Sunday, May 22, 2016

JACOBS

There is a book by A.J. Jacobs called 'The Year of Living Biblically.'  

Mr. Jacobs is basically an agnostic and yet he writes:  'I'm officially Jewish, but I'm Jewish in the same way the Olive Garden is an Italian restaurant.'  Which is to say, not very.

A.J. JACOBS
The book's premise is to live out every rule as stated in the Bible for an entire year.  He reads the Bible cover-to-cover and writes down every command he finds, from the Ten Commandments to far lesser known dietary and ritual cleanliness laws.

The he attempts to live by them for a year.

Leviticus says men should leave the edges of their beards unshaven ... so there you go.  He stops shaving and ends up with an unruly beard that makes him look like a member of ZZ Top.  

He stops wearing clothes of mixed fibers.
He starts playing a ten-stringed harp.
He refuses to shake hands with women he thinks might be 'ceremonially unclean.'  Er ... awkward.
He flings little pebbles at folks he considers to be sinners, in an effort to fulfill the Biblical command to stone adulterers.

Sigh.

I hope it's obvious this is not what it means to take the Bible seriously.

And yet the book plays on something many assume ... that to live under the direction of the Bible would not only be an impossible task, but a ridiculous and miserable way to live.

We should realize this is how some outside Christianity view us.

And be blessed.

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