Take a photo of a barcode or cover
811 reviews for:
The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible As Literally As Possible
A.J. Jacobs
3.76 AVERAGE
811 reviews for:
The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible As Literally As Possible
A.J. Jacobs
3.76 AVERAGE
funny
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Reading this book just made me sad that there are people in this world who willfully refuse to believe the truth of God's word. The author of this book touches on so many good and true things about faith in God. At times he seems so close to becoming a believer. But he also shows his absolute ignorance of God through his lack of discernment. His refusal to believe in the God of the Bible seems to stem from his disagreement with what the Bible says about homosexuality. All in all, I was continually reminded of what King Agrippa says in Acts 26: "I am almost persuaded to become a Christian" (paraphrased).
informative
medium-paced
An educational and humorous memoir about the author's goal to live according to all of the rules in the Bible for one full year. For my full review, see:
http://bookbybook.blogspot.com/2009/09/memoir-review-year-of-living-biblically.html
http://bookbybook.blogspot.com/2009/09/memoir-review-year-of-living-biblically.html
I really enjoyed this book. It was both funny and educational. Based on the cover I was wondering if it would be offensively irreverent, but I found it to be tasteful and endearing when poking fun. At times it was even profound.
It was a fun read. I didn't see dramatic changes in A.J. at the end of the book. The central message seems to be that anyone who claims to live by the Bible is picking and choosing which parts to obey and which parts to ignore. There are a lot of funny parts, but he does approach his year of living biblically respectfully.
adventurous
funny
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
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 3-4 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.
[3.5 stars, might round up later]
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 3-4 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.
[3.5 stars, might round up later]
AJ Jacombs' nerdy humor really appeals to me, so this was a good read. I agree with my sister on the fact that he doesn't spend much time exploring the New Testament, which I would have liked to hear more about. He mostly looked at Christianity's views on homosexuality, and not much else, while his Old Testament explorations covered a wide range of topics. I'm guessing this is due to his Jewish roots.
As someone who considers literal interpretations of the Bible ridiculous, I expected this to reinforce my perception of people who follow the Bible "blindly" as absurd.
I was wrong.
Don't get me wrong, there are a good number of ridiculous and out-dated guidelines in the Bible, but it opened my eyes to some of the benefits of living religiously. Jacobs started off maintaining a respectful attitude toward the Bible and the religious counselors he relied on, but that slowly morphed into a kind of spiritualism.
I can't see myself ever "finding" religion, but it gives me a new respect for people who live their faith.
I was wrong.
Don't get me wrong, there are a good number of ridiculous and out-dated guidelines in the Bible, but it opened my eyes to some of the benefits of living religiously. Jacobs started off maintaining a respectful attitude toward the Bible and the religious counselors he relied on, but that slowly morphed into a kind of spiritualism.
I can't see myself ever "finding" religion, but it gives me a new respect for people who live their faith.