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)

A Book Worth Reading

The author presents a cogent, insightful, yet provocative treatise. This book is by far the best attempt to uncover the historical Jesus that I have ever encountered. I strongly recommend it to anyone that wants a deeper understanding of christian theology.

Amazing!!

A must read for all modern day Christians. This book contains all the facts and surprises of historic christianity most people remain unaware of.

Really good book and narrated very well.

I really enjoyed this book and it's narration. I only wish that the author would cite his non biblical statements.

This is the story I have been looking for!

Reza Aslan is an amazing writer who brings the story to life. He cuts through the myths that have been built up over the centuries in an artful and enthralling way.

A marvelous history of Jesus!

I have listened to this twice and enjoyed it even more the 2nd time. I learned so many things about Jesus and the Bible. I Have a better understanding of both.

sobering

volume levels were uneven, but the story educational. I will recommend to friends and family.

Great insight into Jesus the man!

I loved the historical facts associated with the scripture. it helped me to create a bigger picture of how Christianity was shaped and how faith more than anything is needed to believe in Jesus.

Pretty fascinating

This book is dense- and I may have gotten lost at a few points, but it was a very interesting book about the life of Jesus and how his image has changed throughout time. As a non religious person, I have a deeper respect for the man and the religious figure after reading this book, although it seems slightly sad that the two images are so divorced.

Magnificent

Superbly well written, captivating and incredibly consequential story, made easily understandable to a non expert audience. And the reading/performance is perfect.

An important perspective on what shaped Christianity

This very important book shows us how Jesus’ life and teachings were shaped after him. Whether the central thesis two rival visions for the church is provable shouldn’t be the hinge upon a which this book is viewed.
Rather the story of Paul, told in this book, illustrates the old adage about the fervor of the converted. One wonders what might have have emerge as a Christian faith if the Jerusalem Church and Paul had been able to continue their debate/rivalry. Perhaps one faith made stronger from the rivalry of the two or perhaps sadly another version of conflicts that arose out of (and killed so many) the different interpretations of Jesus’ life.

There may be other books like this but I am glad Reza wrote this for it hopefully opened many minds in the origins the Christian faith.