A review by steffers7
The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible by A.J. Jacobs

4.0

I quite enjoyed the author's journey, especially his sense of humour. It was interesting seeing how he attempted to follow the bible as literally as possible while being a father and husband. As for the biblical stuff, the most poignant part for me was when he referenced the prodigal son parable. I hadn't really thought long and hard about it before, but when he said that at first he felt bad for the older brother who was there all along serving his father only to see the delinquent brother get a banquet upon returning, I could definitely see that point. But, more than any minister or bible study leader has in the past, A. J. Jacobs opened my eyes on the point to this story - unconditional love. It made a lot of sense the way the author put it.

I was also interested to read his take on Kevin Roose, after having read Kevin's book and enjoyed it as well.

I think the author honestly did try to follow the spirit of the bible literally, although he did a good job of pointing out the difficulty of doing it, including the contradictions. Over all an enjoyable read.