by A. J. Jacobs
I did, in fact, smash an idol. I took a hammer to a faux Oscar statuette that my wife bought as a party favor once. I got out some of my hostility toward celebrity culture. But frankly, it didn't feel like it merited a chapter.
DAY 45
Sorry. I used the line about my dad working through the Apocalypse in my previous book. That's the last time in this book that I'll recycle a line from The Know-It-All.
DAY 46
Actually, in Judaism, life trumps all except for adultery, murder, and idolatry. Traditionally, you should choose to die before committing those. Also, I probably shouldn't say that all rabbis would allow pig's valves, since religion has a way of making a mockery of absolute statements. But I have yet to hear of a rabbi who would ban this.
DAY 50
If you want to be nitpicky about the whale/big fish thing: The Book of Jonah says "great fish," though when the story is referenced in Matthew 12:40, the word whale is, in fact, used.
DAY 64
I should note that Orthodox Jews today say prayers both before and after a meal, as do some Christians.
DAY 70
The book with the broad definition of evil tongue is The 613 Mitzvot by Ronald L. Eisenberg.
DAY 82
The "vapor of vapors" translation is from Reading the Bible Again for the First Time by Marcus J. Borg. In fact, I was helped enormously by Borg's brilliant section on the conflict between the conventional wisdom of Proverbs and the more nuanced wisdom of Ecclesiastes and Job.
DAY 87
Other Catholic objections to IVF include: (1) it usually involves masturbation; and (2) it sometimes involves discarding fertilized eggs. For more on that see Day 314.
DAY 93
The Apocrypha contains such texts as Tobit, Judith, Maccabees, and Ben Sira. In Judaism and Protestant Christianity they aren't considered part of the canon. But in Catholicism they are and go by the name Deuterocanonical works.
DAY 110
The two most zealous propolygamy Jewish web pages: www.polygamy.com/ articles/templates/?a=28&z=; and www.come-and-hear.com/editor/america_ 4.html.
DAY 117
Later parts of the Bible seem to reject the notion of intergenerational punishment. Most notably, Ezekiel 18:20: "The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, nor the father suffer for the iniquity of the son."
DAY 120
Incidentally, Tamar's second husband, Onan, is most famous for being the originator of the Sin of Onan. I had always thought the Sin of Onan was masturbation. But technically, that's not the case. Onan incurred God's wrath when he stopped midway through intercourse with Tamar and spilled his seed on the ground. Onan didn't want Tamar to get pregnant because, according to custom, the child would be considered his late brother's, not his own. Onan showed disrespect for his dead brother and for God by wasting his seed. So that is the literal Sin of Onan.
DAY 128
For more on whether the commandments actually total ten, I recommend the fascinating book How to Read the Bible by Marc Brettler.
DAY 131
The scavenger hunt company is called Watson Adventures. The hunts are great. And I'm not just saying that because I sleep next to the company's vice president.
DAY 140
The expert of all experts on kosher crickets is Natan "the Zoo Rabbi" Slifkin, whose website is zootorah.com. According to him, not all crickets are kosher, just one variety favored by Yemenite Jews.
DAY 153
The Bible says to attach tassels (or fringes) to the four corners of your garment. Where are my garment's corners? During my DIY phase, I usually went with the two corners at the end of my Oxford shirtsleeves and the two corners at the bottom of my shirt front. If I was feeling bold, I'd go with the corners on the shirt collar.
DAY 157
The upright posture quote comes from The Jewish Book of Why by Alfred J. Kolatch.
DAY 168
For more on red heifers and the apocalypse, I recommend a great New Yorker article, "Letter from Jerusalem: Forcing the End," by Lawrence Wright, July 20, 1998.
I've just skimmed the surface of the debates over Revelation. For an excellent summary of two ways of reading Revelation, I once again recommend Borg's Reading the Bible Again for the First Time. He argues strongly that Revelation was not a prediction of events yet to come (the futurist view), but was written as a short-term prophecy about the Roman Empire (the past-historical view). There are also many people who believe in some combination of the two.
To be precise, the documentary hypothesis refers only to the first five books of the Bible, the Books of Moses. But the same idea--multiple authors, multiple editors--applies to other parts of the Bible as well.
For a remarkably in-depth analysis of the Dr. Laura email--including more on the overliteralization of the word pigskin--you can read "President Bartlet's Fallacious Diatribe" by Hank Hanegraaff in the Christian Research Journal, volume 23, number 3 (2001).
DAY 202
There are several other differences between the Samaritan Bible and the Hebrew Bible. They're pretty technical, but if you're interested, here are two websites: www.lulu.com/content/186110; and web.meson.org/religion/torahcom pare.php.
DAY 205
Speaking of the Naked Cowboy, I did a photo shoot for this book in Times Square. The publisher rented a sheep and had me in a white robe and carrying a staff. For forty-five absurd minutes I drew more onlookers than the Naked Cowboy himself. I think that will forever be the zenith of my fame.
I think Gil misspoke when he said "Jacob was buried with Rachel," because Jacob was actually buried with Leah. I'm guessing he meant "Abraham was buried with Sarah."
DAY 223
Actually, the notion of booze-hating Puritans is a bit of an exaggeration. Some did, but others believed it was OK in moderation. In the words of Increase Mather, "Drink is in itself a good creature of God, and to be received with thankfulness."
DAY 229
Regarding the lamb juice: A kosher lamb is drained of its blood, in accordance with the Bible's taboo against eating blood. But I can't imagine there isn't some residual blood left in there, even if it's just a hint.
DAY 233
For more on the oft-forgotten male impurity laws try reading the article on Taharat Hamishpachah at www.kenyon.edu/Depts/Religion/Projects/Reln91/ Blood/Judaism/new%20family/purity.htm. Also, in case you really, really want to know: I tried to comply with Leviticus 15:16, which says "And if a man has an emission of semen, he shall bathe his whole body in water, and be unclean until the evening." It wasn't so bad. I have no objections to extra bathing, and Julie didn't take this one personally.
DAY 234
A confession: I cut way back on movies this year, but never successfully eliminated them from my life. I saw this one, plus a whole bunch of Bible-themed films. Also, for a good, basic section on the fifth commandment (Honor your father and mother) see Don't Know Much About the Bible, p. 120.
DAY 237
Thanks to the rock-and-roll rabbi Robbie Harris for the insight that the Bible is a "minority report."
As is de rigueur with all things relating to The Da Vinci Code, the notion that a married Jesus is a more human Jesus is a controversial one. One of my spiritual advisers (who asked to remain unnamed) emailed me: "There is no scandal in supposing that Jesus married and had children. It is a stupid reading of the scriptural text, and it is very doubtful historically, but not troubling theologically. And that Dan Brown supposes that it is reveals that he does not have a clue about Christianity and that he has a very low opinion both of humanity and of the holy estate of marriage. Jesus is a man--that's the point of the holy incarnation of the Second Person of the Trinity."
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 mo
re 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.
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.: Westmin-
ster 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: HarperSanFrancisco, 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. S
an 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.