#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)
Get more details @ http://www.ypcart.com/buy/zealot-the-life-and-times-of-jesus-of-nazareth-140006922X/
