Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth

Zusatztext 100716058 Informationen zum Autor Reza Aslan Klappentext #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • "A lucid, intelligent page-turner" (Los Angeles Times) that challenges long-held assumptions about Jesus, from the host of Believer Two thousand years ago, an itinerant Jewish preacher 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 executed as a state criminal. Within decades after his death, his followers would call him God. Sifting through centuries of mythmaking, Reza Aslan sheds new light on one of history's most enigmatic figures by examining Jesus through the lens of the tumultuous era in which he lived. Balancing the Jesus of the Gospels against the historical sources, Aslan describes a man full of conviction and passion, yet rife with contradiction. He explores the reasons 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' life and mission. Praise for Zealot "Riveting . . . Aslan synthesizes Scripture and scholarship to create an original account."-The New Yorker "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."-The Seattle Times "[Aslan's] literary talent is as essential to the effect of Zealot as are his scholarly and journalistic chops. . . . A vivid, persuasive portrait."-Salon "This tough-minded, deeply political book does full justice to the real Jesus, and honors him in the process."-San Francisco Chronicle "A special and revealing work, one that believer and skeptic alike will find surprising, engaging, and original."-Jon Meacham, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power "Compulsively readable . . . This superb work is highly recommended."-Publishers Weekly (starred review)Chapter One A Hole in the Corner Who killed Jonathan son of Ananus as he strode across the Temple Mount in the year 56 c.e.? No doubt there were many in Jerusalem who longed to slay the rapacious high priest, and more than a few who would have liked to wipe out the bloated Temple priesthood in its entirety. For what must never be forgotten when speaking of first-century Palestine is that this land—this hallowed land from which the spirit of God flowed to the rest of the world—was occupied territory. Legions of Roman troops were stationed throughout Judea. Some six hundred Roman soldiers resided atop the Temple Mount itself, within the high stone walls of the Antonia Fortress, which buttressed the northwest corner of the Temple wall. The unclean centurion in his red cape and polished cuirass who paraded through the Court of Gentiles, his hand hovering over the hilt of his sword, was a not so subtle reminder, if any were needed, of who really ruled this sacred place. Roman dominion over Jerusalem began in 63 b.c.e., when Rome’s master tactician, Pompey Magnus, entered the city with his conquering legions and laid siege to the Temple. By then, Jerusalem had long since passed its economic and cultural zenith. The Canaanite settlement that King David had recast into the seat of his kingdom, the city he had passed to his wayward son, Solomon, who built the first Temple to God—sacked and destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 b.c.e.—the city that had served as ...

Product details

• Authors: Reza Aslan
• Publisher: Random House USA
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback
• Released: 30.04.2014
• EAN: 9780812981483
• ISBN: 978-0-8129-8148-3
• No. of pages: 296
• Dimensions: 131 mm x 204 mm x 17 mm
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Religion/theology; Non-fiction book > Philosophy, religion > Biographies, autobiographies; Jesus Christus