Aslan wants to "purge" the scriptural accounts of "their literary and theological flourishes and forge a far more accurate picture of the Jesus of history." The picture he uncovers is very different from the now-common view of an unworldly pacifist preaching a creed of universal love and forgiveness. This book, he explains in an author's note, is the result of "two decades of rigorous academic research into the origins of Christianity." It's also a vivid, persuasive portrait of the world and societies in which Jesus lived and the role he most likely played in both.Īny account of the historical Jesus has to be more argument than fact, but some arguments are sounder than others.
Aslan is best known for "No god but God: The Origins, Evolution and Future of Islam" and his appearances on "The Daily Show," but his 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. The latest to try is Reza Aslan, a professor of creative writing with a background in religious studies, which seems like just about the right configuration of skills. This, of course, hasn't stopped anyone from trying to reconstruct a historical account of Jesus' life, however speculative it must necessarily be. Much of contemporary biblical scholarship involves parsing and triangulating the various accounts to surmise which bits are the oldest and most likely to represent some real event or statement by Jesus himself. None of the gospels were written by eyewitnesses to the events described they're based on oral and perhaps some written traditions.
Other than that, we have to rely on biblical writings, particularly the gospels - the earliest of which (Mark) was written down almost 40 years after Jesus' death. Two second-century Roman historians, Tacitus and Pliny, also refer to Jesus' arrest and execution in discussing the movement he founded.
He is mentioned by the 1st-century historian Flavius Josephus in reference to his brother, James, who led Jesus' followers after his death. Very little is known about the historical Jesus, as opposed to the Jesus of myth who appears in the New Testament.
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