Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth Audible Logo Audible Audiobook – Unabridged
Reza Aslan (Author, Narrator), Random House Audio (Publisher)
4.4 out of 5 stars 5,197 ratings
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Top reviews from Australia
Gezim Mehmet
4.0 out of 5 stars No wonder this book is a best seller, it dares to challenge long held beliefs through rigorous exploration and research.
Reviewed in Australia on 6 March 2018
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There is a certain sense of reality within the description of people and places of those time and questions notoriously generalised biblical accounts thus giving it a greater sense of clarity than what I was expecting. The author challenges elements of the gospels against in-depth research that would no doubt have takenan extremely long time to account. One does not need to be a theologian to grasp a visual portrayal of the politics, time or human traits of the subjects so for me the book succeeded in answering long held questions I had whilst delivering far more rational explanations.. I was definitely taken back in time on a journey of discovery escaping the modern era yet finding similarities to the mankind of today.
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Sydney1981
5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating
Reviewed in Australia on 17 February 2018
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A fascinating, exceptionally researched account of the 'historical' Jesus, which will undoubtedly shake the faith of any Christian. The author analyses the Scriptures through the lens of history to reveal a very human Jesus, whose teachings have been manipulated, changed, politicised and banished throughout history. An absolutely riveting read.
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Martha G.
4.0 out of 5 stars An important book in the search of truth
Reviewed in Australia on 21 June 2015
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This is a very important read for anyone wanting to know who the historical Jesus was and in what ways the biblical Jesus differs from him. Aslan is not trying to dissuade Christians of their faith (in fact, he even provides an argument in support of belief in the resurrection), however he does discuss how some elements of the Jesus narrative are historically impossible or very unlikely. As someone brought up Christian, some of these discoveries come as a bit of a shock, but after reading this book, I feel that I'm in a better position to make up my own mind about my Christian beliefs, knowing what is supported by historical sources and what relies solely on faith. I would have liked there to have been more about how Christianity developed over the centuries, (in the same way as Aslan discusses the development of Islam in his excellent book "No God but God") but perhaps that is the scope of another book.
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Angela Bardon
5.0 out of 5 stars Insightful
Reviewed in Australia on 18 February 2020
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Reza Aslan writes in a manner that is easy for anyone to read. The book gives the historical perspective of the era Jesus was birthed into and how the culture of the day would have shaped Jesus' story. Insightful
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Brian
3.0 out of 5 stars It's a good yarn and is plausible if you want to believe ...
Reviewed in Australia on 10 December 2014
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It's a good yarn and is plausible if you want to believe that Jesus was a simple messianic fanatic of his day. Blandly makes statements that are not necessarily historically accurate and leaves out any consideration of the spirituality of the man Jesus. He quotes the New Testament to support his theory but does so in many cases out of context. A reasonable read for both agnostics and believers, but requires the reader to undertake more investigation - which maybe a good thing
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Rod Baxter
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5.0 out of 5 stars Comprehensive Discussion
Reviewed in Australia on 20 August 2015
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REZA Aslan, has written one of the best books of this type that I have read on the topic of historical Jesus of Nazareth. It is comprehensive and comes at the topic from all angles. It is a good account and puts the events into a historical context. Whilst Aslan is hard hitting and pulls no punches, he does not set out to destroy faith. Unlike so many other commentaries of the type.
I am not big on history, but this one kept me reading.
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reddit the frog
3.0 out of 5 stars History got it wrong, but Reza Aslan has finally figured it out. Or not.
Reviewed in Australia on 13 October 2014
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Oscar Wilde once turned up to a Greek exam to be presented with a passage from John's Gospel to translate - Jesus' trial before Pilate. After a few lines the examiners told him that was good enough; he could stop. "Oh, do let me go on," said Wilde. "I want to see how it turns out.". Reza Aslan might well have done the same. He has an encyclopaedic knowledge about the historical context of Jesus' life, and a formidable, if selective, memory of Jesus' sayings and doings - up to his death. When it comes to "how it turned out" i.e. how and why one life could so change history, his own bias becomes clear; Jesus was one of many would-be revolutionaries, all doing and saying the same sort of thing, with the inevitable result. End of story. Gospel writers like Matthew doctored the sources to bolster up a struggling church (Gospel writer Thinks: We've been suffering and dying for the faith for a century, We'd better make up something for the faith to be about, and get it out there quickly.) Eminently readable creative writing.
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Chris Herrick
5.0 out of 5 stars At last, a believable Jesus.
Reviewed in Australia on 27 June 2014
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Reza Aslan has done theology a service with this latest book on Yeshua bar Yosef. His 'take' on Yeshua is consistent within biblical criticism and Palestinian history. The only unanswered question is how did this zealot transmogrify into the Christian Christ. Perhaps Dr Aslan can turn his lion gaze on the figure of Saul of Tarsus?
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John 29
2.0 out of 5 stars Readable but not convincing.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 12 August 2018
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This is a book written to substantiate the author's theory about Jesus. It is not a biography. I found it speculative and unconvincing. My doubts started as a result of the number of ideas which were based on the author's assumption that certain events did not happen owing to their being unlikely in the view of the author but without any evidence to support his view point. An example being the trial of Jesus with Pilot. Aslan suggests it is not likely that Pilot would have troubled himself with a Jewish rebel such as Jesus. Therefore the trial of Jesus with Pilot did not take place. But what is the evidence for this other than it being Aslan's speculative theory. Moreover, it is based on the assumption that Jesus was a zealot rather than 'the King of the Jews' and would not therefore have been of interest to Pilot.
The book is advertised as New York Times No1 Bestseller. The moral is beware of Bestsellers!
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F Price
1.0 out of 5 stars False claims of historical accuracy
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 6 January 2019
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Popular and readable but unreliable and not taken seriously by credited historians, not subjected to peer review. Author claims to be an academic but his degrees are in sociology and creative writing not in history or theology. Good on history of the times but speculative and unlikely reconstruction of Jesus himself which dismisses the plentiful early eye witness evidence about Jesus. Long bibliography masks the fact that the most relevant works are missing from it, eg Bauckhams definitive work on Jesus and the eye witnesses. This book became bestseller mainly because author insulted in an interview which went viral.
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Djilly L.
5.0 out of 5 stars A messianic experience
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 20 November 2018
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I read a lot. I read a lot in particular about ancient history. This might be one of my top-5 best ever, most enjoyable books.
What a great topic and how well presented. And very readable.
I rarely ever read fiction but that is how this book starts off, before it quickly builds its magnificent setting of Jerusalem and Palestine in 30 AD. While I know a fair bit about Roman history and the historic backdrop, the topic of religious extremists around that time and in that region was more alien to me.
Most people in the West will be familiar with the New Testament. I have a Christian background and read the bible a couple of times in the past.So its just phenomenal how this book answered a lot of my great many questions and managed to put so much in a healthy, historical perspective.
I can see where the religious controversy comes from. But in my view the book isn’t that offensive. First of all, it takes a historical, somewhat scientific approach to the circumstances and to what possibly happened. But like with all proper science this is only one version, one view, that can be discarded by those who feel that have a more adequate theory. But yes it clashes perhaps with religious experience. Yet secondly, I don’t think the book shreds all the New Testament’s mysticism to pieces; alternative explanations are offered for some aspects of Jesus’ life, but most miracles are left unexplained or unquestioned.
So in my view the book is very balanced.
The book also takes you beyond Jezus’ life to how interpretations and perception changed due to the apostle Paul’s involvement .. oh dear, he was a bad-ass ...magnificent.
Will have to read it again at some stage, when I got more time on my hands, closer to retirement.
I should say that I also gave a copy of the book to one of my best friends - with who I share a lot of my interests (and who really gets very upset up about anything related to religion).. but I never heard anything back about it. No problem at all, but perhaps the book just struck a big chord with me...
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Robson
1.0 out of 5 stars Don't waste your money.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 16 January 2020
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Filled with inacurate information and thinks he greater than Josephus...?
He wanted to discredit Matthew and Luke saying that they were lying but for the simple fact that he doesn't like Christianity doesn't mean he should be dishonest towards the historical facts.
In the Biblical account, we know these facts are presented:
Caesar Augustus ordered a censusQuirinius was governing Syria (hegemoneuontos tes Syrias Kyreniou)Each family must register at their familial city of origin
Further, Matthew chapter 2 reports that Herod the Great ordered the slaughter "all the male children who were in Bethlehem and all its vicinity, from two years old and under"(Matt 2:16). We know that Herod died 4-2 B.C., so Jesus birth had to have been before his death - most likely by two or more years. Given these facts, scholars generally date Jesus' birth anywhere between 6 B.C. to 4 B.C.
From the Josephus account we derive the following facts:
Caesar ordered a censusCyrenius (Quirinius) was sent to account for Syria and sell the house of ArchelausCyrenius (Quirinius) "had been consul"
We also know from other historical records that Herod Archelaus was deposed in 6 A.D., so this census must be about 6 or 7 A.D. So, the question goes, if Herod the Great died in 4 B.C. and Josephus tells us Quirinius' census wasn't until 6 A.D., then isn't this a contradiction?
His arguments is undermined by various facts, which even he admits.
Waste of money do not recomend to anyone.
Go straight to the bin...
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Mic Le Critique
4.0 out of 5 stars Jesus of Nazareth or Jesus Christ?
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 5 July 2014
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Reza Aslan along with other writers attempting to trace the development of Jesus, the inspiration for Christianity, admits that the only sources of academic research on the man is the Bible along with a brief mention by the Roman biographer Flavius Josephus. Rather than speculate on the veracity of the accepted texts Aslan overlays these with known historical and accepted facts covering the period of his birth and death. We learn that Jesus was born in Nazareth, a small poor working class village in Galilee, Judea. He had a number of brothers and sisters who, apart from his younger brother James, are not featured in his life apart from the fact. He was uneducated and therefore could neither read and had only a basic Aramaic vocabulary. There is nothing about his early development that can be verified in the Bible or elsewhere, however when old enough he works in Sepphoris, a nearby town, as a labourer. He is baptised by John the Baptist and joins his sect and, in one of the few examples in the book of speculation, Aslan surmises that John, with his apostles, grooms Jesus the main tenants of preaching. When John is arrested by the Romans and executed Jesus picks up the mantle and begins a three year journey of healing, performing miracles and preaching before he too is appended by the Romans and executed. The biblical details cannot be supported by reference and therefore the Bible is a work of faith rather than fact. Aslan does however, using his technique of overlaying academic historical research onto the events recorded in the Bible, draws attention to some firm conclusions. Jesus was born in Nazareth, not Bethlehem. Jesus was subservient to John the Baptist and not the converse. Performing ‘miracles’, healing and magic were common at that time in Judea by other itinerant ‘Messiahs’ and were not exclusive to Jesus. His popularity grew in Galilee by ‘healing’ for no fee as opposed to other who did and the fact he was a Galilean local. Jesus was a committed Jew and defender of the Torah. Using allegory his preaching was primarily against the Roman occupiers and the corrupt Jewish Temple hierarchy. He was arrested in Jerusalem by the Romans, tried by the Temple hierarchy, handed over the Roman authorities and crucified. There is no historical or archaeological evidence to support the virgin birth, miracles, apparitions, resurrection or other events described in the Bible. The book therefore leaves it to the reader to decide whether to accept the man known as Jesus of Nazareth or the one that became Jesus Christ.
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