Living the New Testament minus Christ?

I, W, have been reading a fascinating book lately, and if you've been anywhere near me or spent longer than 10 minutes in conversation with me than I have probably told you about it. It's the first book I ever downloaded to read on the "IBooks" feature of my Ipad, and while I enjoy the convenience, I am most definitely sad about not being able to lend the book to someone else or regift it to my sister.

This interesting, inspiring, hilarious and sometimes painful book is The Year of Living Biblically by A. J. Jacobs.

I had heard about it when it first came out, and honestly, I happened to pick it simply because IBooks was offering a free sample and it was highly recommended in the "Bookstore." Here's the premise:

A 30-something writer who grew up culturally Jewish but identifies as Agnostic has a kid. He realizes that he needs to impart some sort of moral code to his wild animal-like child (...he is a 2-year old boy, after all!), so he sets out on a journey to try to discover what the Bible REALLY says by living according its rules in a very literal sense.

The first 8 chapters he dedicates to living the Old Testament literally. This gets comical as he makes his way around NYC each day with all-white, single-fiber clothing with tassels on the corners and the commandments bound to his forehead, money tied to his hand, and a beard that is just as untamed as the hair around his temples. He throws pebbles at adulterers and sacrifices a chicken and blows a rams horn at the start of each month. He also tries his best not to lie or lust over other women, to discipline his son out of love, and to avoid his wife at all costs, much to her dismay, during the days which she is "unclean." To help guide his journey, A.J. meets with MANY different advisors who he deems to be literalists-- a Hasidic rabbi, an amish man, Jehovah's witnesses, etc. As such, I have learned a lot about these various religions and sects, and have enjoyed the book very much.

And then, at month 9, he turns his focus to living the New Testament literally. I have been waiting for this moment for the whole book, ready to see him living out the teachings of Christ.

But there's a major problem. The man doesn't believe in the divinity of Christ. He was raised a Jew, after all, and just cannot accept that Christ is Lord.

And it got me thinking. Can we gain anything from the New Testament without a belief that Christ is the Savior?

I honestly have struggled with this for a few days. One part of me says, "Of course! Whether or not Christ is involved, it's still a good moral teaching to love one another, and to treat others as you'd like to be treated, and to respect your parents, etc." Another part of me says, "No way! All of the teachings in the New Testament revolve around a shift in thinking away from punishment toward undeserved grace, and there is no way to understand true grace unless a person understand's the sacrifice of Jesus."

And then there is another layer, which is that through Christ we are able to die to our old sinful nature (or rather, our sins have died with Christ if we accept His atonement for them), so if a person chooses NOT to accept Him, are they even capable of following of Christ's teachings that direct us to act unselfishly and illogically the way a follower can through the gift of the Holy Spirit within us?

And what about the issue of honesty? Can a person believe that Jesus' teachings are good, and then decide that Christ was lying about being the Son of God? A person would have to believe that at some point in the Bible, things stop being true. That Jesus isn't who He says He is, that He isn't going to do what He says He will do, that He isn't as important as He makes himself out to be. Can a person gain any meaningful moral teaching for a person who they believe (even at the necessity of preserving their own beliefs) is a liar and a fake?

It's an interesting topic, this idea that the New Testament might be relevant to some people without the divinity of Christ. To be honest, I cannot see how, and I realize this post may be controversial. It's not intended to be, nor is it intended as an attack to those who do not believe in Christ as the Messiah. Rather, it's just some of my recent musings as I read about a Jewish man trying on the New Testament for size without accepting what, in my mind, is an absolutely essential part of it.

What do you think? Is it possible to live the laws/rules/suggestions/recommendations of the New Testament without believing that Christ is our Savior? Could someone who is a believer live it better?