Do not confuse this book with your standard Christian inspirational self-help books. A.J. Jacobs, a self-proclaimed secular Jew, follows up his Herculean reading of all 33 volumes of the Encyclopedia Britannica (a task he recounts in THE KNOW-IT-ALL: ONE MAN'S HUMBLE QUEST TO BECOME THE SMARTEST PERSON IN THE WORLD) with an even more difficult quest: to obey the dictates and rules of The Bible for an entire year. He refrains from shaving, he gives up shellfish ("an abomination" in the eyes of God), abandons clothing made from two types of fabric, and stops mentioning the blasphemous days of the week (named after pagan gods). Fortunately, he decides not to stone to death adulterers or murder any magicians. Additionally, he ventures out across the world to talk with other biblical literalists: Amish, snake handlers, and Samaritans. The result is a hilarious and fascinating journey, filled with comedy, hypocrisy, and surprising revelations into the bizarre texts on which faith is based.

Raised in a secular family but interested in the relevance of faith in our modern world, A.J. Jacobs decides to attempt to obey the Bible as literally as possible for one full year. He vows to follow the Ten Commandments. To be fruitful and multiply. To love his neighbor. But also to obey the hundreds of less publicized rules: to avoid wearing clothes made of mixed fibers; to stone adulterers. The resulting spiritual journey is at once funny and profound, reverent and irreverent, personal and universal and will make you see history's most influential book with new eyes. Jacobs embeds himself in a cross-section of communities that take the Bible literally: he tours a creationist museum and sings hymns with Amish; he dances with Hasidic Jews and does Scripture study with Jehovah's Witnesses. He wrestles with seemingly archaic rules that baffle the 21st-century brain, and he discovers ancient wisdom of startling relevance.--From publisher description.

The author of Know It All documents his improbable adventure of living one year in literal compliance with biblical rules, a quest during which he adhered to famous and lesser-known scriptural laws, from being fruitful and multiplying to growing a beard and avoiding mixed-fiber clothing. 175,000 first printing.

The author of Know It All documents his improbable adventure of living one year in literal compliance with biblical rules, a quest during which he adhered to famous and lesser-known scriptural laws, from being fruitful and multiplying to growing a beard and avoiding mixed-fiber clothing. 175,000 first printing.