Book 8: The Year of Living Biblically
The Year of Living Biblically
Nonfiction; memoir
341 pages
Raised in a secular family but increasingly interested in the relevance of faith in our modern world, A.J. Jacobs decides to dive in headfirst and attempt to obey the Bible as literally as possible for one full year. He vows to follow the Ten Commandments. To be fruitful and multiply. To love his neighbor. But also, to obey the hundreds of less-publicized rules: to avoid wearing clothes made of mixed fibers. To grow his beard. To stone adulterers.
The resulting spiritual journey is at once funny and profound, reverent and irreverent, personal and universal. Jacobs also embeds himself in a cross-section of communities that take the Bible literally, including the Amish and the Hasidim. He discovers ancient Biblical wisdom of startling relevance. And he wrestles with seemingly archaic rules that baffle the 21st-century brain.
Jacobs's extraordinary undertaking yields unexpected epiphanies and challenges. Sure to charm listeners both secular and religious, The Year of Living Biblically is part Cliffs-Notes to the Bible, part memoir, and part look into worlds unimaginable.
I am so glad that I read this book! It was amazing to me that Jacobs could live so strictly by The Bible when we live in such worldly times. Jacobs adventures throughout the entire year were eye-opening and humorous at the same time. I was honestly afraid that this book would not portray the Judeo-Christian beliefs in a positive light (especially since the author is a very outspoken Agnostic), but overall, the book was fairly balanced in its views of other beliefs. There were times I felt the author did generalize about certain sects of Christianity, but honestly, that was to be expected since Jacobs admitted it didn't have a lot of knowledge about those sects going into this project. Overall, this was a very interesting read, and I highly recommend it to everyone, whether you yourself are religious or not.
**Next Read: I am still reading Grave Sight by Charlaine Harris. I am also reading The Women's Devotional Bible: Classic Edition, along with What The Bible is All About by Lisa Harper.