Random House Trade Paperbacks</br></br>Product Description</br></br><b><b>#1 <i>NEW YORK TIMES</i> BESTSELLER  A meticulously researched biography that challenges long-held assumptions about Jesus from the host of CNNs <i>Believer</i></b><br></b><br><b>NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY</b><br> <b><i>Good Housekeeping " Booklist " Publishers Weekly " Bookish</i></b><br> ?<br> 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.<br> ?<br> Within decades after his shameful death his followers would call him God.<br> ?<br> Sifting through centuries of mythmaking Reza Aslan sheds new light on one of historys 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.<br> ?<br> 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 exhor""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.<br> ?<br><i> Zealot</i> 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.<br><br><b>Praise for <i>Zealot</i></b><br> <b><i>?</i></b><br>??Riveting . . . Aslan synthe""ipture and scholarship to create an original account.??<b>?<i>The New Yorker</i></b><br><br>??A lucid?? intelligent page-turner.??<i><b>?Los Angeles Times</b></i><br> <b><i>?</i></b><br>??Fascinatingly and convincingly drawn . . . 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.??<b>?<i>The Seattle Times</i></b><br> ?<br> ??[Aslan??s] literary talent is as essential to the effect of <i>Zealot</i> as are his scholarly and journalistic chops. . . . A vivid?? persuasive portrait.??<b>?<i>Salon</i></b><br> <i>?</i><br> ??This tough-minded?? deeply political book does full justice to the real Jesus?? and honors him in the process.??<b>?<i>San Francisco Chronicle</i></b></br></br>Amazon.com Review</br></br><div class=""th Reza Aslan</p> <p><strong>Q. Why did you title your biography of Jesus of Nazareth Zealot?</strong></p> <p>A. In Jesus' world zealot referred to those Jews who adhered to a widely accepted biblical doctrine called zeal. These zealous Jews were strict nationalists who preached the sole sovereignty of God. They wanted to throw off the yoke of Roman occupation and cleanse the Promised Land of all foreign elements. Some zealots resorted to extreme acts of violence against both the Roman authorities and the Jewish collaborators by which they meant the wealthy Temple priests and the Jewish aristocracy. Others refrained from violence but were no less adamant about establishing the reign of God on earth. There is no evidence that Jesus of Nazareth was himself a violent revolutionary (though his views on the use of violence were more complex than it is often assumed). However Jesus actions and his teachings about the Kingdom of God clearly indicate that he was a follower of the zealot doctrine which is why he like so many zealots before and after him was ultimately executed by Rome for the crime of sedition.</p> <p><strong>Q. Yours is one of the few popular biographies of Jesus of Nazareth that does not rely on the gospels as your primary source of information for uncovering Jesus?? life. Why is that? What are your primary sources?</strong></p> <p>A. I certainly rely on the gospels to provide a narrative outline to my biography of Jesus of Nazareth?? but my primary source in recreating Jesus?? life are historical writings about first century Palestine?? like the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus?? as well as Roman documents of the time. The gospels are incredible texts that provide Christians with a profound framework for living a life in imitation of Christ. The problem?? however?? is that the gospels are not?? nor were they ever meant to be?? historical documentations of Jesus?? "