My year of living biblically | A.J. Jacobs 

Be sure to read, "Know It All."

What is the title of the book? I thought there would be a link, but I can't find one.

@@sherripowell7285 A Year of Biblical Living.

@@MichaelLevine-n6y I have it.

@@soslothfulauthor?

Are you saying all of it, or just some of it?

Actually I don't think people missed the point of the talk. I think perhaps you missed the point of the comments. I completely understand what he's trying to say, but he, surprisingly, has no idea what he's talking about. The question "Should you take the Bible literally" is the wrong question to ask in the first place. The Bible is not a list of rules. Parts are law, parts are narrative, parts are poetry, parts are prophecy, parts are letters. If someone says they take the Bible literally, they don't mean without context. Usually people mean they seek to take it as it was meant to be taken when it was written. So, when God commands Moses to stone adulterers, Christians today recognize that this command was a given as a civil law for the ancient nation state of Israel, God's chosen people back then. The civil laws have since expired, because the nation of Israel is no longer God's people (the Church now is), and God's people are no longer meant to live as a nation. God wasn't commanding vigilanteism when he commanded the death penalty for adulterers. This was a command for the governing bodies of the country. Taking the Bible literally doesn't necessitate reading it like an encyclopedia and out of context. I also find it strange that he said he didn't run into anyone who knew what laws like the mixed fabric law meant. I could give you an answer right now: much of the Sinaic Law was given by God as visual symbolism. So, not mixing fabrics is a symbol of how God commanded His people to be morally pure, or morally unmixed. It's not like God really cared about what clothing people wore simply for the sake of the clothing. Leviticus is VERY big on "holiness" which really just literally means "set apart". Israel was meant to be "set apart" from the pagan nations surrounding them that worshiped false gods and did terrible things like child sacrifice or sexual immoral practices. The lack of mixed cloths is only one of many symbols of this. They were literally to not wear mixed clothing, but the purpose behind the literal command was symbolic.

@@jacobdietz1444 Two problems with what you are saying. One is Context and one is the unchanging nature of God. To say it was OK back then but not today implies that God changes his mind with the context of the times. Or that his unchanging mind is interpreted differently depending on the context of the time. Most Christian Theists will claim that god is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow, and then apply cherry picking convenience to the context. So, without the context qualifier, when God says in Exodus 21:21 that it's ok to beat your slave as long as they don't die within a day or two... means God feels the same way today. That's a immoral God... (in my opinion). What I see you also saying is "Wait a minute... there is a context out there that makes it ok back then but not today". (I'm assuming you do not think slavery is OK today). If that's what you are saying, then please give us a context that makes it moral (even back then) to own another human being as property that you can hand down to your children (read the whole chapter before giving the indentured servant argument... that is not what 21:21 is referring to).

Can anyone tell me what chapter the setting people on fire is. and the one where they burn all the science books.

@@o0o-jd-o0o95 1 Kings 18, and Acts 19. They didn't burn science but, but books about sorcery which is the exact opposite. You should investigate it more for yourself.

LOL

😅😅😅

@JLangston2315 EDIT: Ah, I assume you mean the book that A.J. Jacobs wrote? I can't comment on that, as I havent read it myself, so my bad.

How do you know for sure you are a Christian? Love 4Truth!

@@abomination2theLord let him be a Christian 10 out of 10 Christians are not followers of Yeshua

@@mustardseedministries754 What's wrong with him specifically?

Lol asking all of the women there would be so hard

+Matt Nemmers Yep!!

+Matt Nemmers butthurt?

For this is what the Lord has commanded us: “I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.” Acts 13:47

@@CTimmerman light for my genitals

Why not a documentary starring himself?

Nice!

yes

You do know who wrote the OT don't You? The scribes and Pharisees. And the NT was written by Rome!

@@scottlouissmith2382 Is that one of satan's jokes you picked up on? Love 4Truth!

@@abomination2theLord Satan DOSNT exist. It's the evil thoughts and intentions of all human beings. So many look outside to blame things on this "satan" when it's just them! Just like many people wait for Christs return, it's not gonna happen. Until man realizes he is Devine and stoped worshiping God's he will only be a slave.....

@@scottlouissmith2382 Wow Scott, satan really has a grip on your soul, mind and body! Well Scott, one thing for sure you are going to see Jesus and not be taken up with him. I tell you this will happen faster than you can imagine. For your information GOD wrote the Bible for us to know what was, what is and what is coming. When you get left behind then remember this: take your death in the name of Jesus to get saved in the Great Tribulation. Scott, all you lack is reading, learning, and understanding the word of GOD to get saved and have eternal life. I too scoffed for a third of my life at the thought of GOD and/or Jesus. I finally picked up the Bible (King James Version) and started to read it. Then I found a great teacher of the word and have not looked back since. Love 4Truth!

It’s called bs

Delusion->confirmation bias->stronger delusion->more confirmation bias. Rinse and repeat.

The bible is a chameleon, it adjusts its message differently for everyone, even in contradictory ways. Jesus the peace lover, Jesus the war bringer, (Matt 10:34-36) Jesus the racist (Matt 15:21-28), Jesus who overthrows the old order and Jesus who has not change one dot or jot of the old law. Pro slavery or anti slavery, pro and anti the death penalty, the bible has it all.

@@PeterGregoryKelly I don't understand how Matt. 15:21-28 has to do with racism.

@@ocdplaylistmaker7032 I suggest you read it. You don't feed the dogs (Somartians) when you you your children (Israelites) to feed. Just was the reason Jesus refused to recognise her, a reaction he reversed BTW. This is EXACTLY a racist response.

To be a Christian and believe the bible is infalllible takes an infinite amount of rationalization.

Go to bed, you're drunk.

sad you missed the point of the video??

Who cares where you read the book.

Dawkins, Harris and Hitchens do a much better job with this topic.

Being agnostic myself, I'd love for you to explain what I'm not understanding (please note, I'm not being disrespectful, I'm not trying to pick a fight, I'm just curious).

Good point! it would take a long time to study and understand! although the Holy Spirit does help with that.

And I'm sure you have a convincing set of arguments for why you understand correctly, and the other 100 or so denominations of xtianity are wrong.

Then that's a good excuse not to even try Christianity.

+Philip Keiter yeah and he also had the opinion that the rituals were pointless so sad that he come so close and fell so far from truth without the holy spirit one can not understand God's laws

Atheists don't believe anything exists apart from their assumptions.

That's a pretty extreme assumption

Saxon Anglo No, I talk to atheists everyday. They tell me that the Bible is a fable and my spiritual experiences are delusions. Because THEY KNOW.

scribbler60 No. Because it is possible to verify its claims, and had been done by people of every nation, language and tribe for the last 2000 years at the least.

+Kevin Perera ??? A symbol? Now there's a stretch. Jesus is your Sabbath, you can eat pork, swear not at all (we are clearly told to swear by Elohim), Jesus fulfilled the law so don't have to worry about it, and it goes on and on. The problem with so called believers today is that they believe a perverse doctrine of men and NOT the words of Yahweh.

+MrArtist1971 very true

+Kevin Perera - it's amazing how otherwise rational people always read the plain words of the Bible literally, only to be told by people like you that they should have understood the words in a very obscure, figurative way. A way no one down thru the ages would have had any way of understanding. But, when the Bible says that man should not lay with a man, people like you wonder why the rest of us don't simply read and understand such a statement in the plain, literal way it was intended. It's heads I win, tails you lose.

You could have just said “defensive “. Adding “butthurt” (think about the origins of that insult, by the way) diminishes your comment. Cheap colloquialisms are diluting the language.

He said that those who would not follow him should be put to death before him.

No, he said, "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law" There is no such thing as the Mosaic Law, the Torah is the Yahweh's Law. There is another law that is in the flesh, the carnal mind. That is the Law that is destroyed. Yes, he is the grace given to us from the Almighty, his Salvation to us.

Emmanuella Akobundu actually Jesus said he came not to do away with the law but to fulfill it. The high priest gave yearly sacrifices for the whole nation's sins, and so did each family head...Jesus gave the ultimate sacrifice...the lamb that takes away the sin of the world. But it takes more than faith, as even the demons have faith and believe...

flamingpie herman Well said! Faith without out works is dead. To put it another way, The Messiah gave us a "Faith That Works." This is the Faith that he had, the Way he lived, the obedience he showed, living a sinless life. A life lived without breaking Yahweh's Law, the Torah. We are to walk as he walked, in his Faith. His Faith is attributed to us as it grows in us. It is sad that Many teach we can willingly practice Sin, breaking his Torah, Law, (every word that Yahweh has spoken), and still remain under his Grace. Worse they teach that he removed the Law, which he did not. He removed the Penalty for breaking it, provided we have Faith in Messiah and let the Faith of the Messiah transform us into Yahweh's Children who delight to Do his Torah, Law - His WILL! Shalom, Peace

Michael Deo yes and many people believe that Jesus came to bring peace...he said he came not to bring peace but a sword. In fact he said he would begin his rule amongst his enemies...and his rule would be during a time of great trouble...we see that now! But he also said he would conquer his enemies and ultimately bring peace through his kingdom...so it is vital we pray for it!

+paintballgun10 Context is not very important when, as he clearly states at 2:36, he is attempting to live "biblically". The Mosaic law is a good chunk of bible and very straight forward, as it is legal instruction, and not metaphoric mumbo-jumbo. I would guess you are a zealous Christian projecting your world-view a bit too far, and excitedly stumbled into a seemingly perfect place to condemn and preach to another that doesn't understand the bible as well as you do from your dogmatic Christian interpretation. You've learned quite bit of Christian rhetoric; I hope your faith that the bible was properly canonized is correctly placed. After all it would suck if after working through the mountains of rationalizations needed to explain the inconsistencies from writing to writing in the current popular canon another council decides that something is not inspired and needs to be removed or something else added. It is not easy to retrain a sane brain to accept the glaring contradictions even between the four gospels, let alone the ideological differences from writings of greater chronological expanses in the whole work.

+FreethinkingSecularist what do you mean context is not important? the bible says: " 2 Peter 1:20 KJV Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation." People were often condemned for interpreting the bible incorrectly You can't interpret the bible anyway you want to. Those who do are condemned: " 1 Timothy 6:20-21 KJV O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called: [21] **Which some professing have erred concerning the faith.** Grace be with thee. Amen. " 2 Timothy 2:18 KJV Who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and overthrow the faith of some." " 1 John 4:1-3 KJV Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. [2] Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: [3] And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world." Note the historical context of the first epistle of John. The church in Asia Minor was beginning to get filled some 100 years after Christs death, with a doctrine known as gnosticism, which stated that Christ didn't literally walk the earth, but was some sort of spirit and that salvation came from coming to a saving knowledge of who he was instead of faith. These people erroneously interpreted scripture.

+FreethinkingSecularist Furthermore, the bible speaks A LOT about the fact that the Jewish ceremonial laws are no longer in effect: " Colossians 2:20-22 KJV Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances, [21] (Touch not; taste not; handle not; [22] Which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men?" " Galatians 3:10 KJV For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, **Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.**" in bold: the apostle is directly quoting Deuteronomy 27:26: " Deuteronomy 27:26 KJV Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them. And all the people shall say, Amen." it is important to note that DEUTORONOMY WAS THE LAST OF THE 5 BOOKS OF THE PENTATEUCH(TORAH). in the Acts of the apostle, it says " Acts 15:1-2 KJV And certain men which came down from Judaea taught the brethren, and said , Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved. [2] When therefore Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and disputation with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas, and certain other of them, should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about this question." note: in the old testament, part of the law was to be circumcised. " Acts 15:5-10 KJV But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees which believed, saying, That it was needful to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses. [6] And the apostles and elders came together for to consider of this matter. [7] And when there had been much disputing, Peter rose up, and said unto them, Men and brethren, ye know how that a good while ago God made choice among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel, and believe. [8] And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us; [9] And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. [10] **Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?**" The apostle Peter condemned the Jews for trying to impose the 613 commandments of the old testament to the gentiles."

+FreethinkingSecularist Thus, the New Testament confirms the idea that the ceremonial law was done away with and is no longer valid. Clearly if this man had been living biblically, he would of diligently studied the scriptures and he would of seen the vanity and uselessness in following these laws which are of no effect. Living biblically means living a life pleasing and serving Christ. Not following man made rules and pharisaical religions. This man's knowledge of the bible is extremely pitiful.

zombies I hate to have to point this out, but you have most likely wasted much energy showing the scriptural reasons why some scriptures are of old covenants and needn't be heeded, as Jacob's mission was not to become a fundamental Christian. You're defining the word 'biblically' in a dogmatic Christian theological framework, where he is using the common definition of the word which is: Of, relating to, or contained in the Bible. If he were going to behave in a way that most Christians believe are perfectly acceptable in the eye's of God, he wouldn't have to change a thing, then just repent at church every Sunday. But that would not be very 'biblical' from a literal or theological viewpoint(with the exception of Christian universalists), and would make for a pretty boring op-ed undertaking now wouldn't it? Most of the fun and humor of biblical living would come from following Mosaic law in today's world. So to answer your original question, context is not important when you set out to, as he states clearly in the video, "...tried to follow all the rules of the bible". If the context of the entire bible ultimately proves you need not follow the rules in most of the bible to stay in accord with God, it would have little to do with his objective. Hope that clears up what I meant. Have a blessed day!

Munk and Bear it's different if you are Jewish

+Munk and Bear Wow, I just wrote almost the exact same thing as you in a comment above before reading your text. Amen!

Amen brother

"It can only be understood by those who accept Jesus." Then why do most religious people disagree about most religious things?

Why accept Jesus as your "saviour"? Why not a random butterfly? It's all internal dialog inside your head.

+raymond shipyard We have no way of knowing what the" New" says,,,,It doesnt exist.there are pnly copies.NOt originals

+Hugh Jazzole' That doesn't mean the copies are not accurate. The same logic goes with the Old Testament.

Hugh Jazzole' You're not reading the New Testament aren't you?

raymond shipyard in the new testament, Jesus says to get the non-believers and people who don't follow him will be slayed before him.

Azure Griffin may I ask where it says that? I don’t recognize the passage

The OT is almost 80% of the Bible. Nothing to do with being Jewish.

Another wacky idea would be to read the “old testament” as it is interpreted by the people who actually are credited with it. They are called the Jews. They consider the Christian re-interpretation to be a load of horseshit. They called the “old testament” the Torah, and it is their central holy book. How do I know all of this? Because I am Jewish.

+Shuathmore It's for the exact same reason that the Bible was written. People need guidance. All you have to do is a little bit of research about the emotional, mental, and physical state of most people even into the 1920's (workers in 1920's factories in England for example) and you'll understand why people need guidance. At least they receive that.

Science is true whether you believe in it or not. Religion is only true if you believe in it.

Faith is believing in stuff you can not prove. It is a fear of uncertainty. Embracing and welcoming uncertainty allows for increases in scientific knowledge. Faith is a response to a psychological weakness.

@@PeterGregoryKelly Peter, What you say is interesting. I believe with faith comes a great deal of certainty and a corresponding reduction of fear. I am certain God exist and he created the world and man. I am certain Jesus came to the world and was killed and resurrected. I am certain that with faith in Jesus, I will be joined with him in Heaven some day. Contrary to embracing and welcoming uncertainty, I think God created man with a curious nature that leads us to explore our surroundings and increase our knowledge. Finally, I believe faith is a gift from God (sadly not everyone has it), so men can hear and understand him; and not a response to some psychological weakness.