Three cheers for Reza Aslan and his best-seller Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth.
It soared to No. 1 on the New York Times’ best-seller list after a Fox News interview with Aslan focused on the fact that he is a Muslim. How could a Muslim write a book about the central figure of Christianity, the Fox interviewer pressed. The interview went viral, and Zealot vaulted to No. 1.
It’s not that the book is so well-written, although most reviewers agree that it is. Nor is it the fact there is something new here. There isn’t.
The fault of Zealot is that it is unidimensional. Jesus and his times were more complex than that. But Aslan’s sin, if it be one, is hardly unique among Jesus biographers.
So why am I here to cheer him? Because he has had an enormous effect on the lay public, educating them to the fact that the New Testament, like the Hebrew Bible, is not always literally accurate. For example, Jesus was probably born in Nazareth, not Bethlehem. BAR readers already know this. They are accustomed to reading analyses showing that the Bible is not always literally accurate. But many of you also know how often this shocks so many otherwise well-informed and well-intentioned friends. Aslan helps to educate them otherwise.
Soon they may be ready to subscribe to BAR.—Ed.
Three cheers for Reza Aslan and his best-seller Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth.
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