Release date: July 16, 2013
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
From the internationally bestselling
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. Aslan
explores the reasons why the early
Christian church preferred to
promulgate an image of Jesus as a
peaceful spiritual teacher rather than a
politically conscious revolutionary.
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.
Zealot yields a fresh perspective on
one of the greatest stories ever told
even as it affirms the radical and
transformative nature of Jesus of
Nazareth’s life and mission. The
result is a thought-provoking,
elegantly written biography with the
pulse of a fast-paced novel: a
singularly brilliant portrait of a man, a
time, and the birth of a religion.
Praise for Zealot
“Aslan brings a fine popular style,
shorn of all jargon, to bear on the
presentation of Jesus of Nazareth. . . .
You don’t have to lose your religion to
learn much that’s vitally germane to
its history from Aslan’s absorbing,
reader-friendly book.” — Booklist
(starred review)
“Be advised, dear reader, Sunday
school this isn’t. Yet 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’s] literary talent is as
essential to the effect of Zealot: The
Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth
as are his scholarly and journalistic
chops. . . . A vivid, persuasive portrait
of the world and societies in which
Jesus lived and the role he most likely
played in both.” —Salon
“Compulsively readable and written at
a popular level, this superb work is
highly recommended.” — Publishers
Weekly (starred review)
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