The Year of Living Biblically

The Bible is a historical document. The Old Testament dates back to hundreds of years before Christ, and the New Testament to within 100 years after his death. It's a holy book, but it's also the product of two distinct time periods, both very long ago. It's filled with rules, both specific and vague, that reflect the world of nomadic, desert-dwelling herding people rather than the world in which most Judeo-Christian people live today. Writer A.J. Jacobs decided to see what it would be like to actually try to live by these rules in the modern world in his book, The Year of Living Biblically. As Jacobs is a secular Jewish husband and father in New York City, wackiness ensues.

He's no stranger to offbeat projects...he'd previously written a book about his experience of reading the entire Encyclopedia Britannica. But when he was doing prep work for this book and realized that the Bible contains over 700 rules, ranging from very specific things like fiber-mixing and beard trimming prohibitions to very general things like restraining from covetousness, he decided to focus on the Ten Commandments first and tackle as many of the others as he could, because he knew he couldn't do all of them every day. He also seeks out people who are devoted to their religious beliefs in their own ways, leading to a visit to Amish Country, the Creation Museum, to see snakehandling Pentecostals, and even an overseas trip to Jerusalem. This on top of a regular job writing for Esquire, parenting a small son, and being a partner to his pregnant wife.

Jacobs is witty without being snarky, which is a good tone for this book. There's sometimes a tendency among secular types to get condescending about matters of religious faith and belief, which is counter-productive at best. He admits that since he's deeply agnostic, one of the hardest rules for him to follow is regular prayer, but he gamely tries anyways and is honest about both his initial discomfort and the ease that grows after months of practice. After having a hard time, in a hyperconnected world, retreating into the quiet of the Sabbath, he comes to look forward to that time to unwind and recharge. While he can't quite get into the harshness of parenting his son from a “spare the rod, spoil the child” perspective, he knows he needs to be better about discipline and he starts taking steps in the right direction.

I found this book enjoyable, if a little on the lightweight side. Although it's necessarily from Jacobs' perspective, I found myself really curious about how his wife felt about this particular experiment and what it was like to live with someone doing this. It's pretty clear from what Jacobs writes that his wife was often irritated by the project, and his frequent absences while leaving her with their son to handle while she was pregnant with twins had to be absolutely infuriating. Then again, that Jacobs seemed to simply expect her to shoulder the mental and emotional burden of dealing with his choices isn't really out of line with the very patriarchal culture in which the Bible was steeped. Recommended for people curious about religion and/or with a sense of humor about their own.

A.J. Jacobs takes on the Bible and all its rules and regulations. He soon finds it impossible to follow every rule every day, so he resorts to attempting to follow selected rules each day. Still he fails. My favorite part was when he went to Central Park on Saturday and Sunday (the Sabbath) and attempted to stone those breaking the Sabbath.

Why this book?
I have been brought up as a Christian, and went to a Christian school. For me Christianity is something overarchingly good. However, some of my friends are almost extremist left wing anti-Christianity/religion.
I wanted to delve deeper into the rules of the Bible, if they encourage violence (my friends' opinion), or support pacifism.
Also, I love personal challenges, and living according to the literal rules in the Bible seems fun and challenging.

My opinion
Already the book starts out great, with Jacobs' enthusiasm and humor. Apparently there's a rule in the Bible that you may not shave the corners of your beard. Jacobs does not know where the corners are, so he decides to just not shave his beard entirely, and he starts with a description of what kind of reactions the beard has evoked. I couldn't put the book down.
The story itself is an entertaining collection of personal anecdotes of what happened when literally following the rules of the bible (including using pebbles to stone an adulterer and taking on a slave). I love challenges like these and can imagine myself taking on the same challenge.

Unfortunately a year is even not enough to follow all the rules in the Bible, and is too short even to figure out which rules are meant to be taken literal and which to be taken figuratively. As Jacobs describes in the last chapter the Bible can be compared to a banquet, and it is to the individual to decide how to interpret it, which courses/rules to follow more literally and which not.
For me this is somewhat of a let-down, as it doesn't give me an answer whether the Bible encourages violence or not (it depends on which courses you choose).
I was however enthusiastic with Jacobs' conclusion; the rules make you more overall aware of how special life is, to be grateful for what you have and be kind to your neighbors.

Recommendation
I would recommend this book to people looking to get a basic understanding of the Bible and the different ways to interpret it. Jacobs' tries to talk to people from all spectra of followers, from extreme left to right.
It's also a really interesting and fun read to get a basic sense of the Biblical rules and how they work in modern life.

I would not recommend this book for anyone wanting to learn the actual rules, as they are not summarized here. And also not recommend it to anyone wanting to know (or get reconfirmed) what is the best way to interpret the Bible.