The Year of Living Biblically

The Year of Living Biblically is written by A. J Jacobs who has tried many extreme experiments throughout his life.  His other books include Drop, Dead Healthy a book where he tries to  sift through hundreds of "diets" and find the one that is right for him. Another book, The Know-It-All, finds Jacobs reading the Encyclopedia from A-Z. 

Throughout The Year of Living Biblically, he reads through different scriptures and tries to apply them as literally as possible. He devotes the first eight months to the Old Testament and the last four to the New Testament. I was hoping that he would delve more into the New Testament, however I believe his Jewish ancestry influenced his longer duration in the Old Testament. 

Along the way he has spiritual advisors including rabbis, ministers and priests who guide him on how to interpret the law and how to follow it precisely. Comic anecdotes include a Rabbi who comes over every week to make sure that his clothes are not made from two different types of cloth (Leviticus 19:19- Nor shall there come upon you a garment of cloth made of two kinds of stuff). This particular Rabbi has been in this business for decades and separates the clothes Mr. Jacobs can/cannot wear.

He has a meeting with the Amish which leads to no shaving for an entire year (Leviticus 19: 27 Ye shall not round the corners of your heads). He finds a kinship with his brethren over his beard. As he was not very religious before trying this experience he tries to follow everything as much as possible even though he might not believe it. He forces himself to pray for 30 minutes everyday for three, ten minute intervals. At the beginning he finds it to be very uncomfortable and weighty, however as the year progresses he finds his time of prayer to be therapeutic and looks forward to prayer throughout the day. He researches the right way to pray, but still doesn't know the correct answer.
        How do you pray? Sitting, kneeling, bowing head, raising hands to the sky?

He travels to Lynchburg, VA and meets with Evangelical Christians that follow Jerry Falwell/Pat Robertson and Red-Letter Christians---those that take the Red Letters (Jesus' words in the Bible) most seriously.  

It was a fun, interesting read to see how hard it would be to follow the Bible 100% literally. He mentions that scripture is contextual, but only sparingly. I think readers may forget that all scripture is useless if it is taken out of context and not studied without a knowledge of the environment in which it was written. There is real, transformational power in meditating on scripture and understanding  the meaning behind the words that are written. I think this book would have looked very different if that was his objective, not as a personal experiment. Nevertheless, I recommend this book to believers and non-believers alike.

Some scriptures that he works through:

·         Genesis 1:28: Be Fruitful and multiply 
He has many discussions with is wife about this piece of scripture. We find out that they end up having twins at the end of the book.

·         Exodus 20:17: You shall not covet. 
Is it wrong to covet a Jaguar or is it only wrong when you covet someone else’s Jaguar?

·         Genesis 14:20: …and he gave him a tenth of all. 
This passage is the number one reason people tithe ten percent of income to the Church.

·         Proverbs 13:24: He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him. God treats his children with both justice and mercy.
This lead to another discussion with his wife on how to raise their children and whether his son Jasper shall receive the "rod".

·         Psalms 119:27: Make me understand the way of thy precepts, and I will meditate on thy wondrous works.
He tries out meditation, which he comes to enjoy quite a bit. 

·         Leviticus 19:13: The wages of a hired servant shall not remain with you all night until the morning.
This leads to some late night spending

·         Ecclesiastes 9:8: Let not oil be lacking on your head. 
Many times he puts oil on his forehead and that of others.

·         Leviticus 15:19: When a woman has a discharge of blood, which is her regular discharge from her body, she shall be in her impurity for seven days, and whoever touches her shall be unclean until the evening.
This leads him to sleeping in a different room from his wife one week of every month.

·         Psalms 63:  O God, thou art my God, I seek thee, my soul thirsts for thee; my flesh faints for thee, as in a dry and weary land where no water is.
This was a scripture he was able to relate to during some difficult times.

·         Leviticus 25:4: In the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of solemn rest for the land… 
49 years=Jubilee. Forgiving debts. He tries to forgive debts of those who have not paid him.

·         Exodus 20: 8 Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Every Sunday he does not do any work in the house or for his work at Esquire. This is a long process for him as Sunday had always been his day to work through emails on his computer. After a period of time he found the rest on Sunday to be very beneficial.

·         2 Samuel 6:14 David danced before the Lord with all his might. 
Jacobs learns about  a Jewish tradition in New York were males meet, drink heavily and dance to follow this piece of scripture.

·         Leviticus 20:27 They shall be stoned with stones, their blood shall be upon them. 
This leads to another funny anecdote of try to throw pebbles at random strangers in Central Park. So...he kinda follows this commandment.

·         Deuteronomy 8:10 And you shall eat and be full, and you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land He has given you. 
Maybe this is why we pray before meals?

·         Exodus 20:4 You shall not make for yourself a graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.
This raises the question: Is making images wrong?

·         Deuteronomy 25: 11-12 When men fight with one another, and the wife of the one draws near to rescue her husband from the hand of him who is beating him, and puts out her hand and seizes him by the private parts, then you shall cut off her hand; your eye shall have no pity.
No extra description necessary for this one.

·         Proverbs 11:6 The Treacherous are taken captive by their lust. 
Jacobs discovers a company called Clearplay—a Christian company that strips away all avenues for lust in movies and TV. There are several movies and TV shows that he is unable to follow the plot because everything has been stripped away, no pun intended.

·         Exodus 20:15: You shall not steal. 
Allowing your son to take three straws from Starbucks so that he does not have a major fit—is this stealing?

·         Reads the story of Tamar.
Even great things can be born from ethically murky origins. Even an illicit, deceit-filled union can lead to someone like King David.

·         Deuteronomy 6:9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house.
Jacobs actually writes the ten commandments on his front door. 

·         Leviticus 19:16 Do not go around as a gossiper among your people. 
This one was very tricky for Jacobs. He tries to not have any negative speech—Try it for a day! Are you able completely remove negativity?

·         Psalms 33:2 Praise the Lord with the lyre; make melody to him with the harp of ten strings!
Jacobs buys a lyre online and learns to play, much to the delight of his wife and neighbors.

·         Leviticus 11:2 These are the living things which you may eat among all the beasts that are on the earth. You shall eat no pork or bacon or any other pig meat (land creatures must have cloven hoofs and chew their cud to be edible), no shellfish, no blood, no rabbits, and certain birds. 
This is the reason for pork free diets.

·         Deuteronomy 22: 6 If you chance to come upon a bird’s nest you shall not take the mother with the young.
Another hilarious anecdote where Jacobs meets with his Rabbi and learns what to do with the mother bird apart from her young.