblically addresses some of the concerns I had in both instances about a rather mechanistic approach to a year-long, self-imposed, all-encompassing task. I'd have liked to see a more explicit discussion of the reality that by the time the Bible was redacted, much editing had occurred and the documents already reflected past practices that even then were functionally unknowable. Jacobs does say a number of times that even biblical literalism involves interpretation and picking and choosing (he gives the example of not actually plucking one's eye out if it offends one), but it might have been useful for him to discuss in more detail that there was no period in which all of the laws found in either testament were actually followed simultaneously. I'd also have liked more reflection on the process, a quarterly summing up, for example. Since the structure is chronological rather than thematic, at its worst it reads like a diary of tasks (today I threw a stone at an adulterer--check). Generally , however, Jacobs's narrative moves along at a reasonable clip, is pretty funny (though I do wonder why my local Borders stocks it under "Humor" rather than "Religion"), informative, and good-natured. Though some of Jacobs's actions are bizarre out of context, I imagine that many readers will identify with his ongoing difficulties telling the truth, not swearing, and trying to adhere to dietary restrictions. Jacobs's account of following Old Testament prescriptions is more successful than his New Testament months, which are less richly detailed. He does talk about his difficulty as a Jew (even an agnostic Jew) in following some of Christianity's rules. I kept wishing he'd taken a full Old Testament year, then spent another year immersed in a religious tradition entirely alien to him. (I must say apropos of this that I don't blame him for not doing so, and his wife is saint enough as things stand).

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I laughed out loud so many times while reading this book, yet what impressed me most is that Jacobs took his quest so seriously, and that he treated the believers he met with respect and humanity. As an agnostic, it would have been easy for him to go for the cheap laugh, but he actually tried to become a better person (or at least act like one, which may be half the battle.) This was a truly fascinating read (and I think the author's wife might qualify for sainthood.)

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When I told a friend about this book - her first comment was "Oh NO - I will be bored to death." But, I promise you wont be - not with this book. The author is most definitely not normal. He is your everyday nutcase - and I say that with much respect and amusement. He most definitely has his heart in the right place but has a hard time in our society trying to follow the Bible and to obey its rules and commandments. Can you imagine never telling a white lie? What about wearing only clothes with natural fibers. The stories in this book will have you laughing out loud yet it is a serious subject and he gives much to consider and meditate on. A most unusual book. In fact, I will probably reread it.

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This book is both amusing and fascinating. I'd never truly thought about what it would be like to follow the Bible to the letter, something that is pretty much impossible in this day and age. This humorous, yet respectful, book explores this.