the year of living biblically

This title caught my eye on the new book shelf at Borders. Check out the subtitle: “one man’s humble quest to follow the Bible as literally as possible” (William Heinemann, 2007). A.J. Jacobs – an agnostic, or non-believer – sets aside a year to follow the 700+ rules in the Bible as literally as is possible, allowing them to impact “the way I talk, walk, eat, bathe, dress, and hug my wife” (8). Intriguing!

I was surprised
The cynicism which I expected did not eventuate. Even th0ugh he finishes the year as a “reverent agnostic” (329) he does benefit from the yearlong experience. It is easy to warm to his story. He is so open. He finds value in the rituals and the repetition as he goes in search of “the meaning beyond the wierdness” (87). He reaches a point where he can say “I no longer dread prayer” (94). Elsewhere he claims that “I feel more connected … My life is more significant” (107). At times “the entire world takes on a glow of sacredness” (153). He is not trying to be destructive. There is some honest humble searching going on here.

Plus a lot of wisdom spills out as he writes – and not just from the spiritual advisors with whom he surrounds himself (including the ‘pastor out to pasture’, the Rev Elton Richards). I value his insight about speech: “the less I vocalise my negative thoughts, the fewer negative thoughts I cook up in the first place” (157).
I loved his appreciation of the prophets and Ecclesiastes – “I feel the thrill of recognizing thoughts that I have had myself, but that I’ve never been able to capture in such beautiful language” (114) – two of my own favourite rest areas in the Bible.
What about the usefulness of intercessory prayer? “It’s ten minutes where it’s impossible to be self-centered.” (128) … or, the wisdom contained in “stop looking at the Bible as a self-help book” (208).

Yes, I was surprised!

I was humoured
The guy writes so well … and with a few laughs along the way.
As he struggles to shut down for a Sabbath he is feeling stressed: “the outside world is speeding along without me. Emails are being answered. Lattes are being sipped. George Bush’s childhood friends are being appointed to high-level positions” (124).
On capital punishment in the Hebrew scriptures? “Think Saudi Arabia, multiply by Texas, then triple that” (92).
On living Israel’s food laws in their pagan world: “they were marking their territory with menus” (170).
Or take his visit to Jerry Falwell’s church or to Amish country or Israel.

Tracking alongside his year in the Bible is his commentary on life with his wife Julie and son Jaspar (and the growth of his own beard!). Part way through the book Julie becomes pregnant with IVF-assisted twins, a procedure having its own humour (like asking for pen marks to be put on his wife’s but so that he knows where to put the needle) – as does the section on the dilemma of avoiding contact with a woman (ie Julie!) having her period near the beginning of the book and the decisions about circumcision when twin boys eventually are born near the end.

Yes, I was humoured!

I was frustrated
With an eye on the way the Bible is handled, Jacobs divides the Christian world into two sections. There are the fundamentalists. For them “the Bible emerged from God’s oven like a fully baked cake … God sat behind His big oak desk in heaven and dictated the words verbatim to a bunch of flawless secretaries” (200-201). Here is where biblical literalism is practised. Then there are the liberals – a word Jacobs does not use but still describes his position well enough: “the Bible has evolved, like humans themeselves. Like a Wikipedia entry” (201). He writes of a “cafeteria Christianity” where you pick and choose what you like form the biblical buffet – a position which he considers to be unavoidable by both sections.

I do beg to differ. There is another approach. Sadly the bibliography suggests that this was never really engaged – as it rarely is by people writing from Jacobs’ perspective.
One where the ‘literal’ word is seen to be unhelpful.
One where you hold an ancient text at a distance before you bring it close.
One where issues like reading texts within their historical and literary contexts is the way to uncover their natural and plain sense.
One where a text’s genre – and there are a dozen separate ones in the Bible – plays a decisive role in unpacking the meaning.
One where across the many authors and many centuries covered in the biblical text, a single story from a single divine author is discovered and any one bit is interpreted then in light of this whole bit.
One where oak tables and secretaries are dismissed in favour of fully human authors being fully inspired by God.
One where the New Testament does not feel like an afterthought (as it does in Jacobs’ book) but the very fulfillment of the Old Testament, with passages like Jesus on the Road to Emmaus (Luke 24) and Jesus in the book of Hebrews (which doesn’t rate even a mention) leading the way.
One where the Bible is not seen to be an exhaustive encyclopedia of all there is to know and do, but a sufficient guidebook that sets up a trajectory of wisdom which we follow on into the challenges of today.

Yes, I do find this frustrating.

A.J. Jacobs has done what is so common today. He has deleted this third option. This option doesn’t take all the problems away. But gee, I find it provides me with a compelling vision and feeds my sincere intent to aim at living my whole life biblically and not just a single year.

nice chatting

Paul Windsor

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About Me

paul06.16

the art of unpacking

After a childhood in India, a theological training in the USA and a pastoral ministry in Southland (New Zealand), I spent twenty years in theological education in New Zealand — first at Laidlaw College and then at Carey Baptist College, where I served as principal. In 2009 I began working with Langham Partnership and since 2013 I have been the Programme Director (Langham Preaching). Through it all I've cherished the experience of the 'gracious hand of God upon me' and I've relished the opportunity to 'unpack', or exegete, all that I encounter in my walk through life with Jesus.

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3 Comments

  1. Mark Maffey on December 11, 2007 at 1:10 pm

    Paul I wholeheartedly agree with the approach you advocate

    “One where you hold an ancient text at a distance before you bring it close.
    One where issues like reading texts within their historical and literary contexts is the way to uncover their natural and plain sense.
    One where a text’s genre – and there are a dozen separate ones in the Bible – plays a decisive role in unpacking the meaning.
    One where across the many authors and many centuries covered in the biblical text, a single story from a single divine author is discovered and any one bit is interpreted then in light of this whole bit.”

    I wonder if Joe Blogg Christian in NZ has a comprehension of this, and after pondering this reflect that not too many are conscious of their need to wrestle and interpret the Bible in such a way tat exposes them to a wider panorama of thought.

    Too often the Bible is read as a flat text without discerning the setting, genre,and meaning. As i ponder Elijah sitting in the cave after 40 days on the run from Jezebel I am contemplating the cave, dripping, dank, dark, Elijah, dirty, despondent, hungry, despairing, the sense of being the only one left, under threat… the question comes What are you doing here, Elijah?

    What are we doing here to biblically live, are we prepared to deal with a Bible that discusses adversity, and keeping one’s faith in diversity than succumbing to the prosperity doctrine which seeks to invade our churches?

    What are we doing here? As we end 2007 and consider what may be ahead, may the word be a lamp unto our feet, a light unto our path

  2. James Baty on December 18, 2007 at 10:35 am

    Yeah it seems as thought he takes a caricature of what it means to “live biblically”, kind of like making a straw man argument. It reminds me of reality TV shows such as Survivor where the contestants find out what its like to live on a pacific island or wherever. But in “reality” they are contestants on a TV show.
    I struggle to see how anyone could live Biblically, let alone understand what the Bible is on about without taking Christ as the starting point.But maybe it reveals a common misunderstanding that the Bible is just “Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth”…

  3. the art of unpacking on December 24, 2007 at 6:03 am

    OR … the Bible as just a moral code that some people choose to try and follow.

    BUT it is the story of the mission of God who created a good world – watched it become infected with sin and evil – and then hatched this plan to redeem and restore. The life worth living is the life which aligns myself to this story of God rather than trying to comandeer God to align himself with my story.

    It is a thrilling story and one in which the Old Testament plays a full part (AJ Jacobs would be pleased) – but which cannot be understood without Jesus at the center (AJ Jacobs would be bemused).

    I’d like to have AJ Jacobs read Chris Wright’s The Mission of God!

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