Omnibus: The Know-It-All, The Year of Living Biblically, My Life as an Experiment

by A. J. Jacobs

  DAY 264

  The New York Times article on the Reverend Boyd is “Disowning Conservative Politics, Evangelical Pastor Rattles Flock” by Laurie Goodstein, July 30, 2006.

  DAY 277

  The King James version cleans up Ezekiel 23:20. But the New International Version gives a more earthy, and accurate, translation: “There, she lusted after her lovers, whose genitals were like those of donkeys and whose emission was like that of horses.”

  For more history of cursing try “Almost Before We Spoke, We Swore” by Natalie Angier, September 20, 2005. And “Tarnation Heck!” by William Safire, February 12, 2006. Both in the New York Times.

  DAY 287

  See A Practical Handbook for Ministry by Wayne E. Oates for more on mentally ill patients who try to pluck out their eyes.

  DAY 297

  Thanks to Roadside Religion by Timothy K. Beal for first introducing me to the quote about religious study making the “strange familiar and the familiar strange” (p. 299). It’s an interesting book about religious tourist destinations.

  Many scholars—including Bart Ehrman, in Misquoting Jesus—contend that the Gospel of Mark originally ended with the verse 16:8. Or else, it continued, but the real ending has been lost.

  DAY 314

  The translation of Exodus 21:22 is notoriously difficult. If you translate the Hebrew word for “lose her offspring” as “a miscarriage,” the passage seems to bolster the pro-choicers. If you translate it as “premature birth,” then it can be used by pro-lifers. For more on this, see www.religioustolerance.org/abo_biblh.htm.

  Here are some other websites that deal with abortion and the Bible from both sides: www.prochoiceactionnetwork-canada.org/articles/bible.html; www.priests forlife.org/brochures/thebible.html; www.elroy.net/ehr/abortion.html; www.jimfeeney.org/pro-life.html.

  By the way, here’s an etiquette tip: Do not say “Mazal tov” to a Karaite. The phrase mazal tov means “good stars” or “good constellations,” which they see as violating the Bible’s ban on astrology.

  DAY 372

  The C. S. Lewis quote is from Surprised by Joy: The Shape of My Early Life (New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, 1956), p. 192.

  DAY 378

  For more on women being banned from talking in church, see Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism by John Shelby Spong.

  Selected Bibliography

  Armstrong, Karen. The Battle For God. New York: Ballantine, 2000.

  ———. The Great Transformation. New York: Knopf, 2006.

  ———. A History of God. New York: Knopf, 1993.

  Ballmer, Randall. Thy Kingdom Come. New York: Basic Books, 2006.

  Barton, John, and John Mudiman, eds. The Oxford Bible Commentary. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001.

  Beal, Timothy K. Roadside Religion. Boston: Beacon Press, 2005.

  Bell, James Stuart, and Stan Campbell. The Complete Idiot’s Guide to the Bible. New York: Penguin Group, 2005.

  Blackhouse, Robert. The Kregel Pictorial Guide to the Temple. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Kregel Publications, 1996.

  Blanton, Brad. Radical Honesty. Stanley, Va.: Sparrowhawk Publications, 2005.

  Bloom, Harold. Jesus and Yahweh: The Names Divine. New York: Riverhead Books, 2005.

  Bloom, Harold, and David Rosenberg. The Book of J. New York: Grove/Atlantic, 1990.

  Bock, Darrell. The Missing Gospels: Unearthing the Truth Behind Alternative Christianities. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2006.

  Borg, Marcus J. Reading the Bible Again for the First Time. New York: HarperCollins, 2001.

  Borowski, Oded. Daily Life in Biblical Times. Leiden, The Netherlands: Society of Biblical Literature, 2003.

  Boyd, Gregory. The Myth of a Christian Nation. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 2005.

  Boyer, Pascal. Religion Explained. New York: Basic Books, 2001.

  Brettler, Marc Zvi. How to Read the Bible. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 2005.

  Butler, Trent, Chad Brand, and Archie England, eds. Holman’s Illustrated Bible Dictionary. Nashville: B&H Publishing Group, 2003.

  Carmichael, Calum. Ideas and the Man: Remembering David Daube. Frankfurt, Germany: Vittorio Klostermann, 2004.

  Carter, Jimmy. Our Endangered Values. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2005.

  ———. Sources of Strength. New York: Three Rivers Press, 1997.

  Chilton, Bruce. Rabbi Jesus: An Intimate Biography. New York: Image, 2002.

  Coffin, William Sloane. Letters to a Young Doubter. Louisville, Ky.: Westminster John Knox Press, 2005.

  Colbert, Don. What Would Jesus Eat? Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982.

  Collins, Francis. The Language of God. New York: Free Press, 2006.

  Crabb, Larry. Finding God. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 1993.

  Crapanzano, Vincent. Serving the Word: Literalism in America from the Pulpit to the Bench. New York: New Press, 2000.

  Cross, Carlene. Fleeing Fundamentalism: A Minister’s Wife Examines Faith. New York: Algonquin Books, 2006.

  Davis, Kenneth C. Don’t Know Much About the Bible. New York: William Morrow, 1998.

  Dawkins, Richard. The God Delusion. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2006.

  Dossick, Rabbi Wayne. Living Judaism. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1995.

  Dowley, Tim. Everyday Life in Bible Times. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Kregel Publications, 1998.

  Ehrman, Bart D. Misquoting Jesus. New York: HarperCollins, 2005.

  Eisenberg, Ronald L. The JPS Guide to Jewish Traditions. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society of America, 2004.

  ———. The 613 Mitzvot. Rockville, Md.: Schreiber Publishing, 2005.

  Englert, Jonathan. The Collar. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2006.

  Finkelstein, Israel, and Neil Asher Silberman. The Bible Unearthed. New York: Free Press, 2002.

  Fox, Everett. The Five Books of Moses. New York: Schocken Books, 1995.

  Fox, Robin Lane. The Unauthorized Version. New York: Knopf, 1991.

  Freedman, David Noel, ed. The Anchor Bible Dictionary. New York: Doubleday, 1992.

  Friedman, Richard Elliott. Commentary on the Torah. San Francisco: Harper-SanFrancisco, 2003.

  ———. Who Wrote the Bible? New York: Summit Books, 1987.

  Galambush, Julie. The Reluctant Parting: How the New Testament’s Jewish Writers Created a Christian Book. New York: HarperCollins, 2006.

  Geoghegan, Jeffrey, and Michael Homan. The Bible for Dummies. Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley, 2003.

  Girzone, Joseph. My Struggle with Faith. New York: Doubleday, 2006.

  Goldberg, Michelle. Kingdom Coming. New York: Norton, 2006.

  Greenberg, Rabbi Steven. Wrestling with God & Men. Madison, Wisc.: University of Wisconsin Press, 2004.

  Hahn, Scott. Letter and Spirit: From Written Text to Living Word in the Liturgy. New York: Doubleday, 2005.

  Harris, Roberta. The World of the Bible. London: Thames & Hudson, 1995.

  Harris, Sam. The End of Faith. New York: Norton, 2004.

  ———. Letter to a Christian Nation. New York: Knopf, 2006.

  Hedges, Chris. American Fascists. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2006.

  Hendricks, Howard G., and William D. Hendricks. Living by the Book. Chicago: Moody Press, 1991.

  James, William. The Varieties of Religious Experience. New York: Modern Library, 2002.

  Kelemen, Lawrence. Permission to Receive. Southfield, Mich.: Targum Press, 1996.

  Kelly, Stuart. The Book of Lost Books. New York: Random House, 2006.

  Kennedy, D. James. Why the Ten Commandments Matter. New York: Time Faith, 2005.

  Kierkegaard, Soren. Fear and Trembling. New York: Knopf, 1994.

  Kolatch, Alfred. The Jewish Book of Why. Middle Village, N.Y.: Jonathan David Publishers, 1981.

  ———. The Second Jewish Book of Why. Middle Village, N.Y.: Jonathan David Publishers, 1985.

  Kornbluth, Doron. Jewish Matters. Southfield, Mich.: Targum Press, 1999.

  Kozodoy, Ruth Lurie. The Book of Jewish
Holidays. Springfield, N.J.: Behrman House, 1981.

  Kugel, James L. The Bible as It Was. Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1997.

  LaHaye, Tim, and Jerry B. Jenkins. Left Behind. Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale House, 1995.

  Levine, Baruch A. Leviticus: The Traditional Hebrew Text with the New JPS Translation. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society of America, 1989.

  Lewis, C. S. Mere Christianity. New York: HarperSanFrancisco, 2001.

  ———. The Screwtape Letters. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 2001.

  Lightfoot, Neil R. How We Got the Bible. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Books, 2003.

  Locks, Gil. Coming Back to Earth. New York: L’Chaim Publications, 2004.

  MacArthur, John. What the Bible Says About Parenting. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2000.

  Matthews, Victor H. Manners and Customs in the Bible. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Publishers, 1991.

  McBrien, Richard P. Catholicism: New Study Edition. San Francisco: Harper-SanFrancisco, 1994.

  ———. Lives of the Saints: From Mary and Francis of Assisi to John XXIII and Mother Teresa. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 2001.

  McClellan, Ruth. An Incredible Journey. Lynchburg, Va.: Liberty University, 2006.

  McDowell, Josh. Evidence for Christianity. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2006.

  McManis, Cliff. Christian Living. The Woodlands, Tex.: Kress Christian Publications, 2006.

  Mennonite Confession of Faith. Crockett, Ky.: Rod and Staff Publishers, 1963.

  Metzger, Bruce, and Michael D. Coogan, eds. The Oxford Companion to the Bible. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993.

  Miles, Jack. God: A Biography. New York: Knopf, 1995.

  Morrow, Jimmy, with Ralph W. Hood. Handling Serpents. Macon, Ga.: Mercer University Press, 2005.

  Nicholi, Armand M. The Question of God: C. S. Lewis and Sigmund Freud Debate God, Love, Sex, and the Meaning of Life. New York: Free Press, 2003.

  Nicolson, Adam. God’s Secretaries. New York: HarperCollins, 2003.

  Omartian, Stormie. A Book of Prayer. Eugene, Oreg.: Harvest House Publishers, 2006.

  Oppenheimer, Mark. Thirteen and a Day. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2005.

  Pagels, Elaine. Adam, Eve and the Serpent. New York: Vintage, 1989.

  Pakkala, Lorraine. Yea God! Trumansburg, N.Y.: Crossing Press, 1980.

  Perkins, Bill. When Good Men Are Tempted. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 1997.

  Phillips, Kevin. American Theocracy. New York: Viking Penguin, 2006. Priolo, Lou. Teach Them Diligently. Woodruff, S.C.: Timeless Texts, 1977.

  Rousas, John Rushdoony. The Institutes of Biblical Law. Nutley, N.J.: Craig Press, 1973.

  Rubin, Jordan S. The Maker’s Diet. New York: Penguin Group, 2004.

  Russell, Bertrand. Why I Am Not a Christian. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1957.

  Ruthven, Malise. Fundamentalism: The Search for Meaning. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004.

  Sarna, Jonathan D. American Judaism. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 2004.

  Sarna, Nahum M., ed. The JPS Torah Commentary: Genesis. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1989.

  Shulevitz, Judith. “Bring Back the Sabbath.” New York Times, March 2, 2003.

  ———. “What Do Orthodox Jews Think of Abortion, and Why?” Slate, August 25, 2000.

  Simon, Ethelyn, and Joseph Anderson. Teach Yourself to Read Hebrew. Albany, Calif.: EKS Publishing, 2002.

  Skolnik, Fred, ed. Encyclopedia Judaica. New York: Macmillan, 2006.

  Smith, Huston. The World’s Religions. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1991.

  Spong, John Shelby. Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism. San Francisco, HarperSanFrancisco, 1991.

  ———. The Sins of Scripture. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 2005.

  Steinberg, Milton. As a Driven Leaf. Springfield, N.J.: Behrman House, 1939.

  Steinsaltz, Adin. The Essential Talmud. New York: Basic Books, 1984.

  Stewart, Matthew. The Courtier and the Heretic. New York: Norton, 2006.

  Strobel, Lee. The Case for Faith. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 2000.

  Strong, James. The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1996.

  Telushkin, Joseph. The Book of Jewish Values: A Day-by-Day Guide to Ethical Living. New York: Harmony/Bell Tower, 2000.

  Tigay, Jefrey H. The JPS Torah Commentary: Deuteronomy. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1989.

  Tillich, Paul. History of Christian Thought. New York: Touchstone, 1972.

  Turner, Denys. Faith, Reason and the Existence of God. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004.

  Twain, Mark. Letters from Earth. New York: Perennial, 1991.

  Unger, Merrill F. The New Unger’s Bible Handbook. Chicago: Moody Press, 2005.

  United States Catholic Catechism for Adults. Washington, D.C.: USCCB, 2006.

  Wallis, Jim. God’s Politics. New York: HarperCollins, 2005.

  Warren, Rick. The Purpose Driven Life. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 2002.

  Weisman, Charles A. A Handbook of Bible Law. Burnsville, Minn.: Weisman Publications, 1991.

  Wills, Garry. What Jesus Meant. New York: Viking Penguin, 2006.

  Woodmorappe, John. Noah’s Ark: A Feasibility Study. Santee, Calif.: Institute for Creation Research, 1996.

  Zacharias, Ravi. Can Man Live Without God? Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1996.

  BIBLE BIBLIOGRAPHY

  Alter, Robert, trans. The Five Books of Moses. New York: Norton, 2004.

  American Bible Society. Good News Bible, 1993 (GNB).

  Doubleday. The New Jerusalem Bible, 1990 (NJB).

  Fox, Everett, trans. The Five Books of Moses. New York: Schocken Books, 1983.

  Jewish Publication Society. Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures, 1985 (JPS).

  Lockman Foundation. Amplified Bible, 1954 (AB).

  Mesorah Publications. The Stone Tanach, 1996.

  Oxford University Press. The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version, 1989 (NRSV).

  Oxford University Press. The New Oxford Annotated Bible, 2001.

  Thomas Nelson. The Holy Bible: Revised Standard Version, 1972 (RSV).

  Thomas Nelson. The Holy Bible: New King James Version, 1982 (NKJV).

  Tyndale House. The Living Bible, 1976 (TLB).

  United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. The New American Bible, 2005 (NAB).

  World Publishing. The Holy Bible King James Version, 1928 (KJV).

  World Bible Publishing. God’s Word Bible, 1998 (GWT).

  Zondervan. Holy Bible: New International Version, 1989 (NIV).

  Acknowledgments

  The Bible says to give thanks (Psalms 44:8), so I hope you’ll forgive me if I get a little carried away.

  Thanks to my editor Marysue Rucci at Simon & Schuster, who is a joy to work with—passionate, generous, and wise.

  I’m grateful to my agent Sloan Harris at ICM, who insists on breaking his profession’s stereotype by being a complete mensch.

  I’m indebted to Rob Weisbach, a brilliant editor and great friend without whom I would not be doing this for a living.

  There’s an astounding number of people to thank at Simon & Schuster for their unrivaled support: David Rosenthal, the capo di tutti capi, as well as Victoria Meyer, Aileen Boyle, Tracey Guest, Julia Prosser, Leah Wasielewski, Jackie Seow, Marcella Berger, Marie Florio, Lisa Healy, and my friendly taskmaster, Ginny Smith.

  If this were an awards show, I’m guessing I’d be played off right about now. But I’ve got plenty more. My spiritual advisory board consisted of the following insightful and kind people: Elton Richards, Andy Cohen, Marsha Marks (the Christian aunt I never had), Julie Galambush, David Bossman, David Cohen, Nathaniel Deutsch (who understood my project better than I did), Roger Bennett, Fay Landis, Rev. Stan Duncan, Robbie Harris, Azriel Hirsch, Oded Borowski, Father Michel Lavoie, Darrell Bock, Dean Hubbard, Bill Berkowitz, Calum Carmichael, Michael Berenbaum, Glen H
optman, Benyamin Cohen, Joseph Ginzberg, Greg Frier, Eddy Portnoy, and Vincent Crapanzano.

  Thanks to all those who read the manuscript and gave me their editorial wisdom, namely: Lizzie Berne DeGear, Peter Griffin, Andrew Lund (who read it twice!), Chad Millman, Brian Frazer, Neely Harris (who used a highlighter), Carolyn Bernstein, Rob Kurson, Albert Kim, Ken Jennings (yes, as in the Ken Jennings of Jeopardy!), Shannon Barr, Mark Warren, Elicia Pomeroy (who kindly donated a metaphor), Stephen Friedman, Sam Davidoff, Laura Bittner, Martin Zuckerman, Mark Warren, Uri Grezemkovsky, Paul Mandell, Jennifer Landis, Burt Cohen, and Melanie Davis.

  I’m grateful to David Granger of Esquire, a visonary editor (who didn’t get mad when I slacked off on my Esquire duties for three months—maybe four). And to Josie Freedman of ICM, who is the female version of a mensch, whatever that is called, as well as Liz Farrell, Michael McCarthy, and Kristyn Keene.

  Thanks to Victor Ozols, a researcher/adviser whose attention to detail is matched by his big vision.

  Thanks to former S&S’er Geoff Kloske, who bought the book and gave me good advice on sandals.

  Thanks to Ivan Hrazdira, who gave me excellent insights on biblical banking. Laurie Davis, who was invaluable in helping me release debt. Kevin Roose, my slave/intern (I’m telling you, the kid is going places). Justin Balding and Jamie Novogrod for making images. Thomas Wheatley and Buddy Kite for their research. To Ruth Feinberg for her insights into temptation and impurity. And the madcap minds of Jay Reiss and Jeremy Kleiner.