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)

Zealot or not?

This book is well researched and well written. The history of the Romans and Jews in Jesus' time is fascinating indeed.It makes a strong case for many inaccuracies in today's Bible which was written by thousands of people, many of whom mis- interpreted what happened or what was said. Man made dogma builds up around all the founders of major religions including Christianity but spiritual truth is Universal and if we go inward we know spiritual truth when we hear it. Jesus' teachings of love everyone including your enemies, turn the other cheek, accept what is as if you had chosen it, forgive your enemies, tolerate, turn the other cheek and many other of his teachings don't support that he was just another Zealot building a Jewish Kingdom on Earth. "The Kingdom of Heaven is not there or here but within" tell me that he was an enlightened being (God realized being) which means he would not behave like the Zealots did. Some of his disciples may well have behaved like that. I for one don't buy that he was just another one of many Zealot's of that period. The author makes many many extrapolations and guesses based on how other people behaved in that era but Jesus' core teachings do not support him being one of them. Having said that the history seems accurate and fascinating and therefore this book is worth a read.

Fantastic

Beautifully written and compelling told, with a lot information in a well organized fashion. I would have appreciated the definitions of a few more words though, such as gentile. 10/10 would listen again!

Maybe Even Better the 2nd Listen

I listened for the first time a year or so ago, but this time I was really able to absorb more of the information and details. I love that this is not a screed for or against a religious outlook, but a careful parsing of the facts as they are. This books makes the life of Jesus, his actions, his words, and the stories written about him all as well as how and why he became the basis of new religion make sense. Mr. Aslan is a true scholar, an excellent writer, and he narrates his work clearly and eloquently.
I'll probably listen at least one more time to soak in more if this book.

Reza is a great story teller; that's a fact.

Loved it absolutely. I've listened 3 more times since. Hope you will enjoy it too!

Awesome!

It tied nicely with other historical accounts that I have read. It answered nearly all my questions on this topic.

Great Book!

whether you believe in Jesus or not as the son of God, he was very much a real person. Aslan does a great job uncovering the historical Jesus.

Awesome book! Very informative and moving!

This book had some controversy when it came out, and some hard-liners may not enjoy this book, but this tale of the historical Jesus is fascinating and epic! Reza Aslan does a wonderful job of really telling a fascinating story, putting a new context of Jesus and his life, and it really makes a lot of sense about the development and foundations of Christianity at the very earliest period, and taking the true historical nature of Jesus, and what he stood for. For Christians, people interested in religion, and even Romanophiles, this is a great epic tale!

Good intro to the historical Jesus

Researching early Christian history is basically a hobby of mine so I'm no stranger to the basic ideas this book is based on. If you are, I suggest the fantastic "Jesus Interrupted" by Bert Ehrman as it introduces the critical historical method of reading the New Testament from the standpoint of an everyday Christian.

That said, books of this sort will always make an attempt to place Jesus in his time and place, but the author offers a fresh perspective that illustrates a deep understanding of Jewish culture in the first century and its tangled relationship with Rome. Jesus and his apostles fit neatly into the picture he paints as revolutionaries who have a lot in common with other Jewish zealots. While I've often read about the Kingdom of God mentioned in early Jesus sayings as being an eschatological event, the author's suggestion that this was a revolutionary message about a coming theocracy is thought provoking.

His message about James is also very insightful. He describes his conflict with Paul in vivid detail and even shows what appear to be clear steps he took to undermine him. That said, the author's assertion that his epistle as a sermon of his is needlessly shaky.

That said, I recommend this whole heatedly. I always love when the author reads their own work and this book is no exception.

Tremendous job

A great account of the eternal question: Jesus of Nazareth vs Jesus the Christ. Thank you Resa for the unbiased search for truth.

Excellent book!!!

if you are looking to understand the historical Jesus the real Jesus and submerge yourself into his time and what what's going on at that time when he was around this book is sure. help you accomplish that I think it's extremely enjoyable and very factual and it's easy to tell how knowledgeable and well-documented the author is