Aslan may come as close as one can to respecting those who revere Jesus as the peace-loving, turn-the-other-cheek, true son of God depicted in modern Christianity, even as he knocks down that image.' - The Seattle Times Aslan synthesizes Scripture and scholarship to create an original account.' - The New Yorker 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. 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. 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.

Balancing the Jesus of the Gospels against the historical sources, Aslan describes a man full of conviction and passion, yet rife with contradiction. 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. Within decades after his death, his followers would call him God. 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. Compulsively readable and written at a popular level, this superb work is highly recommended.Description #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - 'A lucid, intelligent page-turner' ( Los Angeles Times) that challenges long-held assumptions about Jesus, from the host of Believer Approaching the subject from a purely academic perspective, the author parts an important curtain that has long hidden from view the man Jesus, who “is every bit as compelling, charismatic, and praiseworthy as Jesus the Christ.” Carefully comparing extra-biblical historical records with the New Testament accounts, Aslan develops a convincing and coherent story of how the Christian church, and in particular Paul, reshaped Christianity’s essence, obscuring the very real man who was Jesus of Nazareth. Aslan, who authored the much acclaimed No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam, offers a compelling argument for a fresh look at the Nazarene, focusing on how Jesus the man evolved into Jesus the Christ.

Much speculation about who he was and what he taught has led to confusion and doubt. The person and work of Jesus of Nazareth has been a topic of constant interest since he lived and died some 2,000 years ago.

Zealot jesus of nazareth book