How to Be Perfect : One Church's Audacious Experiment in Living the Old Testament Book of Leviticus

by Harrell, Daniel M.

• ISBN13: 9780446557177
• ISBN10: 044655717X
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2011-01-05
• Publisher: FaithWords

Summary

Influenced by A. J. Jacobs'sThe 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 assacrifice,atonement,orbloodwithout 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.

Author Biography

Daniel Harrell has served as a minister and preacher for 23 years at ParkStreetChurch in downtown Boston. He holds a PhD in developmental psychology from BostonCollege and has lectured at Fuller Seminary, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, GordonCollege, and BostonUniversity. He speaks regularly on all sorts of topics to all sorts of audiences in Boston, throughout Massachusetts, and occasionally across the country. Visit Park Street Church's blog at http://parkstreetchurch.blogspot.com/.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. ix
Introduction	p. xiii
Be Like God	p. 1
A Virtual Tribe of Levites	p. 20
Give It Up	p. 39
Bad Skin as Sin	p. 60
Does Getting Worked Up About the Sabbath Count as Work?	p. 83
Loving Your Neighbor with an Unshaven Face	p. 99
Throwing the First Stone	p. 120
Levitical Side Effects (aka Guilt Trips)	p. 140
Loading the Goat	p. 156
Let Us Keep the Feasts	p. 179
Laying Down the Law	p. 196
Bibliography	p. 213
Notes	p. 215
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