Read the year lived according to the Bible. Review: The book "A Year Lived Biblically" - A. J. Jacobs - A large-scale project with unpredictable results

AJ Jacobs

A year lived biblically

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All the events described in the book actually happened. In some cases, their sequence has been changed, as well as some names and identification marks.

Dedicated to Julie

Introduction

Now, as I write these lines, I have a beard like Moses. Or Abraham Lincoln. Or Ted Kaczynski. I was told that I looked like all three.

And this is not a well-groomed, “socially acceptable” beard, but a mop of hair that creeps over the eyes and falls to the collarbone.

I haven't grown facial hair before. The experiment turned out to be strange and instructive. I was accepted into the secret brotherhood of bearded men: we nod to each other on the street and exchange barely noticeable smiles in understanding. Strangers come up and stroke my beard as if it were a Labrador puppy or a pregnant woman's belly.

And I suffer. Beard gets stuck in zipper. My surprisingly strong two-year-old son is pulling it. I lost a lot of time answering security questions at airports.

People ask me if my last name is Smith and if I and my brother sell cough lozenges. ZZ Top is mentioned at least three times a week. Passers-by shout: "Yo, Gandalf!" And once they called him Steven Seagal - I wonder why, because he doesn’t have a beard.

I'm struggling with the heat and itching. I spent a week's earnings on balms, powders, ointments and conditioners. My beard became a haven for cappuccino foam and lentil soup. She also upsets people. As of today, two girls have already burst into tears, and one boy hid behind his mother’s back.

But I have good intentions. The hair on my face is only the most obvious physical manifestation of the spiritual quest that I began a year ago.

My goal is this: to live according to the Bible in everything. More precisely, follow it literally as far as possible. Keep the Ten Commandments. Be fruitful and multiply. Love your neighbor. Pay tithe. And also follow the rules that are often neglected: do not wear clothes made of mixed threads, stone adulterers. And, of course, do not spoil the edges of the beard (Leviticus 19:27). I try to follow the Bible as a whole, without dissection.

A few words about my background: I grew up in a completely secular family in New York. Technically I am Jewish, but essentially no more than Olive Garden is an Italian restaurant. That is, not really. I didn't go to Hebrew school or eat matzah. In my family, Judaism manifested itself only in the form of a classic paradox: when we placed the Star of David on the Christmas tree.

It's not that my parents disapproved of religion. They just didn't need her. We lived in the 20th century, after all. In our house, faith was almost a taboo topic, like my father's salary or my sister's addiction to clove cigarettes.

My contacts with the Bible were short and superficial. Next door lived Reverend Schulze, a good-natured Lutheran pastor who bore a strong resemblance to Thomas Jefferson. (By the way, his son became an actor and, oddly enough, played a creepy priest in The Sopranos). The Reverend had a great talk about the student sit-ins in the 60s. But as soon as he started talking about God, it seemed to me that the pastor was speaking in an unfamiliar language.

I've been to a bar mitzvah a few times where I passed out during the service and wondered who was bald under the yarmulke. At my paternal grandfather's funeral, I was surprised to see that the ceremony was being conducted by a rabbi. How could he praise a person he had never seen in his life? I was puzzled.

Perhaps this is all I can say about religion in my childhood.

I was an agnostic, although I didn’t yet know what that meant. Part of me couldn't accept the presence of evil. If there is a God, then why does He allow wars, diseases, and my teacher Miss Barker, who forced the fourth-graders to bring sugar-free baked goods to the “sweet fair”? And most importantly, the idea of God seemed superficial to me. Why do we need an invisible and inaudible deity? He may exist, but we will not receive evidence in this life.

College didn't promote religiosity either. I went to a secular university where they studied the semiotics of neo-pagan rituals rather than the Judeo-Christian tradition. And the Bible was perceived as literature, a mossy book, with no more truth than in The Fairy Queen.

Of course, we studied the history of religion. We knew how the Bible contributed to many of the greatest advances: the... civil rights, charity, abolition of slavery. And of course how it has been used to justify the worst things in the world - war, genocide and oppression.

For a long time I thought that religion, for all its benefits, was too risky to modern conditions. There are so many opportunities for abuse. I believed that it would gradually disappear, like other archaisms. Science moved forward. We were soon to find ourselves in a neo-Enlightenment paradise, where all decisions were made on the basis of iron logic in the spirit of Spock.

Of course I was wrong. The Bible—and religion in general—remains a powerful force, perhaps even more powerful today than it was in my childhood days. Therefore in recent years it became my obsession. Is half the world really wrong? Or is my religious blindness a serious personality defect? What if I'm missing something important - like someone who has never heard or loved Beethoven? And most importantly, now I have a little son. And if unbelief is a vice, I don’t want to pass it on to inheritance.

That’s how I realized I wanted to explore religion. All that remained was to figure out how to do this.

My relative, Uncle Gil, gave me the idea. More precisely, a former uncle. Gil married my aunt and divorced her a few years later, but remains the most prominent member of our family. We are absolutely secular people, and Gil takes the rap for everyone. He may be the most religious man in the world. Gil is spiritually omnivorous. He's a Jew who became a Hindu, a self-proclaimed guru, who sat on a Manhattan park bench for eight months without saying a word, founding a hippie cult in upstate New York. Then he became a Christian again, and in his last reincarnation, an ultra-Orthodox Jew from Jerusalem. Maybe I missed something - it seems he also managed to be a Shintoist - but the general idea is clear.

At some point in Gil's spiritual journey, he decided to take the Bible literally. Absolutely literally. The Bible says to tie money to your hand (Deuteronomy 14:25). Gil withdrew three hundred dollars from the bank and tied them to his palm with a thread. The Bible says to wear tassels on the edges of clothes (Numbers 15:38) - so Gil bought some yarn at a craft store, made tassels and sewed them onto the collar and cuffs. The Bible says to give money to widows and orphans - and the uncle began to wander the streets looking for widows and orphans in order to give them cash.

About six months ago, over lunch at a sandwich shop, I was telling my friend Paul about Gil's bizarre life—and then it dawned on me. Just what you need. I too must follow the Bible literally. And there are several reasons for this.

First, since the Bible requires me to tell only the truth (Proverbs 26:28), I honestly admit that one of the reasons was the desire to write this book. A couple of years ago I published a story about reading the Encyclopedia Britannica from beginning to end, from A to Z - or rather, from ak(East Asian musical instrument) to Zywiec(a city in southern Poland famous for its beer). What's next? What intellectual adventure can compare to this? I decided that there was only one option: researching the most influential book in the world, the bestseller of all time - the Bible.

Secondly, this project will be my passport to the world of spirituality. I will not just study religion, but live it. If there is a “God-shaped hole” in my heart, then I can fill it. If there is something in me latent tendency to mysticism, it will manifest itself during this year. If I want to understand my forefathers, then this year I can live their life - only without leprosy.

Third, my project will explore the serious and fascinating topic of biblical literalism. Millions of Americans say they take the Bible literally. A 2005 Gallup poll put the number closer to 33 percent, and a 2004 Newsweek poll put it at 55 percent. The literal interpretation of the Bible - both Jewish and Christian - determines American policy regarding the Middle East, homosexuality, stem cell research, education, abortion - and so on, right down to the purchase of beer on the weekend.

First month: September Let's hear the essence of everything: fear God and keep His commandments, because this is everything for man...Ecclesiastes 12:13

Today is the first day, but I already feel like I’m drowning. I decided to start the project on September 1st, and the Bible has completely consumed my life from the moment I woke up. Any action is associated with the fear of breaking its law. Before you even breathe in or out, you need to remember a long list of rules.

It all starts when I open the closet to get dressed. The Bible forbids men from wearing women's clothing (Deuteronomy 22:5), so a comfy Dickinson College sweatshirt is now a no-no. It once belonged to his wife. The Bible says to avoid wearing clothes made of mixed threads (Leviticus 19:19), so this Esquire cotton-polyester T-shirt will need to be sprinkled with mothballs. What about moccasins? Can I wear leather? I go into the living room and open a file with Bible rules on my laptop. I find points about animals. Pigskin and snakeskin are questionable, but good old cowhide seems to be acceptable. Hmm, can I even use the computer? The Bible, as you might guess, does not address this issue, so I answer timidly “yes.” Maybe I'll try stone tablets someday. And then I stumble. Half an hour after waking up, I check on Amazon.com to see how mine is selling. last book. And how many sins have I committed? Pride? Envy? Greed? And can't be counted. A trip to the copy center doesn't go any better.

I want to make some copies of the Ten Commandments to post around the apartment as a good reminder. The Bible says those who are prudent are “slow to anger” (Proverbs 19:11). So when I walk in with a nimble woman in her forties and she sprints toward the counter, trying to get ahead of me in line, I try not to get angry. And when she asks me to make a copy for her on the only working copier, I try to remain calm. And when she takes out and plops down on the counter a stack of sheets that looks like the collected works of JK Rowling, I say to myself: “Slow to anger, slow to anger.” And then she asks some difficult question about types of paper... I say to myself: remember what happened to the ancient Jews when they waited forty days for Moses to return from the mountain? They were impatient, lost faith - and pestilence struck them. Oh, and she pays by check. And asks for a receipt. And she wants to be endorsed. Proverbs - a collection of wise sayings from the Old Testament - teach that if you smile, you will become happy. This idea is, in fact, confirmed by research by psychologists. And here I stand and grin like a flight attendant. But anger rages inside. I don't have time. I have a list of seventy-two Bible problems waiting for me. Finally I get to the counter and give the cashier a dollar. She scoops up thirty-eight cents from the cash register and hands them to me.

Inspired by my former Uncle Gil, I bought them from the No Problem Brushes website. Something like this decorated my grandmother’s embroidered pillows. I pin them with safety pins to the cuffs and hem of the shirt - this takes ten minutes. By evening I'm exhausted like a lemon. I barely have the energy to listen to Julie talk about the US Open, and even that conversation is difficult. I have to carefully avoid mentioning Venus Williams because she was named after the Roman goddess of love, and I would be violating the injunction of Genesis 23:13 (“do not mention the names of other gods”). As I go to bed, I wonder if I took a step toward enlightenment today. Not a fact. I was so captivated by the rules, often wild at first glance, that I had no time to think. Perhaps I am like a novice driver who checks the turn signals and speedometer every second, not noticing the scenery due to nervousness. But this is only the first day.

AJ Jacobs - A Year Lived Biblically

Per. from English T. Mamedova. - M.: Mann, Ivanov and Ferber, 2013.

ISBN 978-5-91657-809-6

AJ Jacobs - A Year Lived Biblically - Contents

Introduction

Preparation

Month one: September
Month two: October
Month three: November
Month four: December
Month five: January
Month six: February
Seventh month: March
Eighth month: April
Ninth month: May
Tenth month: June
Month eleven: July
Month twelve: August (and a little September)

Notes

Bibliography

Bible editions

A. J. Jacobs - A Year Lived Biblically - Month Nine

Ninth month: May. In the beginning was the Word... Gospel of John 1:1 Day 243. Today begins life according to the New Testament. I am no less nervous than usual, and even more nervous than the first day and the day I called Guru Gil. On the other hand, I'm looking forward to immersing myself in this new life. I have to acquire a lot of knowledge. Until this year, I knew only the basics of the New Testament and Christianity. And scattered facts that I still remember from the encyclopedia (for example, that according to the early Christians, the creation of the world was the equivalent of conception, and it happened on March 25. This gives symbolic weight to the birth of Jesus nine months later, on December 25). However, deeper knowledge is needed. That's why new life will do me good. Besides, I feel like it's time. There is no doubt that in America today the New Testament is more influential than the Old. Or rather, the literal interpretation of the Bible influences the country more than the Jewish interpretations. I am not inclined to think that we are on the verge of a theocracy. But evangelical Christianity—in both its conservative and progressive forms—has a profound impact on our lives.

On the other hand, I'm panicking. I'm already disheartened by the complexity of my own tradition, and now I'm about to enter completely unfamiliar territory. I tell Julie that stress gives me a headache. “You know, you don’t have to do this,” Julie notes. “But if I don’t do this, I can only tell half the story.” - But bigger. That's true. But like Nachson, the ancient Jew who entered the Dead Sea, I will go into the water and see what happens. However, first you have to deal with Important questions. The first one is this: If I focus on the New Testament, will I have to follow all the rules of the Hebrew Bible? In other words, should I leave the beard and sidelocks? Or break out the razor and order fajitas with shrimp? I asked the question to almost every Christian expert I knew. The answer was simple: unknown. In general, there is a small, even very small group of Christians who believe that even now we must follow absolutely every rule of the Old Testament. This is an ultra-legalist camp. They quote the following words of Jesus from Matthew 5:17–18: Do not think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets: I came not to destroy, but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one jot or one tittle will pass from the law until it is all fulfilled. Jesus is God, but he confirms: the laws of the ancient Jews are still in effect.

On the other end of the spectrum are Christians who believe that Jesus abolished all the rules of the Old Testament. He made a new agreement. And his death was the final sacrifice, so there is no need to sacrifice animals or, for that matter, keep any other laws of the Old Testament. Even the well-known Ten Commandments after Christ lose their necessity. Take Matthew 22:37–39, where a lawyer asks Jesus what the most important commandment in the law is. Christ answers: ...Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind: this is the first and greatest commandment; the second is similar to it: love your neighbor as yourself... Some Christians claim that the remaining eight commandments flow from these two. You love your neighbor, so don't lie to him. You love your neighbor, so don't steal from him. Old Testament important from a historical perspective, but as an ethical guide it has been abandoned. And then there is a large group in the middle. Most Christians I know make a distinction between moral and ritual laws. The moral ones are precisely contained in the Ten Commandments: do not kill, do not covet, and so on. They still need to be followed. Ritual laws concern the avoidance of bacon and the avoidance of clothing made from mixed threads. Thanks to Jesus they are obsolete.

What does it mean to follow the Bible literally—every word, absolutely exactly, without deviating one iota? Can modern man basically follow all its rules? A. J. Jacobs tried to do just that: for a year he lived, trying to follow as closely as possible all the rules and guidelines he could find in the Bible - there were more than seven hundred of them. He grew a beard, shunned menstruating women, observed the Sabbath, prayed three times a day, danced before our Lord, threw stones at blasphemers... “The Year Lived Biblically” is both a memoir, and a story about learning and education, and the present, deeply felt a spiritual journey that will make you think differently about the most influential book in human history.

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A great joker and adventurer, he decided on a new experiment. According to him, the most significant in life.

He lived for 380 days, following the biblical rules, of which there were more than 700. Below you will read my impressions of this experiment and the book written based on it.

AJ Jacobs

New York journalist, editor of Esquire magazine. He also collaborated with the New York Times and The Washington Post. Author of several bestsellers: “Know-It-All,” “A Year Lived Biblically,” “Healthy to Death,” “My Life as an Experiment.” Likes to completely immerse himself in the topic he writes about. Therefore, each of his books is his personal experience; and he defines his life as a series of experiments.

My religion is tolerance

First, a few words about my religious views. If you are not interested, move on to the next point. But I think the following maxim will help understand my impressions of the book.

So, I believe that faith and religion are different things. The first is the deepest beliefs, the spiritual foundations of a person.

What you believe in is what you live.

A person has the right to believe in God, evolution, himself, the energy of the Universe, the leg of a chair. Anything. If only it would help him create.

As for religion... I am Orthodox by birth. But I don't wear a cross.
Instead, I have a medallion with Saint Anastasia on my neck. Why? Because my mother gave it to me.

My mother and all my relatives were raised in Orthodox traditions. They do not go to church on Sundays, do not fast, but there are icons in every house, they read prayers from time to time, and the 10 commandments are the basis of their value system.

I believe that I do not have the right to tell my mother or anyone close to me who grew up in Orthodoxy: “Hmm, you know, I won’t paint the eggs and let’s put out the lamp, because I have different views on this matter.”

Just as no one has the right to impose their religious views on others.

Relations in society need to be unified, and for this there are two regulators - normative (law) and non-normative (social rules of behavior, including religious ones). I clearly distinguish between these areas, so the artificial introduction of moral and ethical norms into the legal sphere causes me chilling horror.

Yes, you understood correctly, I am talking about the so-called law on the protection of the feelings of believers, or rather, the introduction of appropriate amendments to the Criminal Code.

For me, theism and atheism are the two pillars on which the world rests. And I don't like it when they start hitting each other with their tails. I don't like it when atheists make fun of religious people just as much as I don't like it when the latter despise the former. My religion is tolerance.

What I didn't like about the book

Literalism

I don't think of the Bible as "holy scripture." For me this is historical and cultural literary work. A non-systematic collection of social, moral and everyday norms accumulated over centuries. Moreover, as the author himself noted, the Bible is similar to Wikipedia - it was edited by all and sundry.

The literalism that AJ Jacobs followed irritated me. It served one purpose - satire, and had nothing to do with the author's statement:

...this project will be my passport to the world of spirituality. I will not just study religion, but live it.

References to Western culture

To say that there are many of them means to remain silent. There are allusions from Western pop culture on almost every page. Across the page - comparisons with American actors, writers, religious leaders. A considerable part of humor is based on this, and it prevents the formation of images.

Compare when it is written: “In appearance he is Chekhov of the 21st century, only without pince-nez,” you can immediately imagine intelligent person, about 40 years old, fit, in a neat suit, but without glasses. And if you read: “He looks a little like Jackie Mason,” the flight of fantasy ends. Sorry, I don't remember what Jackie Mason looks like.

Of course, there are explanatory footnotes throughout. But the feeling that this book is not for us, not for the Russian-speaking reader, does not leave.

(The absence of a study of Orthodoxy as part of Christianity in the experiment strengthened this feeling.)

What I liked about the book

Language

Light, slender and witty. For those, like me, who work with texts, this book is a godsend. If you keep a notebook with interesting figures of speech and metaphors, then, while reading, add a couple of dozen “copies” to it.

(I think the translator also deserves a lot of credit for this, therefore, as a sign of respect, I will indicate her name - Taira Mamedova.)

Humor

Although I did not like that the book was built on ridiculing the Bible from a literalist position, I must pay tribute to the author’s sense of humor.

He describes people and events very ironically, but absolutely not evil. In addition, he knows how to laugh at himself. Holy fudge, how does he do it? :)

Cognition

By reading the book, you will learn a lot about religion and its manifestations. I didn’t even know about some religions. I can’t say that creationists or snake-keepers have piqued my interest enough to warrant further googling, but it’s quite educational. The book broadens your horizons.

Plot and personal background

AJ Jacobs lived his year biblically. The key word is lived. He worked, and that year he and his wife had twins. The author describes his personal life, thereby forming another storyline.

In my opinion, this is an excellent literary device that makes you sympathize with the hero even more.

Philosophy

Despite the fact that, in my opinion, the book is entertaining and not philosophical, from time to time quite serious topics are raised on its pages.

Lies (to yourself and others), gratitude, example to your children, fanaticism (including religious), stem cells... All these are serious ethical problems. There's a lot to think about.

Finally, I liked AJ's main point. I think his “cafeteria religion” does a good job of demonstrating the position of the Bible in modern society.

AJ Jacobs, a big fan of self-experimentation, lived for a year following all the rules and guidelines that he could find in the Bible - there were more than 700 of them. After 380 days, he returned to his previous lifestyle, but the experiment did not pass without a trace:

When I first started this project, Elton Richards used a great food metaphor. He said: my experience will be like a feast, and although not everyone is ready to sit at the table with me, it is important that I have hunger and thirst - and have the right to satisfy them.

I really liked his way of expressing himself. And by the end of the year I decided to use this food metaphor of my own creation. I think I've found it. Maybe she is not so majestic, but still. There is a phrase “Stolovsky Christianity.” This is how fundamentalists speak ironically about the views of moderate Christians.

The point here is that moderates choose and accept those parts of the Bible that they want to follow. They take a large dose of mercy and compassion. But the ban on homosexuality remains on the shelf. They adapt the Bible to their own needs. This year I clearly understood that the “table religion” is practiced not only by moderates, but also by fundamentalists. It is impossible to put everything on your plate.

Otherwise, you will have to kick out of the church women who want to say hello (“Keep your wives silent in the churches, for it is not lawful for them to speak...” - First Corinthians 14:34) and kick out men for discussing the Tennessee Titans team (“and the names of others do not mention gods..." - Exodus 23:13). But more importantly, there is nothing wrong with the choice.

Canteens in themselves are not a source of evil. I've had great dinners there many times. The main thing is to choose the right dishes. We must take the nutritious (compassion) and healthy (love your neighbor), and not the bitter and poisonous. Religious leaders may not know everything about this food, but good ones will point you to fresh ones. They're like a helpful woman on hand... looks like I'm too distracted.

A year later, another question arose: Do I believe in the traditional God of the Bible? At least not like the ancient Jews. I could never take the leap of faith to embrace a God who rolls up his sleeves and twirls our lives like a novelist twirls characters. I am still an agnostic. But in the words of Elton Richards, I am now a reverent agnostic.

And it's not an oxymoron, I swear. Now I believe that whether there is a God or not, there are sacred things. Life is sacred. Prayer can be a sacred ritual. This is something transcendental, going beyond the boundaries of everyday life. Perhaps it is the work of the people themselves, but this does not lose either its power or importance.

What I will take away from this year is “canteen religion.” And I will often act differently than I did thirteen months ago. Yes, I will never live with so many restrictions. But part of the biblical alter ego stayed with me. If the biblical self had a long beard, there was still some stubble. But it is there. And I think it will never disappear.