Jacobs, A. J.

One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible

The Year of Living Biblically

Overall I thought the book was interesting and pretty funny in parts. I definitely learned a lot about the Bible and it's many stories and contradictions. 

The only thing I didn't love about it was that I thought the author was sometimes a little annoying and in some parts kind of mean towards his wife and child, and that left a bad taste in my mouth every time. 

I would also say that there are parts of the book that have not aged well, so it definitely should be read in that mindset that it references and discusses topics that might be very uncomfortable in the 2020s (even more controversial than when it was written over a decade ago)

Emma Lechner

Overall I thought the book was interesting and pretty funny in parts. I definitely learned a lot about the Bible and it's many stories and contradictions. 

The only thing I didn't love about it was that I thought the author was sometimes a little annoying and in some parts kind of mean towards his wife and child, and that left a bad taste in my mouth every time. 

I would also say that there are parts of the book that have not aged well, so it definitely should be read in that mindset that it references and discusses topics that might be very uncomfortable in the 2020s (even more controversial than when it was written over a decade ago)

Timeo Williams

A. J. Jacobs is among the funniest writers alive. This book was filled with tons of experiments, in regards to following the Bible literally. Awesome.

Gavin

The Old Testament has roughly 700 rules of varying severity and absurdity; Jacobs tried to follow all of them for a year. For a host of reasons, this can't be done, and so this is a reductio of biblical literalism. It is also a sympathetic anthropology of the literal Other Side, who are low-status, even in parts of America. 

* The mad rules: never wear mixed fibres; no rubber tires; burning a red cow is the only way to be pure person; all the precise shabbat rules about what you can and can't do; basically anything involving women. Judaism actually has a specific word for the arbitrary, stupid divine laws: the chukim. The various brilliant, witty cafeteria theists he consults are open about them being silly tests - fun puzzles, even. 

*  The blatantly evolutionary / patriarchal rules: no other gods before me, no shellfish, modest women.  

*  He is keen to show the noble side to the real literalists: they practice tithing, pacifism, no hell, are activists for global debt jubilee. (A handful of lovely policies out of the mad and thoughtless other 700, mind you.) One group are even admirable on epistemic, philological grounds!: "You can't follow all of the Bible literally because we can't know what some of the words mean." Sure they take this to be a reason to be even more extreme than ever stipulated, just to be safe, but I admire the rigour of it. 


An extremely open-minded man; he meets the Creation Museum people, and the Amish, and the snake handlers. I didn't like the constant stream of cheap gags or his wielding family details for padding. I def didn't like his earnest attempt to use cognitive dissonance to delude himself into theism:

The notion of obeying laws that have no rational explanation is a jarring one. For most of my life, I've been working under the paradigm that my behavior should have a logical basis. But if you live biblically, this is not true. I have to adjust my brain to this.
...

When I first read the parable of the prodigal son, I was perplexed. I felt terrible for the older brother. The poor man put in all these years of loyal service, and his brother skips town, has a wild good time, then returns, and gets a huge feast? It seems outrageously unfair.

But that's if you're thinking quantitatively. If you're looking at life as a balance sheet.
There's a beauty to forgiveness, especially forgiveness that goes beyond rationality. Unconditional love is an illogical notion, but such a great and powerful one.

(That simply strikes me as choosing to be mistaken and then hardening oneself to injustice.) 


He is not quite sophisticated enough to pull off rigorous naturalist wonder fully (but again this is me cruelly comparing a journalist to Nietzsche, Pessoa, Gopnik). But the following affirmation of mythos here is more or less my view:

I'm still agnostic. But in the words of Elton Richards, I'm now a reverant agnostic. Which isn't an oxymoron, I swear. I now believe that whether or not there's a God, there is such a thing as sacredness. Life is sacred. The Sabbath can be a sacred day. Prayer can be a sacred ritual. There is something transcendent, beyond the everyday. It's possible that humans created this sacredness ourselves, but that doesn't take away from its power or importance. 



Literalism is impossible, immoral and inconsistent with our new, better picture of the world; biblical liberalism is mercenary and inconsistent with itself. So don't bother?

olivia musick

a.j. jacobs is absolutely hilarious! i really enjoyed reading this book - it was serious & respectful when it needed to be but quick-witted and sharp throughout. his writing style is really enjoyable. like a.j., i do not consider myself a religious person, but i found this book entertaining and insightful. i'm so glad a friend recommended it!

brendan sudol

“I'm still agnostic. But in the words of Elton Richards, I'm now a reverant agnostic. Which isn't an oxymoron, I swear. I now believe that whether or not there's a God, there is such a thing as sacredness. Life is sacred. The Sabbath can be a sacred day. Prayer can be a sacred ritual. There is something transcendent, beyond the everyday. It's possible that humans created this sacredness ourselves, but that doesn't take away from its power or importance.”

“The year showed me beyond a doubt that everyone practices cafeteria religion... But the important lesson was this: there's nothing wrong with choosing. Cafeterias aren't bad per se... the key is in choosing the right dishes. You need to pick the nurturing ones (compassion), the healthy ones (love thy neighbor), not the bitter ones.”

“Your next action could change the world, so make it a good one.”

“G-rated language is making me a less angry person. Behavior shapes emotion.”

Naomi J.

The wonderful, funny and surprisingly thought-provoking story of a year-long attempt to live the Bible as literally as possible. What clearly started out as a stunt (probably with the aim of proving that everyone picks and chooses when it comes to religion) ends up as a meaningful spiritual journey. I loved it.

Kourtney

This book really surprised me. I didn't think I would like this as much as I did. When I stumbled across this book in Borders, I though "huh...that's interesting. Wonder how that worked out for him..." I picked it up on sale and figured why not try it out. And I'm glad I did.

First off, if anyone knows me they know I enjoy a good sense of humor, a healthy dose of witty, snappy remarks, and sarcasm. AJ Jacobs fell into category 2 - he told his story with a healthy sense of reverence for the subject matter and infused a great amount of wit that had me laughing. 

One thing that I think would turn a lot of people off would be the whole concept of religion. I admit it - I am a Catholic who is very lapsed. Sure, I gave up eating out at restaurants and fast food joints for Lent, and even find myself at church around Christmas Eve, but I am not devout. There are large parts of the Bible I have never read. So I was a bit worried going into this that Jacobs would begin to preach to me on the corner with his crazy beard he side tendrils! But preach he did not. Instead, he actually taught me a lot about the Bible I never would have known, having never ventured outside of my Catholic teachings. Not only did he provide his interpretations of the hundreds of Bibles and Bible-For-Dummies books, but he also spoke with different religious groups to garner their views. All in all, I thought it was told very well and entertaining. I did have to take a star away, as I hit day 300-something-or-other and found that I was getting a bit bored. It did hit a lull in the final days, but redeemed itself in the end.

I look forward to finding other books by Jacobs, or as his son calls him "AJ! AJ! AJ!"

The Year of Living Biblically One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible

Reviews