Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth
Jul 2013 · Random House
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258 reviews
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About this ebook
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the acclaimed author of No god but God comes “a lucid, intelligent page-turner” (Los Angeles Times) that challenges long-held assumptions about Jesus.
“Riveting . . . [Reza] Aslan synthesizes Scripture and scholarship to create an original account.”—The New Yorker
Two thousand years ago, an itinerant Jewish preacher walked across the Galilee, gathering followers to establish what he called the “Kingdom of God.” The revolutionary movement he launched was so threatening to the established order that he was executed as a state criminal. Within decades after his death, his followers would call him God.
Sifting through centuries of mythmaking, Reza Aslan sheds new light on one of history’s most enigmatic figures by examining Jesus through the lens of the tumultuous era in which he lived. Balancing the Jesus of the Gospels against the historical sources, Aslan describes a man full of conviction and passion, yet rife with contradiction. He explores the reasons the early Christian church preferred to promulgate an image of Jesus as a peaceful spiritual teacher rather than a politically conscious revolutionary. And he grapples with the riddle of how Jesus understood himself, the mystery that is at the heart of all subsequent claims about his divinity.
Zealot yields a fresh perspective on one of the greatest stories ever told even as it affirms the radical and transformative nature of Jesus’ life and mission.
“Riveting . . . [Reza] Aslan synthesizes Scripture and scholarship to create an original account.”—The New Yorker
Two thousand years ago, an itinerant Jewish preacher walked across the Galilee, gathering followers to establish what he called the “Kingdom of God.” The revolutionary movement he launched was so threatening to the established order that he was executed as a state criminal. Within decades after his death, his followers would call him God.
Sifting through centuries of mythmaking, Reza Aslan sheds new light on one of history’s most enigmatic figures by examining Jesus through the lens of the tumultuous era in which he lived. Balancing the Jesus of the Gospels against the historical sources, Aslan describes a man full of conviction and passion, yet rife with contradiction. He explores the reasons the early Christian church preferred to promulgate an image of Jesus as a peaceful spiritual teacher rather than a politically conscious revolutionary. And he grapples with the riddle of how Jesus understood himself, the mystery that is at the heart of all subsequent claims about his divinity.
Zealot yields a fresh perspective on one of the greatest stories ever told even as it affirms the radical and transformative nature of Jesus’ life and mission.
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the acclaimed author of No god but God comes “a lucid, intelligent page-turner” (Los Angeles Times) that challenges long-held assumptions about Jesus.
“Riveting . . . [Reza] Aslan synthesizes Scripture and scholarship to create an original account.”—The New Yo...
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Ratings and reviews
258 reviews
Mary Judge
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July 15, 2016
I enjoyed this book: Aslan sets forth a historical context for the person of Jesus on all the plausible evidence that is available to a bible historian and when he can't get he hands on historic documents he cites the work of other bible historians who have. He in no way discredits any of ideas of Jesus as prophet , it's as neutral as you can get while giving us a historical document. Many of the faithful can feel that they know Jesus better and perhaps also dispel certain ideas which might be untruths. Respectful. Those who would be offended by this, would be "projecting" in my view.
4 people found this review helpful
Hector W Padilla
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January 25, 2014
I am enjoying this book immensely but I find that most of his points have been made before - eg Dale B. Martin professor at Yale who about 3 years ago was all over Apple's education/podcast under Yale's Introduction to the new testament. I can't recommend it enough.
6 people found this review helpful
Zachary Boudreau
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August 25, 2013
Not at all historical and just made up. Dates are wrong, there are glaring errors. Just because the author says it's real doesn't make it so. Obvious Jesus hater. Too bad I can't rate 0 stars.
4 people found this review helpful
About the author
Reza Aslan is an acclaimed writer and scholar of religions whose books include No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam and Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth. He is also the author of How to Win a Cosmic War: God, Globalization, and the End of the War on Terror (published in paperback as Beyond Fundamentalism), as well as the editor of Tablet & Pen: Literary Landscapes from the Modern Middle East. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife and three sons.
Reza Aslan is an acclaimed writer and scholar of religions whose books include No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam and Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth. He is also the author of How to Win a Cosmic War: God, Globalization, and the End of the War on Terror (p...
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