The Year of living Biblically is a memoir written by AJ Jacobs, an author and editor for Esquire Magazine. The idea of the book is to follow Jacobs through an entire year of following every rule in the Bible literally. Jacobs grew up in a Jewish secular family claiming he is “as Jewish as the Olive Garden is an Italian restaurant”. His goal was to see how difficult it would be to live as a biblical literalist in a modern world as well as discover what religious life has that he didn’t. He wrote the book as he went through the year, going day by day, giving the book a journal-like style.
There is no clear thesis of the book at the beginning other than to live the year literally by the Bible. However at the end of the book Jacobs is able to draw the conclusion that it is impossible to live every part of the Bible literally.
Throughout the book no bias is extremely prominent because he has fully immersed himself in religious life, opening himself up to any and every opportunity/ritual, even stoning. However, because Jacobs was not religious before he did not have the ability to make himself believe in a God, which may have hindered his experiences. Even at the end of the book Jacobs states that he remained agnostic.
Jacobs has two main arguments in the book. The first is that no one can follow the entire bible literally. He states that it is impossible, not only because many of the Biblical laws are now illegal but because many are genuinely impossible to do (ie. Sacrifice at the Temple because the Temple does not exist anymore). The year’s worth of hardships he faced also back up this statement, from having to buy a collapsible chair as to not sit anywhere impure to being threatened by an adulterer whom he tried to throw pebbles at. The second contention made by the author is that many parts of the Bible are not relevant in a 21st century society. While Jacobs does come to value some of the biblical laws, such as prayers and giving thanks, he also discusses that many do not have a place in our modern world. Laws such as no drawing/taking pictures and paying workers in cash at the end of each workday are not suited for life today, and near impossible to follow. I agree with both of these contentions not only due to personal bias but the evidence Jacobs gives in relation to his arguments thoroughly supports them.
The main strength of the book is the humorous tone in which it is written. The tone keeps the book light hearted as well as making it interesting and a good read for people who do not have a specific interest in religion itself or have previous knowledge on the subject. The other main strength of the book is how well it was researched and referenced. Jacobs used many different bibles and talked to an endless amount of priests, rabbis etc. to make sure he covered every aspect of biblical life, giving the reader assurance that what they are reading is not the product of Jacob’s personal bias but the result of months of research from various sources. The book, however, does have some weaknesses. The most obvious one is that many people believe Jacobs is mocking religion and people who live by the Bible, even though this is not the case. Secondly, the book is not able to go very in-depth on more than a few of the laws seeing as there are over 700 biblical laws and only 365 days in the year, which can lead to the reader feeling like he is skimming over most parts.
Although the book is topically religion based it is not an average book about religion. It does not merely give facts about the Bible and religion but describes what is required to live by it and what challenges can be faced. It can also be categorized with memoirs, although once again it is not an average memoir because the purpose of this memoir was chosen beforehand and he lived his life accordingly.
The Year of living Biblically is a memoir written by AJ Jacobs, an author and editor for Esquire Magazine. The idea of the book is to follow Jacobs through an entire year of following every rule in the Bible literally. Jacobs grew up in a Jewish secular family claiming he is “as Jewish as the Olive Garden is an Italian restaurant”. His goal was to see how difficult it would be to live as a biblical literalist in a modern world as well as discover what religious life has that he didn’t. He wrote the book as he went through the year, going day by day, giving the book a journal-like style.
ReplyDeleteThere is no clear thesis of the book at the beginning other than to live the year literally by the Bible. However at the end of the book Jacobs is able to draw the conclusion that it is impossible to live every part of the Bible literally.
Throughout the book no bias is extremely prominent because he has fully immersed himself in religious life, opening himself up to any and every opportunity/ritual, even stoning. However, because Jacobs was not religious before he did not have the ability to make himself believe in a God, which may have hindered his experiences. Even at the end of the book Jacobs states that he remained agnostic.
Jacobs has two main arguments in the book. The first is that no one can follow the entire bible literally. He states that it is impossible, not only because many of the Biblical laws are now illegal but because many are genuinely impossible to do (ie. Sacrifice at the Temple because the Temple does not exist anymore). The year’s worth of hardships he faced also back up this statement, from having to buy a collapsible chair as to not sit anywhere impure to being threatened by an adulterer whom he tried to throw pebbles at. The second contention made by the author is that many parts of the Bible are not relevant in a 21st century society. While Jacobs does come to value some of the biblical laws, such as prayers and giving thanks, he also discusses that many do not have a place in our modern world. Laws such as no drawing/taking pictures and paying workers in cash at the end of each workday are not suited for life today, and near impossible to follow. I agree with both of these contentions not only due to personal bias but the evidence Jacobs gives in relation to his arguments thoroughly supports them.
The main strength of the book is the humorous tone in which it is written. The tone keeps the book light hearted as well as making it interesting and a good read for people who do not have a specific interest in religion itself or have previous knowledge on the subject. The other main strength of the book is how well it was researched and referenced. Jacobs used many different bibles and talked to an endless amount of priests, rabbis etc. to make sure he covered every aspect of biblical life, giving the reader assurance that what they are reading is not the product of Jacob’s personal bias but the result of months of research from various sources. The book, however, does have some weaknesses. The most obvious one is that many people believe Jacobs is mocking religion and people who live by the Bible, even though this is not the case. Secondly, the book is not able to go very in-depth on more than a few of the laws seeing as there are over 700 biblical laws and only 365 days in the year, which can lead to the reader feeling like he is skimming over most parts.
Although the book is topically religion based it is not an average book about religion. It does not merely give facts about the Bible and religion but describes what is required to live by it and what challenges can be faced. It can also be categorized with memoirs, although once again it is not an average memoir because the purpose of this memoir was chosen beforehand and he lived his life accordingly.