{"id":42771,"date":"2013-08-05T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2013-08-05T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/writer-tries-to-live-old-testament-literally\/"},"modified":"2013-08-05T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2013-08-05T00:00:00","slug":"writer-tries-to-live-old-testament-literally","status":"publish","type":"sermon-illustrations","link":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/writer-tries-to-live-old-testament-literally\/","title":{"rendered":"Writer Tries to Live the Old Testament Literally"},"content":{"rendered":"

The nominally Jewish writer A. J. Jacobs spent a year working on an unusual experiment: he tried to put into practice everything he read in the Bible. The resulting book was called, The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible<\/em>. For example, on Day 62 of his experiment he tried to put into practice the command to stone an adulterer. So he records wandering into Central Park and meeting a mid-70ish man sitting on a park bench. Jacobs told the man, "I'm trying to live by the rules of the Bible. The Ten Commandments, stoning adulterers …" Jacobs records the rest of the conversation:<\/p>\n\n

\n

"You're stoning adulterers?" the man asks.
\n"Yeah, I'm stoning adulterers."
\n"I'm an adulterer," the man replies.
\n"You're currently an adulterer?"
\n"Yeah, Tonight, tomorrow, yesterday, two weeks from now. You gonna stone me?"
\n"If I could, yes, that'd be great."
\n"I'll punch you in the face. I'll send you to the cemetery."<\/p>\n\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

\n

He is serious. This isn't a cutesy grumpy old man. This is an angry old man. This is a man with seven decades of hostility behind him. I fish my pebbles from my back pocket.<\/p>\n\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

\n

"I wouldn't stone you with big stones," I say. "Just these little guys." I open my palm to show him the pebbles. He lunges at me, grabbing one out of my hand, then flinging it at my face. It whizzes by my cheek.<\/p>\n\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

\n

I am stunned for a second. I hadn't expected this grizzled old man to make the first move. But now there is nothing stopping me from retaliating. An eye for an eye. I take one of the remaining pebbles and whip it t his chest. It bounces off.<\/p>\n\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

\n

"I'll punch you right in the kisser," he says.
\n"Well, you really shouldn't commit adultery."<\/p>\n\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Possible preaching angles: (1) Interpretation; Old Testament<\/strong>—This story illustrates the need to carefully interpret the Scripture and what they mean for us today. (2) Judging Others; Rebuking others<\/strong>—In a humorous way, this story also shows the futility of trying to change others' lives by judging their behavior.<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"template":"","tax_ctp_audience":[],"tax_ctp_authors":[],"tax_ctp_categories":[165],"tax_ctp_format":[171],"tax_ctp_illustration_types":[406,411],"tax_ctp_multimedia":[],"tax_ctp_point_editor":[],"tax_publications":[140],"tax_ctp_tags":[3672,4273,4310,4311,4341,4559,4561,4774,5135],"tax_ctp_topics":[],"class_list":["post-42771","sermon-illustrations","type-sermon-illustrations","status-publish","hentry","tax_publications-ct-pastors","tax_ctp_tags-confusion","tax_ctp_tags-interpretation","tax_ctp_tags-judging","tax_ctp_tags-judging-others","tax_ctp_tags-law","tax_ctp_tags-old-covenant","tax_ctp_tags-old-testament","tax_ctp_tags-rebuke","tax_ctp_tags-ten-commandments"],"acf":{"scripture_references":[{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null}]},"yoast_head":"\nWriter Tries to Live the Old Testament Literally - CT Pastors<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/writer-tries-to-live-old-testament-literally\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Writer Tries to Live the Old Testament Literally - CT Pastors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The nominally Jewish writer A. 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