“The Year of Living Biblically”
Apr 8th, 2008 by Kevin Purcell
Could you live for one whole year obeying the scriptures literally and in every situation? I would hope that beleivers would try and would also be humble enough to admit that such a prospect would be nearly impossible. Yet a non-believer has attempted to do just that for one whole year.
A. J. Jacobs is a secular Jew and author of the new book The Year of Living Biblically. I have not read it so I cannot recommend it nor can I dissuade you from reading it. I might. But the concept grabbed my attention and I read an interview conducted of the author by Leadership Journal. Check it out here.
The interviewer asked, “What did you learn about yourself?”
He responded that he learned a lot about sin. “One thing I learned was how much I sinned. That was a little disturbing, but once you start to pay attention to the amount that you lie and gossip and covet and even steal– I was taken aback and that was a real eye-opener. I don’t steal cars, but even something like taking three straws at Starbucks when you only need one, that could be considered stealing.”
The most interesting thing from the interview was when the author was asked, “How has your faith changed, if at all?”
Jacobs responed, “I started out as an agnostic. I grew up with no religion at all. Throughout the year, I went through all sorts of permutations, including believing very strongly in a present and loving God. Part of this was because I was praying all the time, and when you pray for a year, you can’t help but start to believe in the being that you’re praying to.”
The sad truth is he went on to say, “By the end of the year when I stopped praying as much all the time, I sort of settled into a radically different agnosticism. … But I never did convert; I never did make the leap of faith to accept Jesus as my savior. As I read the New Testament, I more tried to live by his ethical teachings, which did change my life.”
I read that and found it to be a sad statment. My hope and prayer is that the seeds planted by Jacobs’ experience will be watered by someone’s witness and the Holy Spirit will convict him to take that leap of faith.
