Zealot by Reza Aslan

Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth by Reza Aslan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I never looked at Jesus in quite this way: more a historical figure than religious game-changer. The devotion and awe common to the writing of believers enforce a distance from the subject that does not constrain Reza Aslan. Although he became a Christian, he was not born one and he is not a Christian now. He is a scholar -- famously so, because that is how he defined himself when challenged in a Fox News interview. This is a long book, and I learned plenty -- I took many notes and highlighted lots of details. But I do wonder how Aslan is viewed by his peers. He may be more promoter than scholar. Sometimes his writing put me to sleep. But mostly this book was for me a bracing view of a man who disturbed Israel, Rome, and, eventually, the world.


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