Zealot

The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth

By: Reza Aslan

Narrated by: Reza Aslan

Length: 8 hrs and 8 mins

Publisher's summary

From the internationally best-selling author of No god but God comes a fascinating, provocative, and meticulously researched biography that challenges long-held assumptions about the man we know as Jesus of Nazareth.

Two-thousand years ago, an itinerant Jewish preacher and miracle worker 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 captured, tortured, and executed as a state criminal.

Within decades after his shameful death, his followers would call him God.

Sifting through centuries of mythmaking, Reza Aslan sheds new light on one of history's most influential and enigmatic characters by examining Jesus through the lens of the tumultuous era in which he lived: first-century Palestine, an age awash in apocalyptic fervor. Scores of Jewish prophets, preachers, and would-be messiahs wandered through the Holy Land, bearing messages from God. This was the age of zealotry - a fervent nationalism that made resistance to the Roman occupation a sacred duty incumbent on all Jews. And few figures better exemplified this principle than the charismatic Galilean who defied both the imperial authorities and their allies in the Jewish religious hierarchy.

Balancing the Jesus of the Gospels against the historical sources, Aslan describes a man full of conviction and passion, yet rife with contradiction; a man of peace who exhorted his followers to arm themselves with swords; an exorcist and faith healer who urged his disciples to keep his identity a secret; and ultimately the seditious "King of the Jews" whose promise of liberation from Rome went unfulfilled in his brief lifetime.

©2013 Reza Aslan (P)2013 Random House

Critic reviews

"In Zealot, Reza Aslan doesn't just synthesize research and reimagine a lost world, though he does those things very well. He does for religious history what Bertolt Brecht did for playwriting. Aslan rips Jesus out of all the contexts we thought he belonged in and holds him forth as someone entirely new. This is Jesus as a passionate Jew, a violent revolutionary, a fanatical ideologue, an odd and scary and extraordinarily interesting man." (Judith Shulevitz, author of The Sabbath World)

"A bold, powerfully argued revisioning of the most consequential life ever lived." (Lawrence Wright, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief)

"The story of Jesus of Nazareth is arguably the most influential narrative in human history. Here Reza Aslan writes vividly and insightfully about the life and meaning of the figure who has come to be seen by billions as the Christ of faith. This is a special and revealing work, one that believer and skeptic alike will find surprising, engaging, and original." (Jon Meacham, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power)

Should be Manditory Reading for any Christian

It was fantastic. It was fascinating see how thoroughly Paul's teachings have divorced Jesus the Christ from Jesus the Nazarene. Putting the so-called Messiah squarely into the time and place where he lived and looking at his life through that lens paints a very different picture of him than what any modern Christian church teaches. What most people don't realize (I know that I never had) is that not only was Jesus on of many self proclaimed Messiahs in his day, our understanding of what the Messiah was has almost nothing to do with the Messiah of Jesus' day.

As a person raised in a Christian tradition, I actually found the revolutionary Nazarine more compelling than the Christ that persists today. Reza Aslan sums it up best with the final line of his book, "...the one thing any comprehensive study of the historical Jesus should hopefully reveal is that Jesus of Nazareth—Jesus the man—is every bit as compelling, charismatic, and praiseworthy as Jesus the Christ. He is, in short, someone worth believing in."

A Great Read For The Curious

Would you consider the audio edition of Zealot to be better than the print version?

As a professional nonfiction writer, I am well aware of the advantages of "print" books over audio. I like audio for books that I'm going to listen to linearly – start-to-finish. Print is better for skipping around and dodging boring bits. I do not regret getting this in audio. There was no reason to move outside of the path of the text. It made sense and was developed coherently, and all of that. Plus, I thought the narration was as good as it could possibly have been.

Who was your favorite character and why?

I have had strong feelings about the disciple Paul ever since I read his writings in the Bible. They just didn't seem to fit with the teachings of Jesus. And, sure enough, this book arrives at much the same conclusions as I did. So it was nice to have confirmation of what I have believed for the last half century. And that is: Paul was all about setting up rules and conduct for the church. This was far and above the teachings part of the Gospels.

Have you listened to any of Reza Aslan’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

This is the first time I have heard this narrator. I thought he did an absolutely excellent job.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Well, for a nonfiction book, there were many "interesting" passages. For instance, all of the killing that went on in those days, and executions, and the rebellion in 66 to 70 A.D.– much of that was new to me.

Any additional comments?

I was raised Christian. Baptized in my early teens, became a member of the church. Went to church most Sundays, Bible school in the summers. Hated all of it.

I read the New Testament in my early 20s. I read the Old Testament a year ago. What an eye-opener. This book is a perfect complement to that kind of inquiry, filling in an awful lot of perspective that is not available in the Bible.

As a habitually critical reader (with a degree in journalism), I kept thinking the whole time about what the "true believers" would offer to counter what is in this book. Of course, people tend to believe what they want to believe. And I'm sure "the other side" would have plenty of arguments against this book. But I have a feeling those arguments would be flimsy and based mainly on wishful thinking and not on available facts and research.

The book claims not to be "anti-Jesus," but rather to be an examination of the historical record with regard to the life of Jesus of Nazareth. And I think the author sticks to that premise and behaves very responsibly. It's just that he has amassed so much evidence in favor of that argument that it may sound biased. I don't see any bias. And I am encouraged to try to find other books like this to take my investigation further. And of course I can always reread the Bible. (I have the NIV in Kindle for iPad.)

I definitely feel this book was worth my time. Outstanding.

ABSOLUTELY FASCINATING

What made the experience of listening to Zealot the most enjoyable?

The author/reader was excellent & had a good voice and inflection during the story telling. The examination of the historical truths of biblical times was wonderfully researched.

Any additional comments?

decide for yourself

Eye opening, very informative!

This book really opened my eyes to what was taking place during the time of Jesus. Raised as a Protestant, I am thrilled to learn this additional information.

Outstanding!

With eighteen years of Catholic education, this is by far the best book I have listened to on Jesus. Thanks!

Unfocused and Inaccurate

This piece diverges significantly from accepted biblical scholarship and gets bogged down in irrelevant detail.

Riveting

What distinguishes this reading from others is that the author himself is reading it and he puts all kinds of passions into it in a way that only the author can do it. The story itself may be a well worn one, but the author succeeds in transporting us back to the time of Jesus himself and some decades afterward, the time of immense upheaval in the Jewish world.

There's a reason this is a bestseller

Like it or not, Aslan creates a plausible portrait of the historical Jesus. (Sounds like Jesus's brother James was more Jesus-like than Jesus, but...whatever).
The real question is, how/why did Saul/Paul of Tarsus co-opt this historical Jesus into this new Roman-friendly religion? If anyone wants to argue that there was divine intervention for Christianity at some point, I think you could argue it's through Paul...
If you're a fundamentalist Christian, you'll find holes in Aslan's theories; if you're agnostic, I think you'll find it interesting.

No matter what you believe, I highly recommend this book...you won't be disappointed!

Now it makes sense

Most helpful book about Jesus this 67 year old Christian has been exposed to. Now I see.
Thank you Reza.

Interesting book, from a certain point of view

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

This book is an easy read and rather enjoyable. Gets its point across clearly. While it is informative and provides several good observations, I could not take it too seriously in a scholarly manner as Mr. Aslan tends to embellish and romanticize events, settings and world views using very descriptive and colorful language. As someone who is interested in scholastic works, I know how difficult it is to make objective assertions about matters that happened two decades ago, let alone millenia. However, Mr. Aslan frequently describes matters as if they were facts. Zealot reads like a Dan Brown novel in my opinion. I personally prefer lectures on the subject that present the historical record, give their views and interpretation of such record along with others', and let the reader/listener come to his/her own conclusions. Mr. Aslan quotes the Gospels quite often as references to Jesus and what he might have been like, yet mentions how erroneous and biased they might be. I was a bit confused by this.

If you’ve listened to books by Reza Aslan before, how does this one compare?

Having read "No God but God" I would say that this book is very comparable in writing style as Zealot. However, Zealot is a bit more enclined to tell a story with a view and a certain moral, rather than being more objective.

Could you see Zealot being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

This book could very well be made into a movie. It would be more of a drama than a true documentary. I would definetely go see it.

Any additional comments?

While my inclinations are more towards less subjective works on historical religion, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I would definetely recommend it. Although, I would advise to take it with a grain of salt and encourage you to read other publications on the subject.