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

Fresh from his book wherein he told of his experience reading the encyclopedia from A to Z, Abrams decides to embark on another "stunt:" he's going to follow the Bible, literally, for a year. As he readily admits, one reason for his experiment is to use as fodder for his book. Jacobs was raised in a secular household and was an Agnostic. Another was curiosity, and a third was a concern over his two-year-old son's moral upbringing.

Abrams assembled a team of Biblical experts, rabbis, ministers, priests, nuns and laypeople, even his eccentric ex-Uncle Gil. He reads and re-reads the Bible, and consults with his experts, friends and wife. He compiles a list of Biblical commandments; not just the Big Ten, but all the lesser-knowns that cover things from financial transactions to facial hair, too.

His year-long sojourn is told with earnestness and humor. He's a newcomer to religion, and makes mistakes. He finds the commandments sometimes uncomfortable, morally ambiguous for our time, and even distasteful, but he perseveres.

Jacobs keeps the commandments like a checklist, and as his year winds down, he finds himself hurrying to "check some off." Numerous times through the narrative he mentions how "today, I decided to follow the commandment about..." I wouldn't call this living Biblically, really, although it's closer than I've ever come. The Bible does say to stone adulterers. It doesn't mean they should be sought out just so you have someone to stone this year. Jacobs' description of his adulterer-stoning adventure really was amusing, but it also smacks of facetiousness. The Bible's directive lays out a consequence for a behavior. To live Biblically would be to understand the consequence of adultery, to be prepared to both mete it and accept it, should the occasion arise. It's not something to be scratched off a list like scouring powder or baking soda.

Taken all together, I really enjoyed this book. I got a lot out of Jacobs' experiment, and I think he did, too. Living Biblically helped Jacobs to be more aware of himself, the people around him, how his words and actions, and even his thoughts impact his life and the lives of others. It's a well-told morality tale, and a very entertaining one.