The Year of Living Biblically: One Man’s Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible
Where to buy The Year of Living Biblically: One Man’s Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Factually as Possible books online?
- ISBN13: 9780743599337
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
Product Description
From the bestselling leader of The Know-It-All comes a fascinating and timely exploration of religion and the Bible.
Raised in a secular family tree but increasingly interested in the weight of faith in our modern world, A.J. Jacobs decides to dive in headfirst and attempt to obey the Bible as factually as possible for one full year. He vows to follow the Ten Commandments. To be fruitful and multiply. To like his national. But also to obey the hundreds of less publicized rules: to avoid wearing clothes made of mixed fibers; to play a ten-string harp; to stone adulterers.
The resulting spiritual journey is at once amusing and profound, reverent and irreverent, personal and universal and will make you see history’s most influential book with new eyes.
Jacobs’s quest transforms his life even more radically than the year spent reading the entire Encyclopedia Britannica for The Know-It-All. His beard grows so unruly that he is regularly flawed for a member of ZZ Top. He immerses himself in prayer, tends sheep in the Israeli desert, battles idolatry, and tells the absolute truth in all situations – much to his wife’s chagrin.
Throughout the book, Jacobs also embeds himself in a cross-section of communities that take the Bible factually. He tours a Kentucky-based creationist museum and sings hymns with Pennsylvania Amish. He dances with Hasidic Jews in Brooklyn and does Scripture study with Jehovah’s Witnesses. He discovers very ancient biblical wisdom of startling weight. And he wrestles with seemingly archaic rules that baffle the twenty-first-century brain.
Jacobs’s extraordinary undertaking yields unexpected epiphanies and challenges. A book that will charm readers both secular and religious, The Year of Living Biblically is part Cliff Notes to the Bible, part memoir, and part look into worlds unimaginable. Thou shalt not be able to place it down.Amazon.com Review
Amazon Best of the Month, September 2007: Make no mistake: A.J. Jacobs is not a religious man. He describes himself as Jewish “in the same way the Lime Garden is an Italian restaurant.” Yet his latest work, The Year of Living Biblically: One Man’s Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Factually as Possible, is an insightful and hilarious journey for readers of all faiths. Though no fatted calves were harmed in the building of this book, Jacobs chronicles 12 months living a remarkably strict Biblical life full of charity, chastity, and facial hair as impressive as anything establish in The Lord of the Rings. Through it all, he manages to brilliantly keep things light, while avoiding the sinful eye of judgment. –Dave Callanan
Amazon.com
Subtitled: “One Man’s Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Factually as Possible,” Jacobs, or A.J., as his two-year-ancient son calls him, does just that. It is likely that no one but A.J. Jacobs could have accomplished such a feat. After all, his last book, The Know-It-All, chronicles his reading of the entire Encyclopedia Brittanica, from A to Z. No one but a smart, witty, self-deprecating, nitpicky kinda guy would undertake two such daunting tasks, and perfect them with grace, no pun proposed.
Jacobs, a New York Jewish agnostic, decides to follow the laws and rules of the Bible, beginning with the Ancient Tribute, for one year. (He really adds some bonus days and makes it a 381-day year.) He starts by growing a beard and we are with him through every itchy moment. Jacobs is borderline OCD, at least as he describes himself; obsessing over possible dangers to his son, germs, literal interpretation of Bible verses, etc. He enlists the aid of counselors along the way; Jewish rabbis, Christians of every stripe, friends and neighbors.
In an open-minded way he also visits with atheists, Evangelicals Concerned (a gay group), Jerry Falwell, snake handlers, Red Letter Christians–persons who adhere to the red letters in the Bible, persons words spoken by Jesus Himself, and even takes a trip to Israel and meets Samaritans. Through it all, he keeps a healthy skepticism, but continues to pray and is open to the flowering of real faith. Jacobs is a knowledge junky, to be sure. He enjoys the lore he picks up along the way as much as any additional aspect of his conduct experiment. One of the ongoing schticks is his meeting with the shatnez tester, Mr. Berkowitz. He is the one who determines whether or not your clothes are made of mixed fibers, in keeping with the Biblical injunction not to wear wool and linen together. The two become friends and prayer partners, in only one of the unexpected results of this year.
In the end, he says, “I’m now a reverent agnostic. Which isn’t an oxymoron, I swear. I now judge that whether or not there’s a God, there is such a thing as sacredness. Life is sacred.” Not a terrible outcome. –Valerie Ryan
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This is my second try at reviewing this.
Amazon turned down the first
and will probably do the same with this one.
The leader offends everybody religious.
The only thing excellent is he uses broad strokes
and is sincere about it?
Reader’s Rating: 1 / 5
That being:”Thou shalt not squander one’s time in useless drivel at the expense of one’s family tree.” How anyone could possibly read this book and gain anything useful, meaningful or even abstractedly entertaining from it amazes me. After finishing this book,my heart completely went out to this man’s poor wife! HOW she could tolerate all the pointless, unnecessary stress he caused her in adhering to these outdated moral codes/conduct while in a state of ADVANCED PREGNANCY no less is anyone’s
guess; the woman must be a saint!
Clearly, though Jacobs is a self-described “workaholic” he surely must have an ABUNDANCE of free time on his hands in order to have committed so much time and energy to having lived this lifestyle for such an extended period of time. For EVERYONE I’ve ever known who really ARE “workaholics” to have even ATTEMPTED to incorporate more than approx. HALF of these laws into DAILY practice would have essentially required them to withdraw nearly completely from their job, family tree and modern-day society itself for considerably longer than they could afford to do so and STILL care for the needs of their family tree AND friends financially, emotionally and mentally. Workaholic? As the ancient songline goes:”NICE work if you can get it! And if you get it, then won’t you show me HOW?”
Silly, pointless and devoid of inspiration, charm or even mere
entertainment value in all-purpose, I give this turkey of a book
ONE star(and I’m being GENEROUS at that, since after all it IS the holiday season). My suggestion to Jacob’s wife:find your spouse some USEFUL HOBBIES, QUICK!
Reader’s Rating: 1 / 5
Oh, my gosh! Is that Bible a hoot? All persons weird injunctions! God, I nearly died laughing. I mean, I am so in to recommending it to my friends.
Reader’s Rating: 1 / 5
I really delight in this book but I figure it doesn’t hurt to keep Mr. Jacobs’ ego in check. 1 Star for modesty and humility.
Reader’s Rating: 1 / 5
This book is truly a Biblical spoof! It is excellent for a laugh, but, I hope no one takes it seriously! The leader isolates a few teachings, largely from the Ancient Tribute, and in a rather childish, comical way seeks to abide by them for a year. If you are not familiar with Scripture, this book would lead you to judge that the Bible is a joke!
O that we would seek to live for a year by the teachings of the Christ of the New Tribute!
Reader’s Rating: 1 / 5