Year of living biblically ebook

The only bummer was that he didn't talk about Mormons much, or ever meet with one. I wanted to hear what he would say! He did say once that he was starting to think structure is good, like Mormon missionaries, and another time I was scanning a page and saw the word "oxymoron" and thought the "moron" part of the word said "mormon" and got excited over nothing.

Not only did he do all the strange biblical laws, he also tried to go a year without gossiping, swearing, backbiting, having lustful thoughts, lying, etc, etc I decided to try for one day while reading this book. I failed by 9 AM, when I went on a walk with my neighbor and spend an hour venting about a teenage girl in the ward who was driving me crazy. Then I had lustful thoughts while watching some olympic athletes.

Then I lied to a someone who called that I just didn't want to talk to for very long. I told her I was going visiting teaching and had to hang up. And that night, my sweet neighbor girl came over and asked for a donation for her marching band fundraiser.

At first, I was all greedy and thought about how I didn't want to give her anything. I suck at living biblically. This was one of the funnest books I have read in forever. I highly recommend it. I hope A. Now that I just finished my biblical book, I am going to go and do something un-biblical. I think I'm going to go steal. Technically, it will be borrowing without permission, because I plan to give back what I take.

I'm going to sneak a book out of the library. Let me tell you why. I was the first to ever check it out, so the policy is, any damage whatsoever is punished by purchasing the book.

I was real mad. I wrote an angry letter to the editor of our local paper blasting the Lehi library for ripping me off. But that night, I went in person to view the "damage" on the book and talked to a real nice lady who promised to take it to the library board for me, and ask them to reduce or remove the fine from my account.

The board meeting isn't for another month. So, I think I'm going to borrow a book, although I can't technically check it out. Like I can go a month without a new book! I know for a fact that the fancy security things at the front door that are supposed to scare you from stealing books are fake. I have had un-checked out books in my hand dozens of times when Benjamin has made a run for an open door.

I guess he thinks he'll wait for me in the parking lot while I check out my books. I always run after him, right through those security things, with my un-checked out books in hand. It's not like they ever sound an alarm or anything. So, unless they are scanning my retinas to attain my identity, they will have no idea I borrowed a book.

I think it's the library's fault for their stupid rule. Oh, yeah. The local paper called me today to verify it was me that wrote my letter to the editor, because they were going to publish it.

Since my sister read this book, and she is under the impression that every good book I find was recommended to me by her, I'll tell the true story of how I stumbled across this book: One the radio one day, Glenn Beck was talking about a book called "Just Do It".

In it, a wife gives her husband the best birthday present she can think of: she says she will have sex with him days straight. It's a book about their humorous journey. Apparently he gets sick or flies out of town on business, but she insists that they find a way to do it anyways. He's ready to throw in the towel, but she is competitive and unrelenting. I went and looked online to see when they book was going to be released. There were some pre-release reviews about it.

In one review, the author said something like, "It has a funny premise, but it's no A. Jacob's book. And I found this book. See, totally not related to my sister at all. It was a book about sex that lead me to this biblical book, actually. View all 10 comments. Apr 19, Bobby rated it liked it Shelves: books-i-ve-finished. What would happen to the man who really tried to put others before himself?

Love his enemies? Turn the other cheek? Give to all who asked- no strings attached? I'd like to read that man's memoirs. But unfortunately, at the end of his hilariously pedantic year-long tour of the Bible, Jacobs manages to have covered none of these. Loving your neighbor as yourself is mentioned only in the last chapter- when he says it is in fact impossible. One must wonder at the man who can spend a year in intense s What would happen to the man who really tried to put others before himself?

One must wonder at the man who can spend a year in intense study of May 23, Fiona rated it really liked it Shelves: religion. A humorous but sincere attempt to study the Old and New Testaments and live by their rules for a year.

He read the Bible thoroughly, noted all its rules, and tried to put as many into practice as he reasonably could. There are a A humorous but sincere attempt to study the Old and New Testaments and live by their rules for a year.

There are a lot of serious issues discussed in this book. So many rules were indicative of the social environment of the time and it often requires creative interpretation to apply them in the present day.

Everyone cherry picks from the Bible. Almost without exception, for every rule or piece of guidance, there will be a contradiction to be found elsewhere. Whether you are a Fundamentalist Christian, Orthodox Jew, Lutheran or Catholic, agnostic or atheist, you can find passages in the Bible to support your world view.

I needed some lighter reading in the continuing lockdown and this ticked all my boxes. I found AJ honest, sincere, insightful, and lucky - to have the most understanding wife ever! Unless one takes this step, one cannot be truly transformed. So, after your year is over, you will go back to being a man who find purpose in weird projects and writing assignments. Becoming a follower of Jesus Christ is much more rewarding.

Jacobs by 'a conservative evangelical Christian' which I think aptly sums up this book. Unless he accepts the Biblical stories as valid and honest a "It is through being in Christ and following Him that we become transformed. Unless he accepts the Biblical stories as valid and honest accounts of true happenings, unless he cedes the Bible to be spiritually inspired and the work of a deity, unless he actually believes in God with a capital G then, and only then, could A.

Jacobs derive something significantly meaningful from this experiment. Upsettingly, this was not the case. Jacobs entered this book as an agnostic and left merely as a reverential agnostic; not much of a change.

Jacobs' commitment to religious life is superficial or - if I take a less generous depiction - mocking. The Bible says to stone adulterers and homosexuals, and the common interpretation is to use large fist sized rocks to cause serious damage or death.

But Jacobs attempts to fulfill this commandment by filling his pocket with small white pebbles and, once choosing his sinner-to-be-condemned, pretends to trip and gently plops a pebble against the man's body.

Jacobs apologizes, the man apologizes, and an awkward interaction ensues from which both men depart feeling like no serious stoning actually occurred. I'm sure this is not what God had in mind nor was the subsequent "stoning" where Jacobs intentionally pelted a bitter old curmudgeon who proclaimed himself to be an adulterer Jacobs still used a pebble, and the condemned still walked away physically unscathed.

To be fair, not all the commandments can be fulfilled to either the letter or intent, otherwise Jacobs would be writing from a cell block or a concrete isolation. I should have known that Jacobs, being a writer for the magazine Esquire , would treat his book in an identical way to his concise article format.

The sections are labeled like journal entries "Day " and are short recaps of his daily struggles with adhering to scriptural regulation. This is to be expected, however I was hoping for more in-depth discussion, maybe a little philosophical pontification or moral diatribes Tepid seems the most concise description of this book; no hard commitment either way, and no profound change throughout.

I'm left with regret at having spent a significant amount of time on this shallow quest of Jacobs', but he'll be happy to read that although I really didn't like this book on living biblically, I AM intrigued by his terse and witty style of writing.

I DO want to read his previous book The Know-It-All about him reading the entirety of The Encyclopedia Britannica since his writing style would conform ideally to the format of short and independent clauses on varied subjects. As for a sustained and probing discussion of deeply convoluted subjects such as religion, I have no desire at all to read similar works from him.

Feb 13, Ashley rated it liked it Shelves: manly-men-and-their-manparts , books-about-writers , religion , tbr-jar-picks , half-starsies , shop-on-your-own-shelves , non-fiction , memoir. Feels good to finally knock this off my TBR after 13 years, and it was a pretty good read, but I think I wanted more from it. This mindset is puzzling, because I was actually expecting less than what I got here.

I was expecting this to be more of a satirical, humorous, critical exploration of the Bible. And it was not that! At all! Jacobs is extremely, beyond-call sincere in his exploration. He's funny, but the humor is secondary. His quest comes first.

He also has OCD, which I can relate to, so his already existing tendency to ritualize things probably helped him stick to this for a whole year, something his long-suffering wife Julie most likely wishes he hadn't done.

Something else that surprised me is that I was thinking for some reason that this would be a Christian-focused exploration of the Bible, but he actually only spends months on the New Testament, and Jewish people follow the Old Testament as well, so he actually spends quite a lot of time exploring the Jewish interpretations of those books of the Bible.

This makes a lot of sense in hindsight! He is also Jewish in ancestry, if not in practice, when the whole things starts, so it's kind of fun to seem him explore his heritage along with taking on this absurd project. It was also interesting to see someone who has never been religious in his life try experience spirituality for the first time.

All in all, I liked this, but I'm not sure if I will be reading the author's other books. Nov 03, M rated it it was amazing. Ok, I did NOT think I would like this book, and I certainly didn't think it would get five stars - and I grappled with that, as usual, but felt like I can't not give five stars to a book I loved this much just because I'm a snob I try to apply the same to my students' papers, sadly I am not as effective there. First, I gotta say, what a painless way to read nonfiction! This is basically Dave Barry does Bible - Jacobs is sharp witted, funny and has fantastic lines - and his breadth of biblical Ok, I did NOT think I would like this book, and I certainly didn't think it would get five stars - and I grappled with that, as usual, but felt like I can't not give five stars to a book I loved this much just because I'm a snob I try to apply the same to my students' papers, sadly I am not as effective there.

This is basically Dave Barry does Bible - Jacobs is sharp witted, funny and has fantastic lines - and his breadth of biblical knowledge is quite vast. The concept itself is hysterical as are the pictures of Jacobs bedecked in white, beard flowing as he walks along Amsterdam Avenue but what really got to me in a 'I want to use this in class sort of way' is that Mr.

Agnostic comes to espouse a real appreciation and love for the meaning behind the admittedly freakish things we do. I found that so refreshing especially reading it on the same day as a rather embarrassing NY Times article about chareidim having kosher cell phones and actually quite thought provoking. He had no agenda here, and while he's a total weirdo, he's an endearing one, so I still found his insight to be worthwhile.

Granted, there's quite a bit of TMI in this book, as befitting a weirdo, and I don't really get how his wife was ok with that, unless, of course, she, too, is a weirdo, which doesn't bode well for his equaly TMI toddler, though sometimes children of weirdos end up being alarmingly normal.

Anyway, a fabulous read - so funny and so interesting. Nice to read about shatnez in a NY Times bestseller - and especially when it's written in such a positive light! Btw, khay, I met a classmate of auslander's over shab - we must talk! View all 8 comments. Nov 29, Diane rated it really liked it Shelves: memoirs , religion , humorous , year-long-project. Don't let the subject of this book scare you into thinking it's preachy or self-righteous or filled with sermonizing. It is actually a very funny and open-minded book about the Bible and how following it to a literal extreme is well, just plain silly.

Jacobs has a wonderful sense of humor throughout his year-long project, but I felt bad for his wife, Julie, who had to put up with all kinds of ridiculous rules and projects.

At one point, he built a yurt in his living room to get a feel for w Don't let the subject of this book scare you into thinking it's preachy or self-righteous or filled with sermonizing. At one point, he built a yurt in his living room to get a feel for what it was like to live in a tent in the desert, or something. And he blew a horn at the start of every month. And he wouldn't touch his wife during certain times of the month, which did not go over well.

Also, she didn't like his crazy-long beard that he grew. Poor woman. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this book, and I would recommend it to anyone who has an open mind about religion.

This time I listened to the audio and loved it all over again. He goes in with an open mind and presents a funny, yet thoughtful and balanced report on his year. Jun 11, MissBecka Gee rated it really liked it Shelves: our-home-library , zbooks-i-read. Written by an agnostic man who grew up in a secular Jewish home.

This is an interesting experiment wherein he tries to abide by the rules and traditions in the Bible as literally as possible. He's included enough personal feelings and side bar stories to keep it entertaining and intimate. It felt like I was reading his journal which in a way I'm sure I was instead of a weird experiment. The research is out of this world! He read several different versions of the Bible in preparation and many co Written by an agnostic man who grew up in a secular Jewish home.

He read several different versions of the Bible in preparation and many companion reference books. Throughout the adventure he spoke with various religious "guides" including but not limited to; Rabbis, snake handlers, traditional Amish, mega church pastors, Atheists, Red-Letter Christians and even Creationists. The creationist museum in Petersburg, Kentucky sounds like an interesting road trip that will surely lead to many many giggles.

They have a dinosaur with a saddle on it?! Not sure how this fits into a Creationist museum but I totally want to go now because of this! Favourite quote from the book: "I've rarely said the word Lord , unless it's followed by of the Rings.

Feb 19, Lost Planet Airman rated it liked it Shelves: sffbc-tbr Fun and interesting. A little too self-effacing and mild, but I liked where he went with this. The author kept important threads going throughout the book, with a lot of interesting side excursions. Aug 31, Brian Griffith rated it really liked it Shelves: judeo-christianity , religion-general. This is a social experiment I wouldn't impose as punishment on criminals, but Jacobs makes it both illuminating and entertaining.

How far can he take Bible literalism for a whole year? He tries to avoid discriminating in which traditions he will observe. Some hundreds of injunctions, like the one about taking eggs from under mother birds without hurting the mother, can be done once and crossed off, like a list of things to be done within days.

Other commands won't go away, like observing "Th This is a social experiment I wouldn't impose as punishment on criminals, but Jacobs makes it both illuminating and entertaining. Other commands won't go away, like observing "Thou shalt not lie," when his wife keeps asking "What are you thinking?

He notes, "In Judaism, the biblical laws that come without explanation -- and there are many -- are called 'chukim. Along the way, Jacobs searches out fellow literalists. He invites the Jehovah Witnesses to his house to learn they don't believe in the Trinity or Hell, since they claim those doctrines arn't properly in the book.

He learns of Jews who want to bring back polygamy, and a gay pastor whose pamphlet titled "What Jesus Said about Homosexuality" opens to a completely blank page. He finds there's a group called "Jubilee USA," which seeks to apply Old Testament laws about forgiving debt in the Jubilee year to the problem of odious debt in Africa.

In his personal quest for literalism, Jacobs finds that the line "Love Anyway, it's a surprising trip, and Jacobs is certainly changed. He emerges from his year more grateful for life and more funny than ever. This is a well-conceived, delimited experiment in religious practice, that's well reported and highly productive of workaday insights. View 1 comment. I keep going back and forth on keeping this book to donating it, so I'm going to hold onto it until I make up my mind.

This book was honest and funny. There were times that I felt the book drag a little, but I was also sick while reading this book at some points.

Keep this in mind. What can I learn from others without appropriating? I was raised Roman Catholic, so I currently re-examining how being raised as such ha I keep going back and forth on keeping this book to donating it, so I'm going to hold onto it until I make up my mind. I was raised Roman Catholic, so I currently re-examining how being raised as such has affected my own perceptions in a conscious and subconscious way. I'm not bitter as a whole to Christianity, just the fundamentalist sides.

I might even do heavy research into other religions and spirituality and see what I learn. It's fascinating me. View all 6 comments. May 31, Elyse rated it liked it Shelves: male-author , non-fiction , funny , recentpresent , religion , book-about-books. When I read the premise of this book I imagined it could be very funny. The author decided to live according to the Bible's rules for one year.

He is married to a very understanding woman, is a secular Jew, and at the beginning of this book had one son. During the year he decided he should follow the command, "And you, be ye fruitful, and multiply; bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply therein" and ends up with twin boys for a total of 3 sons by the end of this book. He decided to spe When I read the premise of this book I imagined it could be very funny.

He decided to spend the first half of the year living by Jewish rules and the second by Christian rules. It was funny at first but then grew a bit tiring for me. He didn't become disrespectful of these two religions but didn't hesitate to point out their occasional silliness. Even after a year of immersion in religion he remains an agnostic.

The author attempts to explain his inner feelings during this experience. I enjoyed his modern experiments in spiritual living much more than reading about his spiritual angst.

View all 5 comments. He is sent a copy of a "hip hop" version. Ballsier than I. Feeding the poor. I can totally get behind that. Good for you!

Thanks for the helpful tips against lust for men: think of her as your mother. Recite bible verses. Holy crap the hair and beard! In keeping with a rule in Leviticus, he does not "round the corners of his head" and ends up looking like a terrorist. Stuff in-between hit and miss: somewhat interesting and entertaining. He adds fringes as appropriate. Check this, some guy offers to be his unpaid intern. Instant slave! He does not admit to beating the slave within inches of his life which is okay by Exodus provided the slave survives a few days post beating so we can assume he just did research and stuff in relative safety.

Exodus "whoever strikes his father or mother shall be put to death. View all 11 comments. Jacobs is a journalist and editor of Esquire magazine, who has some really interesting ideas for memoirs. The b A. The book follows the journey of A.

Jacob tries to be honest, give up the Sabbath, pray daily, go forth and multiply, and any of the bazaar laws from the old testament, such as; trying to stone people, blowing a ram horn at the beginning of every month, tassels on his clothing, binding money to himself, even wearing white and never trimming his beard. The Year of Living Biblically is a funny journey, A. J claims to be agnostic, so it makes the book interesting the way he tries to find the real intent behind every rule he follows.

If you are interested in reading an amusing memoir or just interested in seeing the effects reading the bible can have, I highly recommend this book. Feb 19, Eric Smith rated it it was ok. It's been awhile but this popped up on my feed and I do remember reading this. Great concept but I remember being sorely disappointed.

All the verses the left uses against us Christians were tried to be lived out. Sanitary laws, dietary laws etc. I do remember a funny bit in there about his wife menstruating and sitting on every seat in the living room. But as new testament Christians we get criticized by some folks that say why do you oppose same sex marriage and yet wear blended garments, eat It's been awhile but this popped up on my feed and I do remember reading this. But as new testament Christians we get criticized by some folks that say why do you oppose same sex marriage and yet wear blended garments, eat pork etc.

Well what is repeated in the new is always supposed to be adhered to. And sadly this gets left in the wayside. Dobson ,. Jacobs Editor. Jeffrey Eugenides ,. Judy Sternlight Goodreads Author Editor ,. Donald Antrim ,.

Kate Bornstein. Roger Bennett Goodreads Author Editor ,. Aimee Bender Goodreads Author Contributor ,. David Sax Goodreads Author Contributor ,.

Davy Rothbart Goodreads Author Contributor. Ross Benes ,. Andrew Blauner Editor ,. Ian Caldwell Contributor ,. Robert Coover Contributor. Lauren McCutcheon ,. Jacobs Introduction. Lois E. Myers ,. It will have you laughing out loud, nodding in disbelief, and rethinking what you believe about the Bible. It will also have you tallying your sins: I coveted his humor and envied his facial hair. And that's no lie. He examines some truly odd aspects of religious life visiting a new creationist museum, an Amish baseball game and a former cult leader ex-uncle who became haredi and lives in Jerusalem but strives, always, to focus on the essence of Biblical literalism.

Jacobs has written a -- how else to put it? Let me take my review from the original, Psalm 2, verse 4: "He that sittith in the heavens shall laugh. But not in a biblical sense, please. Petersburg Times. More significantly, it is a tale of an intense and intelligent spiritual search that will speak powerfully and instructively to a generation of seekers.

In this year-long experiment A. Jacobs attempts just that, with disarmingly sincere, refreshingly humorous and unexpectedly insightful results. I commend this inspired narrative to anyone actively exploring the continued relevance of biblical living, religion's need for critical self-reflection and the timelessness of authentic faith. Jacobs — Official Website Privacy Policy.

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