Overview

Influenced by A. J. Jacobs's The Year of Living Biblically, Harrell managed to recruit 20 members of his Boston congregation to join him in a month-long effort at living Levitically. Holiness was the ultimate goal, but so was learning. People who take the Bible seriously never know what to do with the book of Leviticus. And yet Leviticus is historically considered by Jews, and thus by Jesus, as the pivotal book of the Hebrew Bible. It's impossible to fully comprehend such key New Testament terms as sacrifice, atonement, or blood without some understanding of Leviticus. The 'second greatest commandment,' which Jesus said was 'Love your neighbor as yourself,' comes from Leviticus (19:18). As a longtime minister and preacher who had successfully skirted Leviticus for most of his life, author Daniel Harrell wanted to come to grips with all that Leviticus teaches-not just loving neighbors but the parts about animal sacrifice, Sabbath-keeping, skin diseases, homosexuality and stoning sinners, too. Yet rather than approaching Leviticus with a view toward mitigating its commands, he decided to simply obey them. The surprising lessons they learned impressed on Harrell both the power of obedience and the necessity of grace. This book traces the adventures of a group of people eager to understand the Bible by living it.

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9780446557177

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I think what I love most about HOW TO BE PERFECT by Daniel M. Harrell is the outrageousness of the idea. If there's one book that Christians most ignore in the entire Bible, it's got to be Leviticus. And yet Harrell and his posse dove in to the deep end of the levitical pool, attempting to live out the 253 commandments therein for a whole month. The audaciousness of the idea is enough to be admired. But the result-this book-is even better, for it becomes a meditation on what it really means to love and follow the Lord. --Jones, author of Primitive Christianity of the Ancient Didache Communit (01/01/2010)

Ithink what I love most about HOW TO BEPERFECT by Daniel M. Harrell is the outrageousness of the idea. If there'sone book that Christians most ignore in the entire Bible, it's got to beLeviticus. And yet Harrell and his posse dove in to the deep end of thelevitical pool, attempting to live out the 253 commandments therein for a wholemonth. The audaciousness of the idea is enough to be admired. But the result-thisbook-is even better, for it becomes a meditation on what it really means tolove and follow the Lord. --Jones, author of Primitive Christianity of the Ancient Didache Communit (01/01/2010)

"""I think what I love most about HOW TO BE PERFECT by Daniel M. Harrell is the outrageousness of the idea. If there's one book that Christians most ignore in the entire Bible, it's got to be Leviticus. And yet Harrell and his posse dove in to the deep end of the levitical pool, attempting to live out the 253 commandments therein for a whole month. The audaciousness of the idea is enough to be admired. But the result-this book-is even better, for it becomes a meditation on what it really means to love and follow the Lord.""--Jones, author of""Primitive Christianity of the Ancient Didache Communit"" (01/01/2010) ""Ithink what I love most about HOW TO BEPERFECT by Daniel M. Harrell is the outrageousness of the idea. If there'sone book that Christians most ignore in the entire Bible, it's got to beLeviticus. And yet Harrell and his posse dove in to the deep end of thelevitical pool, attempting to live out the 253 commandments therein for a wholemonth. The audaciousness of the idea is enough to be admired. But the result-thisbook-is even better, for it becomes a meditation on what it really means tolove and follow the Lord.""--Jones, author of""Primitive Christianity of the Ancient Didache Communit"" (01/01/2010)"

Author Information

Daniel M. Harrell is senior minister of Colonial Church in Edina, Minnesota. For 23 years he served as a minister at Park Street Church in downtown Boston

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